The Lakers take a 2-0 season series lead on the Golden State Warriors with a 118-108 win on Saturday night.
Anthony Davis had 36 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, three assists, and a block. LeBron James ended with 25 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds. Austin Reaves pitched in with 16 points, seven assists, and five rebounds.
Dalton Knecht had 13 points and Gabe Vincent seven points off the bench. Max Christie had 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
In his first start as a Laker, filling in for Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith ended with eight points and three rebounds.
The Lakers jumped to a quick 5-0 lead which started with a 3-pointer by Dorian. That lead was erased fast thanks to a pair of three’s by Gary Payton II and Steph Curry. LeBron went on a solo 4-0 run and at the first timeout, L.A. was down two.
The defense was nonexistent as both teams kept trading baskets back and forth the rest of the quarter. L.A. retook the lead by five, but Golden State was able to snatch it back until Dalton dunked the ball at the buzzer to put the Lakers up by one at the end of the first.
The Warriors struck first in the second quarter, but Dalton answered with a 3-pointer to help keep Los Angeles in the lead. Gabe joined the behind-the-arc party by knocking down a corner three. It was all tied up, with two minutes passing in the quarter.
A welcomed sight for the Lakers was the return of Jarred Vanderbilt, who immediately grabbed a rebound and put back a missed layup.
Former Laker Dennis Schröder was up to 10 points and was perfect from deep with two 3-pointers. A layup by Dalton put the purple and gold back up by one, forcing a timeout by Golden State.
AD was living on the free throw line as the Warriors struggled to defend him. He was shooting 83% from the charity stripe.
The Lakers had gone up by four, but Moses Moody drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-point deficit for the Warriors at halftime.
The second half started with both teams playing well offensively. Buddy Hield made his first 3-pointer of the game and a block by AD let to a layup off the backboard for Austin. L.A. went up by six after a 8-0 run. Gary converted on a layup to stop some of the bleeding for the Warriors.
Max Christie knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lakers a double-digit lead. Golden State was not backing down, trying to inch closer again. Dalton knocked down a corner three, which was his second three of the game.
-Golden State started to make another push with their rookie Quinten Post doing a little bit of everything, scoring and making plays. It was back to a six-point lead for the Lakers, until Dalton drained another 3-pointer.
Andrew Wiggins knocked down a buzzer-beating three and the Lakers found themselves only up by six, again, to end the third.
LeBron started things off offensively in the final frame. LeBron was on a mission trying to take over for the team. He made another layup and Dorian joined in on the scoring with a 3-pointer to force the Warriors to call timeout.
The Lakers were dominating with AD getting a rest on the bench. When he was subbed back into the game, he was fouled and made both of them.
The lead was growing for the Lakers before the Warriors started inching closer again. A 3-pointer by Hield forced a timeout by L.A.
Los Angeles went back up by double-digits after an impressive pass by LeBron to AD for a dunk. Out of a timeout, Austin stole the ball and passed to Dorian for a dunk. Austin then threw a lob to LeBron for an empathic dunk.
Golden State couldn’t comeback and they waved the white flag by taking Steph out of the game.
Key Takeaways:
There were several instances of sloppy play, which resulted in turnovers. The Lakers have to handle the ball better.
Vando is back! He was already doing the dirty work we are accustomed to seeing him do. When he gets his game conditioning even better, he’ll continue to make a huge difference for this team.
The Lakers’ next game will be Monday against the Charlotte Hornets at 4:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
