LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers destroyed the Golden State Warriors last night at the Staples Center with 126-93.
It was a dominant performance of the home team who grabbed the lead right from the start and controlled the match from the beginning until the end. Everything was clear already after the first period, in which Lakers created a 33-20 lead, setting the pace which the guests couldn’t follow.
The hosts were pouring three-pointers from all the positions, and they looked like the Warriors from the previous years. The purple and gold had 50% of shooting behind the arc, hitting 15 of their 30 tries with Avery Bradley and Quinn Cook being 4 of 5 from downtown each. Meanwhile, LeBron James was tearing apart Golden State’s defense.
King James ended the night with 18 points, 11 assists, and 4 boards. Some of those assists were simply unbelievable. The play of the night was his no-look overhead pass towards Danny Green in the corner. Of course, the former Raptors and Spurs didn’t miss a chance to drill an easy three.
Frank Vogel, the Lakers head coach, was simply astonished by the way James sees the court.
“His ability to read help is maybe the best ever,” Vogel told the media. “Wherever the help is coming from, he’s able to just find, identify, and find and deliver the ball right on target time and time again. You saw that tonight with 11 assists.”
What also pleased both the fans and coach Vogel was the performance of Anthony Davis. Many were frightened because of his thumb injury, but it seems everything is fine now. The Eyebrow almost posted a triple-double, in a game in which he had 8 boards and dimes apiece and 10 rebounds.
He noticed that it is much easier for him to play in the Lakers than before since he can assist more to other teammates more often.
“When you have guys all over the board who can score the basketball, you don’t need to do everything every possession. It feels good to be able to just, you know, fit in.”
Steve Kerr had many problems coming into this match. Apart from missing Kevon Looney and Willie Cauley-Stein, he couldn’t count on Steph Curry too. The two-time NBA MVP isn’t injured, but the medical staff wanted him to take a rest for one night.
D’Angelo Russell was leading the Dub Nation this Wednesday, and we have to say that he didn’t show too much. Although he contributed with 23 points, his defense wasn’t good at all. He often loses his player, and allow easy buckets. Overall, Steve Kerr wasn’t happy with the way his boys played defense, especially on how they defended the long-distance shots.
“Perimeter defense was not good,” Kerr said, following the match. “We were getting blown by, getting back cut. First half was really bad.”
Lakers and the Warriors will play once again this Friday. The only difference is that the venue is going to be the new Chase Arena in San Francisco.
