SAN FRANCISCO — Especially in the modern NBA, sometimes 3-point shooting ultimately decides the result of a game.
That was the case in the Lakers’ 128-110 road loss to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night at Chase Center.
Despite playing without LeBron James, the Lakers (30-27) matched or had a couple of advantages over the Warriors (28-26) in multiple areas. They were more opportunistic in taking advantage of Golden State’s mistakes, scoring 16 points off the Warriors’ nine turnovers, compared to the Warriors scoring nine points off the Lakers’ 11 giveaways.
They shot a similar percentage from the floor, with the Lakers going 43 for 88 (48.9%) from the field compared to the Warriors’ 50 for 107 (46.7%). Both teams scored 58 points inside the paint.
But it was the Warriors’ advantage from behind the arc that gave them the edge.
Led by Steph Curry (32 points, six 3-pointers, eight assists), the hosts knocked down 16 of their 41 shots from 3-point range (39%) compared to the Lakers’ 10-of-35 showing (28.6%).
The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis, who had 27 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots. But Davis was among the Lakers who struggled with their shots, going just 1 for 6 outside the paint.
As a team, the Lakers shot 14 for 50 (28%) outside of the paint.
D’Angelo Russell had 18 points (6-for-15 shooting), nine assists, five rebounds and two steals while Austin Reaves recorded 16 points and four assists. Taurean Prince, who once again started in place of James, scored 12 points. Rui Hachimura, who scored a career-high 36 points in the final game before the All-Star break (also without James) was held to eight points in 32 minutes.
The Lakers stuck with the Warriors for most of the first half, leading 51-50 going into the final few minutes of the second quarter.
But Curry led a 15-3 run to close the second and give the Warriors a 67-56 lead going into halftime.
The Warriors maintained their momentum in the third.
With the…
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