Golden State Warriors Lose Second Straight Game In Heartbreak Fashion

The Golden State Warriors lost another heartbreaker last night as LeBron James had 36 and the Los Angeles Lakers got the best of the Dubs in double overtime, 145-144. After capturing the first In-Season Tournament Championship, the Lakers have struggled going just 9-13 but with this win they are now just over .500 at 24-23, good for 9th in the West. Golden State has been struggling themselves, and Steph talked about it in a post game interview saying it is so frustrating when the team feels like they played well enough to win, but they come up with nothing. This was the case again against the Lakers, as the Dubs squandered a double digit lead in the second half. They were lucky to even get to overtime and double overtime, as Curry and Klay had to hit game-tying shots with five and seven seconds on the clock. Kerr threw a knife in the starting lineup he had been rolling with as of late, this time opting to start Steph, Klay, Wiggins, Kuminga and Draymond. 

Anthony Davis did what he does best and snared a rebound off a Taurean Prince miss and flushed one home to get the scoring started. Then it was Draymond, who was aggressive early on, getting two buckets at the rim and helping the Dubs jump out to a 7-6 lead three minutes into the game. After LeBron and Curry traded threes, Austin Reaves put the Lakers up one with a smooth jumper. Throughout the first, neither team could build any serious lead, as the Warriors posted the largest lead of the first when Steph nailed a trey putting the Dubs up 24-19. But the Lakers finished the quarter on a 14-6 run led by Rui Hachimura and AD. With one quarter in the books, the Warriors trailed 33-30. The second period was much of the same, back and forth basketball. Saric got a jumper to fall and Podz got to the rack for two to bring the Warriors back up one. Though the Lakers ripped a quick 6-0 burst to take a 39-34 lead and force a timeout. A few minutes later, the Warriors had clawed back and Wiggins buried a go ahead trey to make it a 47-45 game. Then after giving the lead back on a Reaves three pointer, it was Wiggins again with two consecutive buckets at the rim, one of which was an and-1, and the Dubs took a 59-55 lead. But after a few minutes of back and forth scoring, LeBron went on a personal 7-0 run to end the half including a vintage fading jumper over the outstretched hand of Curry, and the Lakers took a 68-63 advantage into halftime.

Something clicked for Golden State in the third, as they came out with energy and aggression. Kuminga, Curry and Wiggins all poured in shots from distance, before Kuminga got an easy dunk inside to take a 76-70 lead and force a Laker timeout. A minute later after a D-Lo trey, Wiggins knocked down another long ball sandwiched by two shots from downtown by Klay helping the Warriors lead balloon to 14, 87-73. The Lakers made a small dent in the deficit but by the end of the third, the Dubs maintained a 99-91 advantage. If Golden State could start the fourth hot, they could put the game away within a few minutes. Unfortunately, the Lakers stuck around long enough to give them a chance late in the game. The first half of the fourth quarter was low scoring and neither team could gain any traction. With just over six minutes remaining, AD scored a tough and-1 cutting the lead to two, 107-105. But the Warriors put together a series of stops and got clutch buckets from Kuminga and Curry, extending the lead to 114-105 with 3:58 on the clock. The Dubs just needed one or two more scores to put the game away. Instead, LA went on a crowd-silencing 12-0 run led by two D-Lo treys to take a 117-114 lead with 28 seconds left. Curry’s initial game tying three pointer was blocked but after a jump ball that conveniently landed in Stephs hands, he got to rack for two to keep the Warrior’s hopes alive. On the other end, AD went 1-2 from the line opening the door for a go-ahead three for Golden State. Curry opted to play it safe, and after dribbling around for what felt like an eternity, he crossed over and laid the ball in to tie the score at 118-118 and send the game to overtime. 

LeBron got the scoring started in OT getting an easy basket at the rim but Drayond answered with a bucket of his own. Two minutes later the score remained even at 124 a piece before LeBron tipped his own miss in, and Austin Reaves got an easy look at the rim to make it a 128-124 game. The splash brothers proceeded to turn back the clock as Curry buried a three cutting the lead to one. Then after Reaves converted both from the charity stripe, Klay fired away and nailed one from beyond the arc to knot the score up at 130 with 7 seconds on the clock. LeBron couldn’t get a jumper to fall at the buzzer, and after 53 minutes of basketball, the winner was yet to be decided. Once again LeBron broke the seal to kick off the overtime period, sinking a deep two pointer. Curry tied it up at the free throw line but D-Lo drained a clutch three followed by a LeBron turn around jumper and the Lakers had control, 137-132. Down four with under two minutes to play, Klay nailed a tough three before Wiggins stole a D-Lo pass and Curry cashed in on a step back three to give the Dubs the lead, 141-39. After another D-Lo turnover, the Warriors looked like they were going to put the game away, but Podz missed a three and D-Lo made up for his turnovers with a huge long ball, putting the Lakers back up by one, 142-141. Curry missed a go-ahead jumper and Golden State was forced to foul. With 13 seconds on the clock, Reaves went to the line with the chance to extend the lead to three. He went 1-2, and on the Warriors next possession Steph got wide open on a Draymond down screen and buried a three from straight away, making it a 144-13 game in favor of the Dubs. With five seconds on the clock, all the Dubs needed was one stop. They failed to do so as LeBron was fouled on a layup and calmly knocked down both from the line to give the Lakers the win 145-144 after an electric back and forth game.

Steph paced all scorers with 46 points on 9 threes. Klay had 24 on 6 threes while Wiggins and Kuminga put up 22 apiece. Draymond just missed a triple double recording 14 boards and 11 assists but only scoring 8 points. The Warriors didn’t get a lot of production off the bench, as Podz led the second unit with 10 points while Saric had 5 and TJD had 4. For Los Angeles, LeBron led the way with 36 points on a stellar 14-25 clip. He also added a whopping 20 boards and 12 assists to secure a triple double. AD had 29 points and snagged 13 boards while D-Lo put up 28 on 5 treys. Reaves struggled going 4-14 for 17 points, but Vanderbilt and Hachimura picked up the slack off the bench with 14 and 11 points on a combined 8-11 from the field. 

As Steph alluded to, the Warriors played a solid game and did a lot of things well to the point where they very easily could have won the game. They shot 46% from the field and 39% from downtown while holding the Lakers to 9 threes. They also forced 19 turnovers but coughed it up 17 times themselves. The game was lost in the last couple minutes of the fourth quarter when they went scoreless while allowing the Lakers to take the lead. Everybody is saying it but it’s just the truth, the Dubs can’t win games solely off Curry. They need Klay or Kuminga or Wiggins to step up. Gary Payton, Chris Paul and Moses Moody should be back in the coming weeks and hopefully they can provide a spark off the bench, but I still think the Warriors need to be active in the trade deadline and get a player like Lauri Markannen. They simply just don’t have the personnel right now to compete in a seven game series with the Nuggets, Bucks or Celtics. 

The Dubs are now five games under .500 at 19-24. With a five game road trip around the corner, they are walking on thin ice. First though, they must turn their attention to Tuesday night when they host the Philadelphia 76ers. I genuinely think Embiid might go for 50 as the Warriors have nobody to guard him. Steph and Klay will need to put up 30 a piece if the Dubs want to stay in the game. Look for Philly to come into Chase Center and win by a least double digits. I predict 134-117.