by Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors began the six-game road trip with a win in overtime over the LA Lakers 127-123. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry returned to action Wednesday night. Steph, who missed a game with a hand bruise, returned to the lineup with his right ring finger heavily taped. Steph had a rough time as he did not make shots taken with his right hand. He did make one three-point shot in regulation, but most of his points came when he scored with his left. However, in the five-minute overtime period, Steph made an adjustment and scored thirteen of his twenty-eight points in overtime to lead the Warriors to victory.

The Warriors led 30-20 after the first period, and it looked like they were going to cruise to a win. The young Lakers had other thoughts, and they won the second quarter by fourteen points. The Warriors went to sleep halfway through the period, and the Lakers were able to go on an 18-4 at the end of the quarter to take a four-point advantage 54-50 at the end of the first half. Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 14 and bench players Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson had 12 and 8. Former Warrior center Andrew Bogut scored two but was not a factor. Kevin Durant led the Dubs with 13, Steph and Zaza Pachulia each had six. Klay Thompson, Nick Young, and Shaun Livingston each had 5. The Lakers shot 53.8% from the floor. The Lakers, who are not a good shooting team, played like the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night. The Kings beat the Dubs as they shot over 50% from the floor and the Lakers, coached by former Warrior assistant coach Luke Walton, tried to emulate what the Kings did on Monday night.

The third quarter was nip and tuck for the entire twelve minutes of the period. The Warriors were able to end the quarter tied at 84, but it wasn’t easy. Lakers highly touted rookie, Lonzo Ball made three three-point shots. The Warriors committed four turnovers in a row, but somehow they managed to outscore the Lakers 34-30 in the quarter. Jordan Bell mad two key buckets and Nick Young made a two-point shot to give the Dubs the lead 84-82 just before the end of the period. The Lakers came back with a bucket of their own to tie the game.

The Warriors tried to put the game away in the fourth period. They took the lead, but the Lakers kept coming back. It was tied three times at 91, 93, and 95. TheDubs took a 5-point lead when Steph hit a deuce and Klay followed with a three to lead 100-95 with 5:20 to play. The Lakers tied the game again at 104 and 106. The Lakers took a 3-point lead 109-106 with just 55 seconds left. KD tied it with a three, and the game went to overtime tied at 109.

In 5-minute overtime stanza, Steph made an adjustment and mad two three-point shots. They led by seven before the Lakers woke up and fought back. The Warriors led by six after Steph made a two-pointer to put the Dubs up 122-116. The  Lakers clawed their way back to make it a one-point game 124-123, but Steph made free throws near the end of the game to win it for Golden State 127-123.

Game Notes and Stats- After the game, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr said this about the performance of his team:” it took us most of the game before we competed and played with passion,” He also said this about the 22 turnovers the team committed: we “gotta take better care of the ball.”

Talking about Steph Curry, Kerr remarked:’he had a horrible game, but it takes a special player to bounce back.” Curry scored 27 points with 13 of them coming in overtime. He also said this about Kevin Durant’s performance:” he carried us.”

Here are the numbers. KD scored 29, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds. Klay had 20 points. Draymond Green finished the night with a double-double. He tallied 15 points, 9 assists, and eleven boards. Zaza Pachulia pitched in with 11. The Warriors shot 50% from the floor, made 12 3-point shots and had 30 assists. They outrebounded the Lakers 49-34. On defense, they had 10 steals and four blocks, but they committed 22 turnovers. The Lakers were held to 49.5% from the floor and they made 9 3-pointers. Brandon Ingram had a career-high 32 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 21. Lonzo Ball had 15, and Jordan Clarkson had 21, and Julius Randle finished with 20.

David West did not play as he had the night off.

The Warriors improve to 16-6 while the Lakers fall to 8-12. The Warriors play the Orlando Magic Friday night in Orlando. Gam time is at 4 pm.