Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis, bottom, is defended by Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green during the second half at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sun Mar 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

Warriors Road Woes Continue Losing To Lakers 113-105

By Barbara Mason

Coming off a five-game winning streak, the Golden State Warriors (34-30) took on the Los Angeles Lakers (30-34) at crypto.com Arena. The Warriors had a terrific home stand and tested their road legs after struggling defensively all season on the road. Sunday’s performance didn’t enhance their road record dropping the contest to the Lakers 113-105.

Golden State welcomed Stephen Curry back while still awaiting the return of Andrew Wiggins. The Lakers were without LeBron James who suffered a right foot tendon injury February 26 against the Dallas Mavericks and will more than likely be lost to the team for much of this month.

The first quarter was all Lakers and next to nothing for the Warriors. The Lakers Anthony Davis had a terrific start in this game with 19 points. The Warriors offense was struggling with the only points from the starting five coming from Klay Thompson with nine and off the bench Jonathan Kuminga and JaMychal Green with eight points collectively. The Warriors had four turnovers in the quarter, three of them from traveling. The Lakers led 33-18 after the first 12 minutes crushing Golden State. Curry, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Donte DiVincenzo all came up empty.

After trailing by as much as 20 points in the first quarter, the Warriors started to come around. They had trimmed the Laker lead to six points in the opening minutes of the second quarter 35-29.

The Warriors kept chipping away, and at 5:34 left in the first half had pulled to within one point 41-40. The Lakers went on a run extending their lead to ten points but the Warriors fought back and trailed 55-54 at the half. Golden State had an exceptional second quarter winning it 36-22.

Curry hit his first shots of the game in the second quarter finishing with eight points. Klay Thompson had 15 points in the first half and Jordan Poole had ten points off the bench. The Warriors had all the momentum going in this game as they headed into the third quarter.

The Warriors fell off a bit losing much of the momentum they had garnered in the second quarter. The Lakers won the quarter 23-18 and led going into the fourth 78-72.

The final quarter of this game was tight and was tied with 5:16 left in regulation 91-91. Golden State had some opportunities but suffered far too many empty possessions which was making a huge difference in this game. With two minutes left in the game two points separated the two teams 103-101. With 48.9 left on the clock Anthony Davis orchestrated the final blow with a 5-foot jump shot to give the Lakers a 109-101.

The slow start in this game for Golden State was one of the deciding factors in this loss. Empty possessions also hurt the team. Despite a quiet first quarter, Curry really picked it up finishing with 27 points. Thompson had 22 points. The crazy road losses continue and this team needs to figure this out with a lot of games coming up away from Chase and time running out on the season.

The terrific game from the Lakers Davis was a huge factor in this Los Angeles win as they fight to even make the playoffs. He had 39 points and was unstoppable helping his team win despite the absence of LeBron and D’Angelo Russell.

Tuesday night the Warriors will take on the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM.