ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after completing a sweep of a four-game road trip ending at Indiana, the Golden State Warriors (12-2) were back at home to face the upstart Los Angeles Lakers (8-7), who were on the second night of a back-to-back after beating OKC at home on a buzzer-beater by Nick Young.
The Warriors were without Damian Jones (pectoral surgery) and head coach Steve Kerr elected to put James McAdoo on the inactive list.
The Lakers were without Julius Randle (hip pointer) as doubtful and D’Angelo Russell (sore knee).
Q1: Chef Saucy
Both teams traded buckets the first couple possessions. Zaza Pachulia went baseline reverse past Timofey Mozgov, answered twice in a row by left-side jumpers by Jose Calderon.
Klay Thompson hit a jumper on a catch from Stephen Curry on a baseline out-of-bounds play, then Brandon Ingram, who got the start in place of Randle, lost the ball twice.
Thompson made him pay with a dish to Curry for a swish from the left wing, then after a missed turnaround by Mozgov, Steph came around a Pachulia pick and drilled another trey, forcing Lakers head coach Luke Walton to call timeout as the Warriors took an early 10-4 lead:
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After the timeout, Kevin Durant missed a jumper but Draymond Green tapped the ball out to Zaza, who fed Curry at the top, who found Klay on the left arc for three more.
Durant finally joined the festivities with a triple assisted by a Steph lefty overhead pass on the run, but Calderon immediately hit back with a three of his own.
Klay stayed hot with a jumper fed again by Curry, and later Pachulia found “KD” on a right baseline slam dunk:
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But a few sequences later, Steph got hit on the head with no call beyond the arc, Green smoked a layup, resulting a triple in transition by Young, on an outlet by Calderon.
That put the Lakers back in business, down just 23-17, but Thompson drove the lane and shoveled a pass to Pachulia for an easy two, thanks to action with Curry on the wing…
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…then Klay drove again and finished with a hesitating, floating banker, and after a missed three by Metta World Peace, Draymond cut down the left side of the lane with the ball, then lofted an alley-oop to JaVale McGee:
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Larry Nance, Jr. hit a right-baseline jumper, and Kerr took a timeout with Golden State up, 29-21, with 3:46 remaining.
Out of the timeout, Curry curled around for a swish from distance…
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…fed by Iguodala at the top, Luol Deng got a left-side attack blocked by Green, and Draymond brought the ball up, to find Steph at the left of the rim.
Curry got the ball, waited for the contact to arrive, and hit the banker with the whistle on Jordan Clarkson.
Ingram then got swatted at the rim by McGee, and the next time down, Curry went “tic-tac-toe” to Green, who lobbed another slam for JaVale:
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With 2:50 to play, the Warriors’ lead bulged to 37-21.
Later, the refs missed a nice block by Durant on a dunk attempt by Tariq Black…
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…which sent Black to the line, but Steph came back with a reverse between-the-legs step-back triple from the left arc over Clarkson:
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Kerr re-inserted Klay for McGee, effectively going with the “Death Lineup” with Patrick McCaw at forward, and McCaw nearly brought the house down with a cut into no defense, fouled at the rim on a McCaw dunk attempt delivered from Iguodala, who celebrated the bold move by not looking at the rookie as players lined up for the free throw.
Closing out the quarter, KD missed another free throw, Thompson smoked a run-out finger roll after David West stole a dribble from Lou Williams, Durant missed a three, and Curry came back in for McCaw for the last 9.6 seconds, got open on the curl, but passed up the trey for a dribble inside, and missed the jumper at the buzzer.
Golden State held a 41-26 lead after the opening frame.
Q2: Steph Stays Hot, Highlight-Fest
West had a nice lob for a lay-in for KD early in the second stanza…
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…then after Williams missed a drive down the lane, Klay hit a catch-and-shoot triple from the left wing.
But Ingram drew a foul on a turnaround against Thompson on the left baseline, Iguodala bricked a three, and Clarkson waltzed in for a layup, prompting Kerr to call a timeout to re-energize the team, still up 48-34 with 9:32 to go.
After that, it was a highlight-fest for the Warriors as Curry stayed hot.
Durant found Klay…
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…Draymond found Steph…
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…and after Nance airballed a push-shot at the shotclock buzzer, Curry lasered the ball lefty to Shaun Livingston, who finished with a reverse two-hand jam:
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After that, the Warriors took a commanding 63-45 lead with 4:00 left, forcing Walton to call another timeout.
Curry wasn’t done, hitting another catch-and-pivot three as Calderon couldn’t get past all the screens, then Steph utilized his threat of the three for a cut, and-one, assisted by Green:
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Durant hit a three in transition, Walton called another timeout with 2:00 remaining, now down 73-47, then KD got an “and-one” layup getting past Thomas Robinson with the lefty.
Durant added a put-back of Steph’s missed three that went halfway down, then after Clarkson missed a two-for-one triple from up top, Draymond streaked down the court for a dunk, assisted by Curry’s sixth assist.
The Lakers couldn’t hit the rim on the next possession, a shotclock violation, Curry missed from the edge of the logo beyond halfcourt, although it did look online, and Golden State took a dominating 80-49 lead into the second half.
Steph led all scorers with 24 points and KD had 19 on an efficient 7-for-10 field. No Laker hit double-digits.
The Warriors also assisted on 26 of their 29 made field goals.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @mrbcary)
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