The Warriors accumulated 19 turnovers this afternoon and crashed in the triple
LeBron was somewhat irregular and went from less to more, with a brilliant finish
Los Angeles Lakers, that started the season badly (2-10), they are now only two wins away from getting into the Western final after this Saturday they beat the Golden State Warriors (127-97) with great authority to make it 2-1 in this conference semifinal.
The unexpected and amazing adventure of the Angelenos in these playoffs lived a new chapter for the illusion of the hand of a very serious defense and a stellar trio: LeBron James (did not score in the first quarter but finished the game with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists), Anthony Davis (25 points and 13 rebounds) and D’Angelo Russell (21 as many).
Instead, the Warriors suffered a day of misery on his visit to the mecca of Hollywood.
The current NBA champions, who had just won the second game by a resounding 127-100, accumulated 19 turnovers this afternoon, they crashed in the triple (13 of 44 against the superb 15 of 31 of their rivals) and they barely went to the personal line (12 of 17 against the 28 of 37 of the Lakers).
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 23 points (9 of 21 shooting) while Klay Thompson added 15 points (5 of 14) and Andrew Wiggins contributed 16 points and 9 rebounds.
The fourth game of this tie will be played this Monday also in Los Angeles.
Russell pide paso
Neither LeBron nor Davis monopolized the spotlight in the Los Angeles start: it was Russell who started the match like a rocket with 11 points in a row including three triples.
Unlike Davis, who did wake up as the minutes passed, LeBron signed a strange and very absent first quarter in which he finished with 0 points and without attempting a single shot at the basket.
This was the first time in his two decades of golden NBA career that LeBron did not look at the basket in the first period of a playoff game.
LeBron’s paralysis was a reflection of an attack by the Lakers that is too predictable and static apart from Russell and Davis, who between them scored 21 of the 23 points of their team.
Much more balanced and coral, the Warriors just had to step on the gas a bit to close the first twelve minutes ahead (23-30) thanks to 11 points and three triples from Thompson.
This trend continued into the second quarter with the Lakers clumsy on offense and insecure behind.
without making much noise the Warriors drew a remarkable 29-40 to There was 7.49 left for the break, but then the wind of the game changed radically.
The Angelenos tightened on defense, LeBron finally scored his first points in the middle of the fourth and the lighthouse of those in purple and gold also crowned a phenomenal 13-0 run with a triple that turned the game around.
The thing did not stop there.
Faced with some Lakers now launched and convinced, the Warriors got stuck in a shocking drought and they repeatedly encountered improper errors, turnovers and missed shots (7 of 23 in that quarter).
With the two teams in totally opposite directions, the Lakers closed the last eight minutes with b and went to the locker room with a smile (59-48) and with Russell as the top scorer with 21 points and five triples.
No visitor reaction
The bad news did not stop at the restart for Golden State, who saw how Draymond Green added his fourth foul while the Lakers gave a small stretch to the score (65-50 with 9.26 on the clock).
Two minutes later, Davis took Green’s fifth foul and the controversial and versatile player of the Warriors had to go to the bench.
At the worst moment in Golden State, Wiggins starred in one of the most spectacular plays of these playoffs: an extraordinary dunk in the face of a Davis who couldn’t do anything before the impressive jump from the forward.
not far behind LeBron, who chained a beautiful basket turning on himself with a great block on Jordan Poole.
Curry seemed to bring the Warriors to life with 10 points in the third quarter but it was a mirage as the visiting defense continued to be a sieve with thousands of holes.
Thus, the Lakers maintained their cruising speed, clung to a LeBron now totally plugged in (11 points in that period) and came to win by 20 points before the last quarter (86-68).
There was not even an appeal to the epic in Golden State: Dennis Schröder and Austin Reaves chained two triples for the locals and Steve Kerr retired his figures and he took out the white flag with his team at -26 and still 9 minutes to play.