Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Golden State Warriors where the Lakers could not follow up on an emotionally-draining Nuggets win last night as they lose to the Warriors 106-117. This win marks the first time the Lakers got swept by the Warriors in a regular season series since the 1993-94 season. And the Lakers missed the playoffs that season.
I was barely scratching the surface in my life the last time this happened. I can only look back at those two close losses in OT at Staples where the Lakers had an opportunity to get at least one game. But, it is what it is. This game was a true trap game for the Lakers. The Warriors didn't have Curry, Klay, or Draymond, but they still found a way to win with their depth. Clearly, the Lakers are light years behind to where we want them to be exactly like the Warriors are now.
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Brook Lopez, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, 8-15 shooting. Lopez started great from beyond the arc and then he regressed there. But, he racked up points with his inside game. The Warriors don't have a lot of bulk on the frontcourt, so that presented a favorable matchup for Brook. He also did it on the defensive end with the five block shots. He had a nice start on both ends during the first quarter when he went all the way for the layup and following it up with a block. That provided early blueprint for Lopez's solid game tonight.
Tyler Ennis, 12 points, 5-6 shooting. We have a love-hate relationship with Ennis. But, let's face it tonight, the Warriors reserves outscored the Laker reserves. Since Luke Walton put I.T. in the starting lineup, that presented a "who's who" on the 2nd unit. And Ennis in that fourth quarter provided some good scoring to spark a mini Lakers run, despite it being in vain as the Warriors continued to hit shots.
Julius Randle, 22 points, 10 rebounds. Like I said on Lopez's section, tonight presented a favorable matchup for Randle. Randle fouling out puts a damp on his performance, but he was pretty much the dependable guy to lean on to quell some of the Golden State momentum.
Isaiah Thomas, 20 points, 7 assists, 5-9 three pointers. I.T. was the only guy who can shoot it efficiently from deep. He was responsible for starting a couple of Laker scoring runs to keep the team in the game. Lakers could've used this performance if he was coming off the bench. But, Ingram out, Kuzma out, I.T. still put up big numbers at the expense of not leading the charge with the 2nd unit.
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Bench scoring. The final count is that the Warriors' 2nd unit racked up 39 points. The Lakers' 2nd unit put up 23 points. At one point, the disparency was evident with the Warriors outscoring the Lakers 25-2 in bench points. That's where the Warriors killed the Lakers there. Shaun Livingston picked up the scoring early on. Omri Cassipi got going after a slow start in the first half. Livingston presented a big time mismatch on I.T. Cassipi, the Laker defense could not account for him as he was just sneaking into the basket untouched.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. It's alarming that KCP is on a current cold shooting streak. He got hot late in the game, but it was already out of reach. Defensively, he got abused trying to guard Kevin Durant. KCP on KD was like a small kid picking on a big kid. Caldwell-Pope as good of a defender he is had all kinds of trouble with Durant's length tonight. Not to mention, he also committed some silly fouls defending the three point line to destroy some of the Lakers' momentum.
Lonzo Ball, 1-8 three point shooting. Zo stuffs the stats sheet somewhere else and he's been shooting the three ball better. But, if it's not working, get your shot going by being aggressive to the cup. Clearly, Zo can't buy a bucket from deep now. So, the logical conclusion for Lonzo is to attack the basket. He's still has long ways to go to find that scoring balance. But, everything else is fine for him.
MVP
Based on how Lopez played tonight and put up numbers on both ends of the floor, he's the MVP of the game. He's not a big time shot blocker, but the five blocks from him were a rare sight to see.
Conclusion
We can't use the no B.I., no Kuz excuse for this one. The Warriors didn't have Curry, Klay, and Green. It would've been a different story if both teams were healthy. And like I said, the Warriors would likely get this game since they're making a playoff push. The Lakers are clearly on the rise and the Warriors will gradually head down their peaking point. Nowadays, it's hard to stay on top, especially when a team has been to three straight finals and won 73 games. That's a lot of minutes and wear and tear logged onto the players. Not to mention, the locked up Curry to a big money contract. KD as well. The Warriors are at that period of playing "keep as many as you can." But, enough with me providing some fact checks here. My Bay Area buddies who are longtime Warrior fans deserve this after being on the losing end for a long time. Seeing the Lakers get swept by the Warriors is gonna take some time to adjust to because it's a rare occurrence given the past fortunes of these two teams. Hopefully, it doesn't become a habit. I'll see you guys later.
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