Warriors erase 25-point hole, beat Lakers by 17 in a comeback with no precedent

The Golden State Warriors spent Friday night at Chase Center doing something the NBA had not seen before. They trailed the Los Angeles Lakers by 25 points early in the second quarter, had the game tied by halftime and won 112-95. That evens their record at 3-3 and makes it three straight wins after an 0-3 start.

According to NY Post Sports, no team since play-by-play tracking began in 1996-97 had trailed by 25 or more in the first half and pulled even by the break. Golden State's 17-point final margin is also the largest win in that span by any team that fell behind by 25. NBC Sports Bay Area, citing the Associated Press' Josh Dubow, went back further. It reported that no team in the shot-clock era had won by more after trailing by 20 or more in the first quarter. The old record belonged to the 1975-76 Warriors, who beat Chicago by 14.

The first quarter belonged to Luka Doncic. He scored 21 points and had five assists, and the Lakers led 38-15 after 12 minutes. Austin Reaves made it 40-15 at the foul line on the first possession of the second quarter. Then De'Anthony Melton scored the next seven points, and the Warriors won the second quarter 38-15 to tie it at 53. From the end of the first quarter on, Golden State outscored Los Angeles 97-57. Doncic finished with 37 points and Stephen Curry had 31, but the Post noted that Doncic did not assist on another Lakers basket after the first quarter.

The turnovers flipped too. Golden State gave the ball away 10 times in the opening 12 minutes and only six times the rest of the way. The Lakers finished with 20 turnovers to the Warriors' 15, and Golden State had 31 assists to their 18. Curry said assistant Anthony Vereen led the bench in calling the players out. Steve Kerr said he stayed calm and blamed the slow start on rust after a long road trip. His summary of the modern game: "25, it's the new 12."

The win also makes up for the 127-105 loss in Los Angeles 10 days earlier, which opened the season.

What it means for Sunday against the Clippers

The Warriors come home to face the LA Clippers on Sunday, November 1. Golden State is playing well again. Before Friday, the Warriors won 134-114 in Denver and 119-114 in Minnesota, after losses to Memphis, Phoenix and the Lakers. The Clippers are going the other way. ESPN lists them at 1-4 and 0-3 on the road, with four straight losses. Yahoo Sports noted the latest was a 127-101 loss in Minnesota.

The board for the game has Golden State as a modest favorite across 11 venues. Novig lists the Warriors at -120 on the moneyline and the Clippers at +117. On the spread, the Warriors are 1.5-point favorites at -115 on Novig. The best price anywhere on that side is bet365's -113 at the same number. On the Clippers side, Novig has +1.5 at -102, and DraftKings offers +2.5 at -115. The total is 219.5 on Novig, with the over at -108 and the under at +106. BetRivers has the over at 218.5 for -112. The venues are close together: sportsbook hold runs 4.1% to 5.1% on the moneyline and under 5% on the spread and total.

For a team that just turned a 25-point deficit into a 17-point win, the market sees a fairly even game with the Warriors slightly ahead.