LOS ANGELES — A good turn deserves another, and the Warriors were on the wrong side of that maxim Saturday night in Los Angeles.
After several successful adjustments by Golden State to a convincing Game 2 win, the Lakers responded with their own adjustments and rolled to a 127-97 win in Game 3 at the Crypto.com Arena.
Although the Warriors seemed poised to take charge early in the second quarter, they were so thoroughly outclassed in the final 31 minutes that coach Steve Kerr emptied his bench with 9-11 to go.
Stephen Curry led the Golden State scorers with 23 points, while Andrew Wiggins had 16 points overall and Klay Thompson 15 points.
The Warriors’ downfall was primarily attributed to their 19 turnovers, from which the Lakers scored 27 points.
Here are three observations from a loss that leaves the Warriors 2-1 in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 scheduled for Monday night in LA:
Brutal second quarter too much to get over
After a 30-23 lead in the second quarter and a 40-29 lead at 7:53 at halftime, the Warriors amassed pretty much all the ingredients needed for a massive pot of disaster stew.
sales? Check over. fouls? Check over. Obvious fouls? Yes indeed. Technical fouls? One for each Green, Draymond and JaMychal. Bad shooting? Absolutely. Lost Trainer’s Challenge? Naturally.
The result was a 30-8 run by the Lakers, besting the Warriors 36-18 in the quarter and leading 59-48 at halftime.
LA scored 15 points from nine Golden State turnovers and shot 50 percent while the Warriors shot 30.4 percent. Many chefs were also involved, with Thompson, Curry, Poole and Looney responsible for sales.
It’s not easy to pass your opponent 17-10 in a quarter and still be outplayed 36-18, but the Warriors found a way.
Klay’s dream turns into a nightmare
This was the night that spent 12 years in Thompson’s dreams. A playoff game at Staples/Crypto.com Arena against the Lakers.
And things went horribly wrong for the veteran security guard, who spent his teenage years in Orange County attending Lakers games with his father Mychal, a color analyst on the team’s radio shows.
Thompson started well enough, scoring 11 points while going 3-of-5 from long range in his first 11 minutes. From then on, it was an evening he would rather forget.
Klay was 2-of-9 in the last three quarters and finished with 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. Worse, he’s committed six turnovers — more than in any of his previous 154 postseason games.
Over 33 minutes of play, Thompson was down 23.
The Return of Free Throw Disparity
Much has been said about game 1 free throw differences, with the Lakers holding a 29-6 advantage in that category. The numbers in Game 2 (Lakers 17, Warriors 16) were much tighter.
Game 3 looked very similar to Game 1 and there is a story in it.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham was asked about physicality in terms of free throw count before the game. Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked the same question in his pre-game press conference. Both agreed that the most aggressive team tends to take advantage of officials when in doubt.
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LA generally played with more power and made fewer mistakes, going to the line 37 times and making 27. Golden State, in contrast, was 12 of 17.
This is a lesson for the warriors to learn in Game 4.