Warriors' Bassey-to-Lendeborg sequence turned Lakers win, and now it has to carry them

The highlight everyone will replay from the Golden State Warriors' 112-95 win over the Lakers is Stephen Curry shaking Luka Dončić. Steve Kerr picked a different moment, and it matters more for Sunday, when Golden State takes on the LA Clippers without Curry or Draymond Green.

As NBC Sports Bay Area and Monte Poole broke it down, the Warriors were down 11 in the second quarter with Curry on the bench. Charles Bassey, listed at 6-foot-10, then met 7-foot-2 Walker Kessler at the rim and stopped a dunk. Kessler had dunked on Golden State 10 times in the season opener. De'Anthony Melton picked up the loose ball and threw a lob from about 30 feet to Yaxel Lendeborg, who finished it. JJ Redick called timeout right away. "I thought that was play of the game for us," Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area.

The numbers after that sequence back him up. Los Angeles scored 42 points in the first 17 minutes and only 53 in the 31 minutes that followed. The Lakers shot 4 of 12 for the rest of that quarter and 37.8 percent in the second half. Sofascore had Golden State trailing 38-15 at one point before winning the final three quarters 97-57. Curry scored 31 with eight 3-pointers, and the Lakers finished with 20 turnovers.

The win was a third straight for Golden State, and it made up for the 127-105 loss in Los Angeles on opening night. It also pointed to the problem the Warriors still have to solve. Through six games they rank 22nd in defensive rating, according to NBC Sports Bay Area, and only two teams allow a higher effective field-goal percentage. Kerr has said Bassey, who missed the first two games with knee soreness, has earned more minutes. With Kristaps Porzingis out, that would add some size to the frontcourt.

What it means against the Clippers

Sunday is the first night of a back-to-back, and the Warriors have ruled out Curry (right knee injury management) and Green (lower back injury management), Sports Illustrated and HoopsHype reported. Gui Santos is probable with knee tendinitis. Porzingis, Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody are also out. CBS Sports expects Green back for Monday's game against Phoenix and named Bassey, Al Horford and Graham Ike as the players who will pick up his minutes.

The Clippers are banged up too. ESPN lists Bradley Beal, Brandon Ingram, Max Strus, Jordan Miller and Yanic Konan Niederhauser as out, and Los Angeles comes in on a losing streak. Golden State is 3-3, with recent wins at Denver and Minnesota on top of Friday's result.

Golden State is still favored on the board for Sunday's game, which covers 10 venues. Novig has the Warriors at -133 on the moneyline. The best price anywhere is Hard Rock Bet's -125, and the Clippers are +122 on Novig. On the spread, Novig has Golden State -2.5 at -102, while FanDuel offers -1.5 at -112. The total is 219.5 at most venues. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.8 to 5.1 percent on the moneyline, so the venues are close but not identical.

Without Curry's shooting, Sunday is a test of whether the defense Bassey kicked off on Friday can hold up for a whole game. More on the season is on our Warriors team page.