Warriors come out flat in blowout loss to Lakers

These games happen.

The Golden State Warriors were outplayed from the opening tip and only led for a total of 12 seconds in their ugly 117-91 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron James led the defending champs with 19 points, while Alex Caruso and Markieef Morris each chipped in with 13 apiece. Stephen Curry had 19 points to lead the Dubs.

Andrew Wiggins hit one out of two free throws 28 seconds into the first quarter, which gave the Warriors their only lead of the game. It was all Lakers from there. The team connected on six of its next eight field-goal attempts and held a 20-5 lead just over five minutes into the game.

“We got destroyed on the boards and we turned it over. We had no chance from the very beginning,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We weren’t ready to play … just a really disappointing night overall.”

L.A. dominated the first quarter, leading 41-21 after the one. The Lakers shot 55 percent from the field and were the more aggressive team, going 13-of-16 from the free-throw line.

It got even uglier in the second quarter. L.A. continued to own Golden State in the paint, bullying the Warriors throughout the first half. The Lakers’ defense stymied the Dubs who shot just 35.4 percent over the opening two quarters and connected on three-of-16 3-point attempts.

James added the cherry on top of the great first half for the Lakers, hitting a buzzer-beating 3 to make it 73-44 at the break.

To make matters worse, Draymond Green suffered a sprained ankle and did not return for the second half, which was just as ugly for the Dubs. L.A. dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Warriors 60-35 overall and 14-3 on the offensive glass.

Golden State looked out of sync on the offensive end throughout the affair. The Lakers’ second-ranked defense gave the Dubs fits, holding them to 40percent shooting from the field and eight-of-34 from the 3-point line.

There isn’t much to take away from this one. Kerr will likely throw the game tape out and focus on the next matchup. The Warriors haven’t played a stinker like this since the blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 28.

Golden State had a terrible night, while everything went right for L.A.

The Dubs are still in a good position heading into their final two games before the NBA All-Stat break.