In order to avoid falling into a disastrous 2-0 hole, the Warriors needed to win on Thursday night. They did so in convincing fashion.
After getting dominated by Anthony Davis on Tuesday, they recovered with an inspired Game 2 performance. A well-rounded effort propelled Golden State to a series-evening 127- 100 win that moves the series down the state to Southern California.
Draymond Green and Klay Thompson dissect Los Angeles
When Draymond Green plays his best basketball, the Warriors are usually in good shape. His mental acuity was on prime display on Thursday night.
He was excellent in every aspect.
Stephen Curry was hounded, so Green frequently got the chance to make plays. That pressure let Curry become a distributor as evidenced by a 7-point, 7-assist first half. He finished with 20 points (7-of-12, 3-of-5 from 3-pt, hit all 3 free throw attempts) with 4 rebounds, 12 assists, a steal and 3 turnovers.
It was a smart performance from Curry, who diced up a Lakers defense that was obsessed with trying to stop him.
Green, on a lot of the opportunities when Curry was swarmed, drove and either finished at the rim or set someone else up. If he wasn’t assisting in the traditional sense, he was getting a hockey assist or assisting with a screen.
His defense was monumental in slowing down Anthony Davis. He was keyed in on him on every single defensive possession. On one of the few possessions he lost track of him, Davis cut behind him for an offensive rebound and score; Green was visibly frustrated by himself.
Immediately after that, he was locked back in. If he wasn’t contesting Davis, he was identifying him before a shot and sealing him out with great body positioning to prevent offensive rebounds. Green finished with 11 points (5-of-10), 11 rebounds, 9 assists, a steal and a couple turnovers.
Also outstanding was Klay Thompson.
He’s been a reliable scorer this postseason, but he hasn’t scored with anywhere near the level of efficiency he had against the Lakers on Thursday.
He was making everything. As usual when Thompson has an excellent game, he started it by taking mostly smart shots. He almost singlehandedly ran the Lakers out of the building, scoring 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting and 8-of-11 from deep.
Kerr has pointed that out on numerous occasions. When Thompson gets in rhythm with good looks, good things happen. Good things happened in Game 2.
If he and Green play with the same level of efficiency for the rest of the series, it’s extremely difficult to imagine Golden State losing this series.
Different lineup works for Warriors
For just the second time this season, JaMychal Green started a game for the Warriors. It was not, discernibly, by design. Kevon Looney was reportedly feeling ill.
But what it did was offer the Warriors a lineup with four shooters. That paid dividends early.
Green offers nowhere near the level of rebounding that Looney does, but he’s not anemic in that regard. He’s also a bit of a lob threat, whereas Looney isn’t.
More than anything, though, he spread the floor. He had 15 points, going 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep. With the way the Lakers were guarding Curry, and with both he and Draymond Green facilitating, he also got a few gimme drives to the hoop.
That was a constant in Game 2. The number of easy layups and cuts to the rim seemed to rise astronomically. In Game 1, the Warriors were 14-of-35 in the paint. They were 15-of-29 in the first half alone on Thursday.
The results beg the question, should the Warriors stick with JaMychal Green? Steve Kerr has said that he believes in sticking with what works, and this clearly worked.
Until the Warriors fail to get a jolt from him early, he may remain in the starting lineup for this series.
Anthony Davis shut down, LeBron James evaporates… and free throws
In the series opener, Anthony Davis was like the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain. The Warriors did not have an answer for him.
He drubbed them to the tune of 30 points, 23 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks. It was an omnipotent performance that propelled Los Angeles to a series-opening win.
On Thursday, he was a shell of his Game 1 self.
He wasn’t terrible, but he didn’t have a major impact on the game. Draymond Green’s defensive effort and intention in boxing him out took him out of his rhythm.
Davis finished with 11 points (5-of-11), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, a steal and 3 turnovers in three quarters.
His fellow star, LeBron James, disappeared from the game in the second half. Early on, with the Lakers leading in an impressive first quarter, he looked like he might take over. James had 23 points (9-of-13) with 5 rebounds rebounds in the first half. In the second half, he was 1-of-5 with 2 points.
He and Davis were removed from the game at the conclusion of the third quarter, with the Warriors climbing to as much as a 30-point lead.
The main difference in this game, aside from Davis being limited, was free throw shooting. The story of Game 1 was the Lakers’ ability to get to the free throw line.
Los Angeles was an outrageous 25-of-20 from the line in the opener. The Warriors were 5-of-6. That fundamentally changed in Game 2.
Golden State — aside from Jordan Poole, who somehow managed to rack up five fouls his nearly 16 minutes — was much smarter defensively. They were and held Los Angeles was 10-of-17 from the line, with a lot of those attempts coming in fourth quarter garbage time.
If the Warriors can limit the Lakers from the line, their flop-forward ball-handlers, Dennis Shroeder and Austin Reaves, will have a very difficult time making an impact this series.
Those two, and D’Angelo Russell, combined for 48 points and 11 free throw attempts in the opener. They had 19 combined points and four free throws attempts in Game 2. Time will soon tell how the Lakers respond to a convincing hook from the Warriors to tie the series.