The Golden State Warriors almost pulled off a massive comeback Tuesday night at the Chase Center.
But this batch started too late.
Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers went on to beat the Warriors 117-112 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal Series in San Francisco. That gave the Lakers, who were knocked out of action before beating the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs, a 1-0 lead.
Davis was absolutely dominant for the win, too. Davis finished with 30 points, 23 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks while shooting 11-of-19 from the field.
“We know they’re the same defending champions, man,” Davis said on TNT. “We saw what they did against the Sac… there’s no safe bullet with them. You obviously saw they could get hot at any moment. It’s just our team mentality, knowing if we can win this building, we can beat this team.” It is a confidence booster for us.”
Although the Lakers felt like they were a full step ahead in the second half, the Warriors recovered right back in the final minutes. Falling into a 14-point hole in the fourth quarter, the Warriors went up 14-0 over nearly five minutes capped off by a pair of massive 3-pointers from Jordan Paul and Stephen Curry.
However, Curry’s last 3-pointer was the last bucket Golden State made. The Lakers held the Warriors scoreless the rest of the way and hit a few free throws in the dying seconds to seal the win by five points.
The first half was a battle, and immediately set the tone for what should be a great California series. Davis lost 23 of his 30 points in the first half and led the Lakers to a one-point halftime lead. The Warriors, led by Klay Thompson’s 18 first-half points, made 13 three-pointers in the first 24 minutes. On the other hand, the Lakers went 1 of 8 from behind the arc.
The Lakers briefly broke away in the third, thanks to a stellar 13-3 series to put them in double digits for the first time all night. The Golden State didn’t go away for long, and it’s right back at it thanks to Gary Payton II’s wild dunk over James. But this knockdown left the elder Payton largely unaffected.
The Lakers extended their lead to eight points at the end of the third period, and were awarded three free points in the closing minutes after Draymond Green committed a technical foul for arguing with an official over a foul called in order to send Davis back to the team. Free throw line. The Lakers were an astonishing 21 from 23 from the free throw line after three quarters, and the Warriors had only attempted five shots from the tape.
This led to late payment of the Warriors, which was discontinued for a short time.
Curry led Golden State with 27 points in the loss, and Thompson finished with 25 points. Paul added 21 points off the bench as well. This combined trio went 18 of 40 from behind the arc. Kevon Looney added 10 points and 23 rebounds. He has now recorded at least 20 rebounds in four games so far this postseason.
James added 22 points and 11 rebounds to Davis’ 30-point day. Dennis Schroeder finished with 19 points off the bench, and D’Angelo Russell put up 19 points and 6 assists. Despite making only six shots from behind the arc, the Lakers shot approximately 47% from the field as a team and made 25 free throws. Most importantly, they’ve won 15 of their last 19 matches.
The second game of the series is set on a Thursday night in San Francisco.