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The Golden State Warriors crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 127-100 Thursday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals, evening the playoff series at 1-1.
Klay Thompson had a game-high 30 points for the Warriors and shot 8-for-11 from 3-point range. Steph Curry had 20 points for the Warriors while facing double teams through much of the game. He made the Lakers pay for that strategy with his passing, dishing out 12 assists in front of a sellout crowd at Chase Center in San Francisco.
With Thompson leading the way, the Warriors were 21-of-42 from 3-point range. (The Lakers hit just 10 of their 34 3-point attempts.)
“That’s the best version of Klay, when he’s really going offensively but he’s taking great shots,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “That’s what I liked about tonight. I just thought that we really got good shots.
“But I think the percentage was a reflection of the clean looks we were getting and the fact that the guys weren’t forcing anything.”
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LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points while Anthony Davis managed only 11 points and seven rebounds after his 30-point, 23-rebound performance in Game 1.
James and Davis remained on the bench for the fourth quarter, as did the rest of the Lakers’ starters, during the blowout.
“Our offense was flowing, turnovers were low, hitting the open man. We keep it simple, the floodgates can open,” Thompson told ESPN during a postgame interview.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played Saturday in Los Angeles.
“I fully expect our team to respond in the right way,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
On Thursday, James jump-started the Lakers with 14 points in the first quarter as Los Angeles took a 33-26 lead.
But the Warriors opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run and took command of the game, steadily increasing the lead that continued to balloon.
The Lakers’ frustration was evident, as assistant coach Phil Handy got a technical foul in the second quarter and James got a technical foul in the third quarter.
“We were right there early neck-and-neck,” Ham said. “But a couple of possessions got away from us there early and I just thought they did a good job of crowding the paint.”
JaMychal Green, a Warriors reserve starting in place of the ailing Kevon Looney, provided a spark with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor.
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