Golden State fell to Los Angeles tonight, 117-97. I know, I don’t get it either. It’s probably my fault.
I'll be live-tweeting tonight's game over on @unstoppablebaby ! Come join us as we watch the Lakers get owned.
— Sami Higgins (@samihiggins) November 5, 2016
My bad.
Though there are two important factors to remember:
- The Warriors played their hearts out in last night’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
- This was the second game of a back-to-back and probably shouldn’t be judged too harshly.
Ultimately the saddest part was that Stephen Curry’s streak of 157 games in the regular season with a 3-pointer has now come to an end. I guess it had to at some point, but we can still be sad to see it go.
The Warriors snoozed through the first quarter, scoring just 14 points, seven from Curry. Eight turnovers and abysmal shooting allowed the Lakers to take an early lead and continue to build on it. Things got a little better in the second quarter, cutting down the turnovers and stringing together some layups and dunks to try to get within striking distance. However, they couldn’t quite cut down the lead significantly, ending the half down by 16.
Despite going on runs in the third quarter, the Warriors were unable to get the deficit below seven points, with the Lakers blowing it open in the fourth quarter and ultimately winning by 20.
It’s hard to come away from this game with a lot of positives, but lets try to start there. Kevon Looney impressed with 11 points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of playing time.
Kevin Durant had a team high 27 points, Draymond Green had a quietly good night with 16 points and nine rebounds and Curry ended up getting a double-double, with 13 points and 11 assists, nearing a triple-double with eight rebounds. Shaun Livingston never missed a shot, getting 11 points on five field goals and a free throw.
This happened:
Steph finds KD for the TOUGH alley-oop finish and here come the @warriors! #NBARapidReplay @ESPNNBA pic.twitter.com/vIMbWho6nx
— NBA (@NBA) November 5, 2016
Now to the negatives. Shots weren’t going in. More specifically, Curry and Klay Thompson’s shots weren’t going in. Combined, they attempted 35 field goals, and made only nine of them, going 2-20 from downtown.
The Warriors turned the ball over 20 times. Most frustrating was that it seemed as though every time they forced a turnover, they gave the ball right back.
All of this is not to say that the Lakers snuck away with this game. They played hard and had some standout performances.
"It was our annual beatdown at Staples." -- Steve Kerr
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) November 5, 2016
At the end of the day you just have to accept that back-to-backs are tough, tip your cap to Luke Walton and look ahead to the next game against New Orleans on Monday night at Oracle.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— Golden State of Mind (@unstoppablebaby) November 5, 2016