While the Warriors had control through the first half of Wednesday’s game, a barrage of turnovers in the third quarter cost the team in a 103-100 road loss to the NBA’s defending Champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the Play-In Tournament.
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The Warriors worked their way into a tight game that went down to the wire, with neither team taking a lead larger than three points through the final six-plus minutes. Ultimately the game was decided by a buzzer-beater trey by four-time MVP LeBron James with one minute to go, and stout defense to force the Dubs to take the loss.
After James’ made 3-pointer, the Warriors found themselves with the final possession with 2.1 seconds left and ready to inbound the ball from the hashmark following a timeout. Bazemore passed the ball in to Stephen Curry at the top of the arc, but he was blanketed by power forward/center Anthony Davis. The Lakers big man caused Curry to lose the ball, and the Warriors to lose the play-in matchup.
TEAM LEADERS
The loss comes after strong defense and great ball control through the first half of the game. Though the Lakers owned a 2-1 regular season series over the Warriors, Wednesday marked the first time the Dubs had the lead heading into the half this season.
The Warriors entered the game with the fifth best defensive rating in the league, but the Lakers were arguably the league’s best defense in the regular season being first in defensive rating and allowing the second least points to their opponents per game (106.8). But it was the Dubs’ defense that owned the first half, keeping Los Angeles to 42 points on 31 percent shooting. In that span, the Warriors held the Lakers’ top three scorers through the regular season — LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder — to just 13 points on 4-for-28 shooting.
But the tides turned in the third quarter as Warrior turnovers piled up. Following just five first-half turnovers, the Warriors gave the ball up eight times in the third quarter alone. In that time, Los Angeles outscored the Dubs 35-24 in the frame to thrust themselves back into the game for the fourth quarter duel.
Curry finished with 37 points on an efficient 6-for-9 shooting night from beyond the arc, leading all scorers in both categories.
Andrew Wiggins was second-high on the team with 21 points, and Jordan Poole added 10 in 26 minutes off the bench.
While the loss took the Dubs out of contention for the No. 7 seed in the Playoffs, the Warriors will be right back at it on Friday when the play the Memphis Grizzlies back home at Chase Center (6 p.m., ESPN). Get ticketing and COVID-19 testing information here for this rematch of the final game of the regular season will have dire consequences: the winner will advance to the NBA Playoffs as the No. 8 seed while the loser is eliminated and their season is over.