The Los Angeles Lakers had the weekend off before starting a five-game week with two back-to-back scenarios. The first game of the NBA gauntlet was against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. When the Lake Show didn’t turn the ball over, they scored seemingly on every offensive possession!
It’s hard to decipher if the Los Angeles Lakers are starting to focus on their championship aspirations or if the Golden State Warriors are just an inconsistent team that is currently wasting Stephen Curry’s prime. Maybe it’s both as illustrated in an awful 128-97 contest on Monday night.
The Lakers have now won two straight games leading into the second half of a back-to-back Tuesday against the worst team in the NBA in the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This was a game where the Lakers took care of business blowing out a Warriors team with seemingly no consistent talent without Stephen Curry. But look at the injuries throughout the Lakers roster coming into this game.
- Anthony Davis is out indefinitely for his calf/Achilles injuries.
- Marc Gasol is in the NBA’s Health and Safety protocol.
- Alex Caruso is in the NBA’s concussion protocol.
- Just yesterday, Jared Dudley was diagnosed with an MCL tear in his knee.
Despite missing all of these players, the Lakers’ offense ran over the Warriors. The Lake Show shot a season-high 62.8 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from the land of the extra point. Five Lakers players that attempted at least five field goals shot better than 50 percent from the field.
This just in…The Lakers blew out Golden State!
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
The Los Angeles Lakers shooting in the first half!
The Lake Show shot 69 percent in the opening half. To put this in perspective, every player that saw the floor except for Dennis Schroder and Alfonzo McKinnie (He didn’t attempt a shot!) shot 50 percent or better.
The Los Angeles Lakers bench went crazy!
The Lakers bench just worked the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter.
- Montrezl Harrell hit his first seven shots just feasting from the dunker spot on the baselines. More on him in a second!
- Talen Horton-Tucker hit three of his first four shots for an early 8 points. He finished with 18 points.
- Kyle Kuzma hit 5 points early while making plays for his teammates with 3 assists. But Lake Show Life keeps it real though. Come on Kyle Kuzma, you are better than this!
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1371667501625573376
- That might have been the only thing that went wrong for the Lakers the whole night. Kuz finished with 17 points.
- Man, Wesley Matthews Jr. hit his first 3 point shot that he took! To most Lakers fans, this is more shocking than the above players’ contributions combined.
LeBron James probably had the easiest triple-double of his career!
Even though LeBron had a slow start (More on that later!), this game was exactly what he and the Los Angeles Lakers needed. Instead of carrying the offensive load, the rest of the Lakers roster gave him a ton of help. In 30 minutes, LeBron finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. His plus/minus ratio of +33 was a game-high.
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
LeBron James’ first six minutes of the game.
LeBron collected two offensive fouls (The second one was an awful call!) in the first few minutes of the game. Then he hit his funny bone on his left arm (Man can’t we all relate to the pain on that?) before the six-minute mark of the game. Luckily it made James even more aggressive as he attacked the basket and got to the free-throw line.
Man…Stephen Curry is just good folks!
Ever since Stephen Curry was seen cursing out his teammates, he has been on a tear. He scored 32 points on Sunday against the Utah Jazz on his birthday. Then he was going crazy in the first quarter against the Lakers. He had 15 points at the end of the frame which included this amazing no-look layup here.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1371656365773529095
One of the more overused clichés in sports is the “He was the only player that showed up” for certain teams. This is not one of those times. Stephen Curry scored 20 points in the first half which included a buzzer-beater from the hashmark to keep Golden State from getting run out of the gym.
The Los Angeles Lakers turn the ball over too much!
The Lakers had 11 turnovers by halftime. This is the only reason that Golden State wasn’t down 25 points at the break. What’s worse? LeBron had 5 turnovers and Dennis Schroder had 3.
The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
Montrezl Harrell. Oh, that’s it!
The Golden State Warriors got bullied by Montrezl Harrell. At the end of the third quarter, Trezl had 25 points on 10-12 shooting. One of those shots were a desperate 3 point shot at the end of the third quarter. He bullied young James Wiseman into foul trouble, Draymond Green was quiet all night long and it’s a wonder why Kevon Looney is still in the NBA at this point.
But this is really a small visual of what Harrell did all night.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 16, 2021
Harrell finished with 27 points on 11-14 shooting in 25 minutes.
With all of this being said with the weak effort of the Golden State Warriors. It’s time to start wondering about Stephen Curry.
The Stephen Curry rumors to the Los Angeles Lakers will get louder!
Oh, it doesn’t take much for bad NBA rumors to start. Ever since the All-Star game, the whispers of Stephen Curry leaving the only franchise he’s ever played for to come to the Lakers has been gaining steam. Since his extension has not been signed yet, he is scheduled to be a free agent next year.
But watching his teammates leaving him out to dry in this game should make the front office nervous. The combination of Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Oubre and Draymond Green contributing no offense has to wear on Curry. If this keeps up, the Golden State Warriors will have to pray Steph’s relationship with Klay Thompson is as close as advertised.
Steph finished with 27 points, but the real story is the Lakers had no issues sending a triple-team at him knowing Curry’s teammates were no threats shooting the basketball.
Lake Show Life’s more in-depth breakdowns will come in Lake Show Life Lessons tomorrow. Keep it locked for the only Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with highlights and in-depth analysis.