After suffering a historic, 43-point loss to Golden State in Oakland on Wednesday, the Lakers returned home to Staples Center for another chance at the Warriors.
However, with three members of their starting five — D’Angelo Russell (knee), Julius Randle (hip) and Nick Young (toe) — missing the game due to injury, the Lakers were unable to threaten much in a 109-85 loss.
On the day after Thanksgiving, head coach Luke Walton felt that his team “didn’t play hard and smart” at the same time.
“It looked like a Thanksgiving food hangover,” Walton said. “You know Golden State is obviously a premiere team in this league, and I don’t even think they were great tonight. They were good; they were better than us.”
With so much of its firepower sidelined, Los Angeles (8-9) couldn’t get its high-flying offense off the ground, shooting a season-worst 35.6 percent from the field, including just 5-of-22 from 3-point range.
Jordan Clarkson started his first game of the year and led the Lakers with 20 points, four 3-pointers and a career-high five steals, but no other player was efficient with his shot.
Second-overall pick Brandon Ingram tallied eight points and a career-best nine rebounds in his first home start, but missed 15 of his 18 attempts from the field.
“I tried to bring energy,” Ingram said. “I think I missed a couple shots that I can make, but overall I think I was aggressive.”
Despite missing from across the floor, Ingram’s approach still pleased Walton.
“I thought Brandon played a really solid first half,” Walton said. “I mean, he was 1-for-10, but just from watching the flow of the game and how he was being aggressive — he was looking to attack the paint and score. I thought he played well.”
Ingram actually jumpstarted the Lakers’ best play of the game, coming from behind to block Kevin Durant, which led to Luol Deng dunking on the fast-break for the contest’s first bucket.
This helped the Lakers built an early 12-7 edge, but then Golden State (14-2) bolted past them by scoring 13 unanswered points for a lead that it would never give back.
Halfway through the second quarter, the Lakers rolled off 10 straight points to cut the Warriors’ lead to 44-41, but Golden State pushed it back up to 10 by halftime and never let it fall below double figures in the second half.
And while the Warriors shot 51.8 percent from the field behind Kevin Durant (29 points, nine assists) and Stephen Curry (24 points), the Lakers’ offense couldn’t muster much to contend.
L.A. trailed by as many as 24 in the second half, while Ingram, Deng and Lou Williams combined to shoot 10-of-40 from the field and miss all 10 of their 3-point attempts.
However, the Lakers were certainly more competitive than on Wednesday, when they allowed Golden State — which has now won 10 straight games since falling to the Lakers on Nov. 4 — to score 149 points — the most by an L.A. opponent in 36 years.
“We kind of laid down when we went over there (to Golden State),” said Thomas Robinson, who had six points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes. “We were kind of dysfunctional because of the injuries, the loss. We came back here tonight and competed as a team. … We can’t dwell on this one too long.”
Notes
Golden State’s Draymond Green (left ankle contusion) and Ian Clark (throat injury) both left the game in the third quarter after colliding with one another. … The Lakers had a 14-4 advantage in offensive rebounding. … L.A. wore its black “Hollywood Nights” uniforms for the first time this season. … A sold-out crowd of 18,997 packed Staples Center.