Warriors Rally From 20 Down to Beat Lakers 101-89 in Preseason
Golden State erased a 20-point third-quarter deficit in Las Vegas and outscored Los Angeles 51-26 over the second half.
Folks, put the phone down. The Warriors beat the Lakers 101-89 at T-Mobile Arena, and they did it after falling behind by 20. In Las Vegas, with the Lakers as the designated home team. My take: this is the most entertaining way to beat LA, and I'm not even mad it was preseason.
What decided it? The Lakers coughed the ball up 29 times and the Warriors piled up 20 steals. When you turn it over that much, you don't deserve to win, even when your guy is going off.
Down 20, then the lights came on
Austin Reaves was cooking early. He finished with 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 7 assists, and the Lakers led 63-50 at the half. Early in the third he hit a three to make it 70-50. That was the high-water mark: 20 points.
Then the Warriors went on a run. They outscored LA 22-13 in the third quarter. Stephen Curry hit a three, Charles Bassey threw down a pair of dunks, one an alley-oop off a Yaxel Lendeborg feed, and Lendeborg kept getting to the line. By the end of the third it was 72-76.
In the fourth, Brandin Podziemski tied it at 76 with a pull-up, and Gui Santos hit two free throws to make it 78-78. Podziemski drilled a 27-footer, then Santos hit a three, and it was 84-78 with 8:13 left. The Warriors never looked back. Will Richard added three fourth-quarter threes in the closing minutes, and the final 29-13 fourth-quarter edge says it all.
Who did it
- Podziemski: 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 3-of-7 from deep, with 5 rebounds.
- Lendeborg: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 6-of-9 at the line.
- Bassey: 12 rebounds (5 offensive) and a +11 in 27 minutes.
- De'Anthony Melton: 6 steals off the bench, also a +11.
- Santos: 10 points, 5 boards, 3 assists.
- Curry: 11 points, all of it from the arc and the line, in 23 minutes.
Six steals from one guy. SIX. That's a defensive clinic.
The ugly part, because I'm honest
Golden State shot 39 percent overall and 14-of-50 from three (28 percent), and the free throw line was a mess at 21-of-31. The Lakers actually won the rebounding battle, 45-40. Win a game like that anyway and it tells you the defense and the pressure carried the night. That's a good sign, but I'd like the shooting to show up when it counts.
The Warriors moved to 3-2, the Lakers fell to 2-2, and the real series starts 10/21. Consider this a warm-up for bragging rights.
What's next
Golden State is back at it Friday, Oct. 16, at 10:00 p.m. ET against the Portland Trail Blazers.
