LOS ANGELES–After taking in Kobe Bryant’s halftime ceremony to retire both his No. 8 and 24 jerseys on Monday night, the Warriors (24-6) spoiled the occasion with another overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers (10-18).
After Kevin Durant hit a go-ahead jumper in the closing seconds, Warriors’ forward David West raced down the floor and caught Lakers’ guard Lonzo Ball from behind to swat away a potential game-tying layup attempt and preserve the 116-114 victory.
With less than a minute left in regulation, Brandon Ingram kept the Lakers alive with a layup and forced the game into overtime with the score tied 102-102. Durant, who finished the game with 36 points and 10 rebounds, responded with a three-point shot to lead off the overtime period and took over from there. He scored 10 points in overtime, including two tie-breaking three-pointers and a go-ahead free throw before knocking down the game-winner.
Starting with their narrow 127-123 overtime victory over the Lakers in their last meeting in Los Angeles on November 29, the Warriors haven’t lost a game in three weeks. Their last defeat was handed to them by the Sacramento Kings on November 27 and the Warriors extended their winning streak to nine games on Monday night; even without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia, and Shaun Livingston.
While Livingston was given a rest after his start against the Dallas Mavericks; Curry is tending to an ankle injury he suffered in New Orleans on December 14, and Green and Pachulia are both nursing sore shoulders.
Klay Thompson, who finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds, quickly ran into trouble by committing two fouls in the first two minutes of the game. That, along with Kevin Durant’s early struggles allowed the Lakers to take a short-lived lead before the Warriors finished the first quarter on a 18-4 run with a 32-24 lead.
The Warriors leaned on strong showings from Omri Casspi, Nick Young, and JaVale McGee to see them through the first half ahead 57-53. Casspi led the trio with 12 points in 13 points while Young scored eight and McGee six.
After attempting to block a Durant layout towards the end of the first half, Lakers’ center Brook Lopez had to be helped off the court with an apparent injury and did not return to the game.
Roughly five minutes into the third quarter, Jordan Bell dramatically blocked Brandon Ingram’s layup attempt that would’ve been praised if he had not stared down his victim and not gotten back on offense. As a result, an angry Steve Kerr temporarily benched Bell as the Warriors and Lakers went back and forth in the third quarter, but Golden State held onto a 83-82 lead heading into the fourth.
Jordan Bell just rose up for nasty block of Ingram at rim, stayed back to stare him down. Steve Kerr yelling at Bell to get in transition, immediately pulls him to let him know. As he gets to bench, Draymond awaiting with high-5s and congrats on block.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 19, 2017