LOS ANGELES – These are the type of games the Lakers have to win, period.
They persevered Sunday against Golden State after the first unit took a 15-point first-quarter lead, thanks to a 28-5 run, and the second unit gave most of it back. They withstood everything thrown at them the rest of the way by a revitalized Warriors club that got Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala back Sunday, Curry following an 11-game absence due to a leg injury with a 27-point afternoon.
And the Lakers held off the Warriors to win, 113-104, to creep within a half-game of 10th-place New Orleans and the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. They have 17 games left, the return of LeBron James is still somewhere in the distance (and that of D’Angelo Russell is closer), but the guys in uniform right now have to keep the Lakers in position to get there.
And maybe they learned something from Friday night’s uninspired and uninspiring 110-102 loss to Minnesota, at the start of a five-game homestand.
“I feel like every day that we go into practice, like the next day after a game, we look at the standings and we talk about it as a team,” the Lakers’ Troy Brown Jr. said. “We understand the goal that we’re trying to get to and (that) we can’t afford to lose games.
“And so that’s why last game just felt crucial. I feel like we needed that. If we win that and then we win this today, you know, we’re sitting good. But you can’t live in the past … End of the day, like I keep saying, the game waits for nobody and nobody’s gonna feel sorry for us. And so we got to move on to the next game and still figure it out.”
It is Anthony Davis’ team right now. He had 38 points Friday night against the Timberwolves, and topped it Sunday with 39 points (14 for 25 shooting from all over the floor and 10 of 13 free throws), eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.
“He’s playing pain-free, in a really great rhythm,” coach Darvin Ham said. “He’s smiling….
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