What we learned as Steph’s surge can’t save Warriors’ loss to Lakers

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What we learned as Steph’s surge can’t save Warriors’ loss to Lakers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

Jimmy Butler arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon and made his way inside Crypto.com Arena before the Warriors tipped off against the Lakers.

Golden State could have used its new acquisition, who might make his debut on Saturday in Chicago.

Playing on the road for the second consecutive night, the Warriors started slowly before summoning enough grit to close the gap, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 120-112 loss to LeBron James and the Lakers.

Five Warriors scored in double figures – led by 37 points from Stephen Curry – but it wasn’t enough offset the enduring brilliance of James, who finished with 42 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists.

The loss dropped the Warriors back under .500 (25-26) and was their third in three games against the Lakers (30-19) this season.

Here are three observations from Golden State’s second consecutive “clutch game” loss:

Defense Slow to Arrive

It’s exceedingly difficult for an NBA team to give up 20 points in three minutes, but the Warriors accomplished that feat in their collapse against the Jazz on Wednesday.

That same negligence was on display in LA.

The Lakers roasted the Warriors early, finishing the first quarter with an 18-2 advantage in paint points and a 12-0 advantage in fast-break points. LA shot 56.5 percent from the field, including 47.6 percent from deep, in the half, nearly putting the game out of reach.

The Warriors were consistently outhustled by the Lakers, and the difference in effort was so stark that TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy was aghast at what he was seeing.

“The Warriors’ transition defense is absurd,” Van Gundy, a former NBA head coach, said in the second quarter. “No one is ever back on the shot. Giving up runout, after runout after runout.”

He wasn’t lying.

The Warriors are shorthanded and perhaps emotionally fatigued in the wake of losing four players in the trade for Butler. They might have been physically tired, having arrived in LA from Salt Lake City in the wee hours.

Defense, which theoretically doesn’t…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-stephs-surge-cant-save-215043312.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-02-06 21:50:00

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