Postgame: They too small; Warriors drop game 1 to Lakers
It was close, but Golden State came up just short
Welp. That was a wild game. About as expected, the Los Angeles Lakers feasted inside, and the Golden State Warriors focused their offense on the perimeter. In the end, it came down to just a few possessions. Jordan Poole hoisted a three from a few steps too deep, maybe a pass or two early. Stephen Curry struggled against a physical, bigger defense. And Draymond Green’s hot head and foul trouble combined to cause some issues for the champs.
But then again, it almost worked. If one of those Curry threes falls, or Klay Thompson hits one or two more of those open threes.
And there were a lot of threes. The Warriors took 53 of them - more than double what the Lakers shot (6 of 25, or 24% from deep). If you’re the worrying sort, it’s tough to see such a high efficiency night from the Warriors behind the arc in a loss - they hit 39.6% of those 53 threes as a team.
In the paint, it was all about the Lakers. And just like an old school matchup, that’s where the game was decided. There weren’t many answers against the Lakers on the low block. They racked up 10 blocks on defense, and held a 52-20 advantage in points in the paint on the night.
Back to the drawing board. Anthony Davis won’t always be this good, but he’s pretty darn good. And more than one of those Lakers role players were a factor. There was a lot to like for both teams in this game, and much like the last series against the Kings, it’s looking like this series will be a bunch of really tight games.
Those supposed fouls by Steph are just plain BS.
I do not think people who call for Kuminga realise what they are dealing with in this series. If the Warriors are to advance, they must beat both the Lakers and the referees. The league wants Los Angeles to advance and to beat them, the margin for error on defence is very slim. Kuminga is regularly in foul trouble even in games called fairly; what chance does he have in this environment?