Post Game: Warriors hold off Lakers after some 4th quarter heroics
Post Game: Warriors hold off Lakers after some 4th quarter heroics
Thompson has game-high 33. Curry with 24 and 8.
The Golden State Warriors held of a strong effort from LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to come away from Chase Center with a feel good win. Walking into this one off two consecutive losses, it felt like this game was going to me an emotional one, no matter how it ended.
Thankfully, the Splash Brothers came through.
Klay was absolutely incredible. This game had a strong “Strength in Numbers” vibe to it as the Warriors took a big risk by not only giving rookie, Jonathan Kuminga (18 points, 9 rebounds in 25 minutes) the start, but putting him as the primary defender on LeBron James all night too.
Otto Porter was playing on a minutes restriction, but had some critical plays late. He’s got the size and savvy to plug into any situation and help the lineup.
But tonight was really Thompson’s night. We’ll have deeper coverage coming your way on the game tomorrow, but there was a visceral excitement to Klay’s contributions tonight. One play in particular: Curry forces a pass to the interior, the defense bats the ball… right into the waiting hands of Thompson, who promptly drills a three right in LeBron James’ frustrated face.
And then the backbreaker maximum swagger three:
There have been some massive battles against James, but tonight was not one of his better nights. He seemed reluctant to deal with Kuminga (who got a few early runaway dunks) and then wasn’t really attacking the rookie on the other end.
26 points on 27 shots and the bricked free throws with the game on the line don’t matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but it makes for a happy Saturday night in Dub Nation.
Thinking about the buyout season and who might be replaced on the roster …. My first thought is JTA. He’s the farthest down the line, has regressed significantly this season, and as ‘captain of garbage time’ doesn’t have an important spot on the team. If someone interesting comes up - Dragic? Robin Lopez? Mike Muscala? - he would be gone.
Next up is Nemenja. While I think it’s unlikely he’d get cut, he too has been inconsistent this season. While he half fills the role of a good passing big man, he isn’t a powerhouse on the boards. Yes, he has his moments. But even if we got someone like Lopez I’d see them as more a complement to the Bjeli rather than as a replacement.
Andre Igoudala. Hey put those pitch forks down! It’s just some dude rosterbating! I’ve been getting increasingly worried about Andre. He’s played in one game this month and had to come out almost immediately due to injury. For playoff Andre we need 15 minutes or more of playing time in 10-15 games. Does he have that in him? Is the staff saving him for the post season or has he actually been injured? I’m sure they know a lot more about his health than we do. Discussing this with my buddies last night there was a lot of talk about how valuable he is as a coach/mentor. He doesn’t need a roster spot to mentor. If they cut him and replace him with, say, Dragic, and sign him on as a special advisor to the team, it will be because they know things we don’t about his health. Of course, I would prefer a healthy, one last post season of glory Andre. But Dragic running the second team in his place sounds pretty sweet, too.
Something I noticed of late with Curry is he's been pump faking more often before shooting and it leads to more misses. Is this him hesitating more or has he always done this? I feel if he just catch and lets it fly without the fake he would be more in rhythm