Podziemski, Steph carry Warriors to impressive win over Lakers
The Warriors backcourt led the way in a pivotal road victory over LeBron James and the Lakers.
The Golden State Warriors secured a massive victory on Thursday night, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 123-116. With the win, the Dubs remain the fifth-seed in the Western Conference, and avoided falling all the way back to the eight-seed. With a difficult matchup tomorrow night against the Nuggets, the Warriors gave themselves a little breathing room.
Despite the star-filled lineups on both sides, it was role players leading both teams in the first half. While Curry had a perfectly solid 12 points in the first two quarters, the Warriors offense was carried by Brandin Podziemski. Podziemski scored 22 points in the half, putting an exclamation point on the highlight filled half by banking in one-foot runner from the logo at the end of the half to put the Dubs ahead 60-47.
For the Lakers, LeBron James attempted just three field goals in the first half while Luka Dončić struggled to find any rhythm from the field. At the half, Rui Hachimura led the Lakers with 13 points.
Things started to lean toward the averages in the third quarter. James made it a point to be a focal point on both ends of the floor and sparked a couple Lakers runs to prevent things from getting out of hand. With that said, Curry scored 16 points in the quarter and ensured the Warriors could keep Los Angeles at arms length.
With the Lakers trailing 88-77 heading into the fourth, and Curry taking a brief break, Austin Reaves scored 8 points in the first few minutes. That could have easily sparked a comeback. However, the Warriors continued to find answers. Jimmy Butler, who had been relatively quiet offensively for most of the game, knocked down a highly-contested three late in the shot clock on one possession and Podziemski knocked down his first three in the second half.
When Curry returned to the floor, Golden State was still leading by double-digits. But LeBron and Luka were also on the other side. Back-to-back turnovers by Butler and Curry combined with a hot stretch of shooting from the Lakers cut the deficit to five with more than four minutes left in regulation.
It was Curry, Podziemski, and Kuminga once again (in that order) who made shots to keep the Lakers at bay. A triple by Curry put the Dubs ahead 114-104 with 2:05 left in regulation. That started a stretch of four consecutive possessions that ended in threes (Curry, James, Podziemski, Reaves).
With both teams making shots, the Lakers decided to double-team Curry. So, the Warriors turned things over to Butler, who got to the free throw line and made both attempts. Not to be deterred, Reaves made another three to cut the lead to six. Kuminga missed a shot on the other end and Dončić drove inside in transition, but Draymond Green, who was a huge reason Luka was cold all night, stripped him at the rim. Despite another Reaves three (and a steal by James), the Lakers were unable to complete a comeback.
Podz and Steph were the stars of the night for the Warriors. Curry finished with 37 points, 6 assists, and just 2 turnovers. Podziemski tallied 28 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and a steal while making eight of his 10 three-point attempts.
Not to be ignored, however, was Jonathan Kuminga off the bench in his return from his recent pelvic injury. In one of his best performances since the acquisition of Jimmy Butler, Kuminga recorded 18 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, a block, and a game-high +9 plus/minus in 25 minutes of action.
While Kuminga has looked disconnected at times since rejoining the rotation, he looked locked in as a rebounder on Thursday and seemed to more effectively balance his own aggressiveness as a scorer with the Warriors motion attack. It has looked unclear how Kuminga would fit in head coach Steve Kerr’s playoff rotation, but this version of Kuminga could make a big impact.
James almost single-handedly kept the Lakers from a blowout loss. He scored 33 points on just 15 field-goal attempts alongside 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Hachimura (24) and Reaves (31) scored more than 20 points each. However, Dončić was just 6-for-17 from the field (0-for-6 from three) and was a consistent liability defensively.
Even with the victory, the Warriors have far from avoided the play in. They remain just a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies and Timberwolves and one-game ahead of the Clippers. They now will return home to face the Nuggets tomorrow night at the Chase Center where they will look to pull off another victory against a playoff-bound foe.