LAKERS-Warriors Halftime Post

GS 49 LAL 60

Welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup vs. the record chasing, defending champion Golden State Warriors where the Lakers have a 49-60 at the half

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Clarkson-Russell back court. Welcome back both D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson. If you guys remember, Clarkson was out, D'Angelo had an atrocious game Friday night, but they're taking it to the Splash Brothers on the opposite end. D'Lo has 17 points on 5-10 shooting, currently the top performer of the game, JC has 14 points on 6-13 shooting. They got it going on the offense and they're doing their job on the defensive end too getting at least 1 or 2 easy shots in from Golden State's turnovers. I tell you, this back court is starting to come together.

Marcelo Huertas. He's not a scorer, barely gets any playing, but when he's on the floor, facilitating the ball, he helps create a lot of room for the Lakers to cut or space the floor. Brandon Bass, Larry Nance, Jr. benefited big time from Huertas' presence on the floor. If the Warriors can catch the Lakers off guard with back door cuts for easy shots, the Lakers can catch them off guard too and Huertas, along with Bass and Nance help with that game.

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There were not a lot of negatives during this first half. Despite allowing easy shots due to the Warriors' ball movement, they've contained the Warriors' strong game at the 3 and creating turnovers. Aside from some opportunities to balloon the lead a little further, there weren't too much negatives.

Bottom Line

The last time the Lakers were competitive throughout the game at home, against the Warriors, they let a Splash Brother loose and the Warriors were able to pull away. That can't happen. It's inevitable that the Warriors will eventually get going from three point land, but if the Lakers can keep up with this energy, exploiting the Warriors' much older bench with the speed and quickness of Clarkson, Russell, Randle, Bass, Nance, and Huertas and continue to generate turnovers on the defensive end, they have a chance to pull off a monumental upset. They just have to keep pushing and keep grinding. Let's see what happens.