03/14: LAKERS @ Golden State Warriors 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome in to the first half open thread of the Lakers' road matchup vs. the Golden State Warriors off a back-to-back set. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the game.

Q2

LAL 55 GSW 55

That was some good awareness by Lonzo to end it. Broken play, but the Lakers will take it. KCP got doubled at the end and Zo was at the right place at the right time to nod this thing up at 55 a piece. I wouldn't be surprised if this game turns out to be a really slow game. The Warriors are hurting themselves with a couple of turnovers, but the Lakers are hurting themselves more with missed free throws, turnovers, and early foul trouble. They're not really taking full advantage of a very short-handed Warriors squad. But some positives to take here is that Brook Lopez, Julius Randle, and I.T. are carrying the scoring load on this team without B.I. or Kuz. Brook and I.T. had 15 points each. Randle had 13. Those are the Lakers' big 3 right now. They gotta keep feeding it inside with Lopez and Randle and I.T. and Zo have to continue to be aggressive to the cup. KCP vs. KD is a lopsided matchup. Durant is just using his length to his advantage to get any shot he wants. That's where the Lakers miss Ingram and Kuzma. Interesting enough, Lonzo at one point defended KD and did a decent job. Perhaps that's a defensive adjustment Luke Walton can implement. So far, it's a who's who with the way this game's going. Other Lakers have to step in to help Brook, Randle, and I.T. as it is working with the Warriors who are very dependent on Durant to get their offense running. The 2nd half will open up shortly.

Q1

LAL 23 GSW 26

Didn't like that last possession with I.T. dribbling it out as passing it to Derrick Williams for a contested three. I'm stressing this in the comments, the Lakers can live with Kevin Durant scoring at will. KCP defending him is a huge mismatch and KD's having his way. It's the other Warrior players they have to contain. They've stepped up and were actively moving the ball and cutting into the lane. The Lakers had no defense on that early on. Missed free throws were apparent. The turnovers too were a story, but the Warriors are giving it right back. This game could come down to whoever turns it over the most. But, the Lakers are hanging in there with good starts from Lopez and Randle.