The Los Angeles scored one of the biggest upsets in National Basketball Association history as they cruised to a 112-95 win against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night at Staples Center.
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“This team is filled with millennials, and millennials can’t focus”, Kerr said in reference to a season-long joke between he and Stephen Curry. “The learning curve comes from trusting our defence”.
Jordan Clarkson led all players with 25 points, while Russell added four steals to his scoring, and Randle racked up his 27th double-double of the year (12 points, 14 rebounds). They must avoid losing another four times in their remaining 21 games to beat the Chicago Bulls’ record 1995-96 season.
The loss snapped Golden State’s seven-game winning streak. Kobe Bryant finished with a 2016 Kobe-esque twelve points on 4-14 shooting, but he was one of seven Lakers to finish in double figures. Green was shaky early on but finished with 10 assists and nine rebounds on a night he scored only one point.
Kobe Bryant wouldn’t have wanted his last game against a team like Golden State to end any other way, and the more time given for the win to linger, the more it feels like it’s the last brick in the wall for Bryant’s legacy. Golden State played without forward Andre Iguodala, who had an injured left hamstring. But the Lakers’ lead immediately grew to 18 points.
While the Warriors struggled, shooting just 40 percent and committing 20 turnovers, the Lakers put together their “most complete game” of the season, according to Coach Byron Scott.
“We played harder than we did yesterday, which was a good step”, Kerr said, “but we didn’t play that much smarter”. However, the Warriors are undefeated against the NBA’s top teams this season – Spurs, Thunder, Cavs, Clippers, and Raptors – while several of their losses have come against lottery teams like the Lakers, Bucks, and Nuggets.
Rather than exude invincibility, the Warriors committed 20 turnovers and gave off bad body language as the Lakers wouldn’t let them back into the game. He missed all five of his three-point attempts and sat out the fourth quarter. They never looked back, not allowing the Warriors to mount a comeback.
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Corey Brewer had 23 points off the bench for the Rockets, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the second quarter.
