LOS ANGELES — The Lakers, like most Western Conference teams competing for a spot in the playoffs outside of the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, understand how precious each game is in the final 1½ weeks of the regular season.
With seeds Nos. 3-8 separated by just 2½ games entering Thursday, one poor stretch of play could be the difference between having home-court advantage in the playoffs, making the top six outright or having to compete in the Play-In Tournament.
The Lakers, who entered Thursday night’s home game against the Golden State Warriors in third place in the West, played with the desperation and energy of a team looking to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
But their attention to detail wasn’t where it needed to be for the entire game, leading to a 123-116 loss at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers (46-30) fell back into fourth place in the West after the loss, just one day after moving up to No. 3 after the Denver Nuggets’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
The Warriors (45-31), who moved into fifth place behind a 37-point, six-assist night from Steph Curry, are now just one game behind the Lakers.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 33 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Austin Reaves made nine 3-pointers and finished with 31 points (20 in the fourth quarter), six assists and three rebounds. Rui Hachimura added 24 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Luka Doncic had 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists with an uncharacteristically poor shooting night. Doncic shot 6 for 17 from the field and missed all six of his 3-point attempts. It was the first time since April 7, 2023 that Doncic finished a game without making a 3-pointer.
After trailing by eight to 14 points for much of the second half, the Lakers cut their deficit to five when Reaves made a 3-pointer off an out-of-timeout play, with the Warriors leading by 121-116 with 35 seconds left.
The Lakers forced the Warriors to turn the ball over after the ensuing inbounds pass, giving the Lakers an opportunity to cut their deficit to a single possession.
But they gave the ball back to Golden State when Dorian Finney-Smith tried handing the ball to Doncic after an offensive rebound, with Jimmy Butler picking up the steal and Curry making a pair of free throws to steal the win for the Warriors.
Brandin Podziemski had 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Warriors. Podziemski had a career-high eight 3-pointers on a night when Curry was 4 for 11 from long range. Curry was coming off a 52-point effort, including 12 3-pointers, at Memphis on Tuesday.
Jonathan Kuminga added 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Golden State, which beat the Lakers for the first time in four games this season. The Warriors won without needing much from trade deadline acquisition Jimmy Butler, who had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. He had been averaging 17.3 and had 27 against Memphis.
The Warriors scored 23 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds – many of which led to 3-pointers.
More to come on this story.
Originally Published:
