Coming into this contest, many expected the Los Angeles Lakers to not have much of a chance against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
Los Angeles was once again without LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell, while the Warriors, who had a five-game winning streak, welcomed Stephen Curry back from a lower leg injury.
But the Lakers shocked everyone by leaping out to a 32-12 first-quarter lead. The Warriors were able to fight back and make it a one-point affair at halftime, but Anthony Davis and crew regained the lead early in the third period and consistently remained one step ahead of Golden State.
It all resulted in an impressive and unexpected 113-105 victory for L.A.
The win puts the Lakers into 11th place in the Western Conference and just half a game out of 10th place, as well as 2.5 games behind the sixth-place Minnesota Timberwolves. They’re now 6-3 ever since the players they acquired in the Russell Westbrook trade first debuted.
For a long time, many have doubted if Davis could carry the Lakers whenever James happens to be out with an injury, but that is exactly what the superstar big man did today.
He went at the Warriors early and scored 15 points in the first quarter, and he kept the pressure on throughout. He got it done in the paint and from the perimeter, and he even hit a 3-pointer, something he seldom does.
Davis finished with 39 points on 14-of-25 shooting and 10-of-13 from the free throw line, to go along with eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots. With the game hanging in the balance in the last two minutes, he came through in the clutch by getting fouled and hitting both free throws, then converting a field goal with less than a minute left.
Vanderbilt made his presence felt, not too much unlike a week ago in L.A.’s stirring come-from-behind win over the Dallas Mavericks. He had a game-high 13 rebounds, and he scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting while even adding four assists in 24 minutes.
Vanderbilt guarded multiple Warriors players over the course of the game, and his ability to do so on the perimeter has been such a boon to a Lakers team that has lacked such a defensive wing for years.
Brown continued his outstanding shooting on Sunday by scoring 14 points on 5-of-10 overall and 4-of-7 from 3-point range. He even grabbed eight rebounds, which helped L.A. outrebound the Warriors by four.
Schroder shot just…
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