On paper, Sunday night’s primetime showdown between former rivals LeBron James and Steph Curry looked fantastic. In reality, it was a big disappointment. The Los Angeles Lakers led by 20 points after the first quarter and won a rather boring 117-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
LeBron James finished with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in just 24 minutes, taking most of the second half. Markieff Morris, Dennis Schroder, Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma and Talen Horton-Tucker contributed double digits in what was a real team effort.
For the Warriors, their top scorer was Eric Paschall with 18 points, which is really all you need to know from his point of view. With Draymond Green eliminated from the game due to a sprained ankle, coach Steve Kerr raised the white flag early on.
Here are some important conclusions from the Lakers’ big win:
Lakers getting back on track
The past few weeks have not been kind to the Lakers. Anthony Davis suffered a calf injury that will leave him out until sometime after the All-Star break, and shortly after skidding in a streak of four consecutive defeats, the best of the season. But now things are starting to get better.
This was exactly the kind of dominant performance they needed to rejuvenate the team. They jumped to a 20 point lead after the first quarter and managed to slow the rest of the way down. After recording many minutes this month, LeBron James only had to play 24 this – a low of the season.
Winner of two consecutive matches, the Lakers climbed back to second place in the Western Conference. If they manage to get a few more wins together this week, they can go to the high range.
Green goes down
At the end of the first half, Draymond Green was quickly returning to the transition defense and made a beautiful move to force Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a stray tray. Unfortunately, the two curled up a bit on the landing, and Green sprained his ankle as he stepped on Caldwell-Pope’s foot.
At first he tried to break away and told the bank he didn’t want to leave the game, but that soon became impossible. He returned to the locker room and did not show up for the second half, at which point the team announced that he would be out for the rest of the game.
It is still too early to know how long he will be away, but it would not be surprising to see the Warriors being cautious and just keeping him up during the All-Star break. That way, he will have almost two full weeks off and will be able to recharge for the second half of the season.
Schroder shows his influence
Much of the coverage in recent weeks has focused on Anthony Davis’s absence, and for good reason. But he was not the only key member of the Lakers on the sidelines. Dennis Schroder was also out due to a restriction on the league’s health and safety protocols and lost four games – all defeats to LA
He didn’t show exactly crazy numbers against the Warriors – 12 points, three rebounds and six assists in 25 minutes – but once again he showed the impact he has on the team. It is no surprise that the Lakers’ attack was more dynamic on Sunday, considering their offensive rating for the season is -9.1 points per 100 more possessions with Schroder on the court.
Despite all their talent, the Lakers don’t have many players who can create outside of James and Davis. And when Schroder was also gone, the offense really stopped. His speed allows him to enter the corridor, where he can press the defense in a way that many of his teammates cannot. From there, he can mark himself, reach the line or kick to open his teammates.