Warriors erase 25-point deficit, beat Lakers 112-95 to open NBA Cup play
Stephen Curry scored 31 as the Warriors came back from 25 points down to beat the Lakers 112-95 at Chase Center, their third straight win.
The Golden State Warriors fell behind by 25 points to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at Chase Center. They won by 17. Golden State took the second quarter 38-15, outscored Los Angeles 27-15 in the fourth and won 112-95 in the first NBA Cup game of the season for both teams. The result also pays back the Lakers for the 127-105 loss they handed the Warriors on opening night.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 31 points on 11-of-23 shooting, and 8 of his 14 three-point attempts went in. The Los Angeles Times reported that Luka Doncic scored 37 for the Lakers but needed 27 shots to get there, making 12. Austin Reaves added 21 and made just one of six from deep.
The first quarter belonged to Doncic. He scored 21 points in it, and the Lakers led 38-15 after 12 minutes. Much of that damage came against Yaxel Lendeborg, the Warriors rookie who traded words with Doncic in the opener and said afterward that he had "lost all respect" for him, according to the Times. Then the game turned. Golden State's 38-15 second quarter mirrored the first exactly, and the teams went to halftime tied 53-53.
Golden State led 85-80 after three quarters, a period in which the Lakers turned the ball over five times. Doncic drew his first technical foul of the season late in the third. Matisse Thybulle got one early in the fourth, and Curry made the free throw to put the Warriors up 96-80. The Lakers then went more than four minutes without a point to start the final quarter. Their first came on a single Walker Kessler free throw with 7:54 left. Los Angeles finished with 22 turnovers.
The game's best exchange came in the third quarter. Curry crossed Doncic to the floor and hit a three. Doncic answered on the next trip with a three over Gary Payton II. The Lakers played again without starting forward Ziaire Williams, who sat out a second straight game with soreness in his left foot.
What it means for Sunday
The win puts the Warriors back at .500 at 3-3, and it took three straight wins to get there. They lost their first three games: 127-105 to the Lakers, 111-108 at home to Memphis and 131-122 at Phoenix. The road trip that followed turned the season around. Golden State won 134-114 at Denver and 119-114 at Minnesota before Friday's comeback.
The defense is the clearest sign of the change. The Warriors gave up 117 or more in four of their first five games. Against a Lakers team that put up 127 on them a week earlier, they allowed 95, and just 42 after the first quarter. Curry's shooting gives the offense a high ceiling, but Friday's win came from defense and from forcing turnovers.
The LA Clippers come to San Francisco next, on Sunday, November 1, on NBA League Pass and ClipperVision. Golden State has gone 0-1 at home against Memphis and 1-0 against the Lakers. A win would give the Warriors their first winning record of the season and four straight wins. It would also be a second straight home win over a Los Angeles team. Lendeborg's matchup with Doncic got most of the attention this week, but the bigger question for Sunday is whether the defense that showed up over the last three quarters on Friday holds up from the opening tip.
Full season coverage is on our Golden State Warriors page.
