Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) gets airborne driving to the net against the Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins (22) in game 5 of the NBA Playoffs on Mon May 8, 2023 (AP News photo)

Crushing Defeat For Warriors Losing to Los Angeles 104-101

By Barbara Mason

The Golden State Warriors (1-3) are in a bit of a pickle trailing the Los Angeles Lakers (3-1) 3 games to 1 in the Western Conference semifinals. Yes they do thrive when faced with adversity but they couldn’t do it Monday night at Crypto.com Arena in a game 4 104-101 loss.

Game 4 game wrap: The opening quarter was a slow one for both teams. The Warriors took a five point lead mid-way through the quarter going on an 8-0 run. The Lakers answered with their own 8-0 run. The first quarter was a close one with Golden State leading 22-21.

The Lakers were upstaged by Warriors guard Stephen Curry in the second quarter. He had 17 points at, the half 14 of them in the second quarter. The Warriors finished the first half with six turnovers. Curry also had seven rebounds and seven assists. At the half the Warriors held a slim 52-49 lead. It was Anthony Davis who was keeping the Lakers in this game.

The Warriors would have to find a way to contain Davis who finished the half with 19 points and was having another outstanding game. In the first half Davis was doing whatever he wanted. Klay Thompson needed to get going only hitting one triple in the first half.

Going into this game the Warriors wanted to score more points in the paint and they did have that going but they also needed to get a few triples as well. They only had five from downtown in the first half. They needed to keep Davis on the perimeter in the second half.

Whenever it began to hinge in one direction or the other neither team could distance themselves in the opening minutes. The Lakers got a 10-0 run going as the quarter wore on taking a 59-57 lead at 8:30. The tide turned in this game when the Warriors went off taking the largest lead of the game 73-61 with under six minutes left in the third quarter. Golden State led 84-77 going into the fourth quarter.

Golden State watched their lead evaporate in the final quarter. The Lakers are the top scoring fourth quarter team in the league and they really showed it. Curry already had a triple double in the game getting the Warriors fired up. This game was going into a higher level of intensity the Warriors have yet to see so far in these playoffs. It was insanity.

With five minutes left in the game it was tied at 94. Thompson had a huge three in the waning minutes but he also missed a couple of shots from downtown. With 15 ticks left on the clock the Warriors were trailing 104-101. Two late turnovers by Golden State made all the difference in this game. Davis had a horrible second half with only four points, but the Warriors just couldn’t cash in.

Curry had his third career triple double with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. It was just so close and the Warriors needed just a bit more from Thompson to take this game. It was a tough loss for Golden State after they had finally taken a double digit lead. They just couldn’t hang onto it. They could not be in any tougher of a situation trailing 3-1 in the series.

Game Five will be played at Chase Center on Wednesday night with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 PM.