In a wire-to-wire fashion, the Los Angeles Lakers pulverized the Golden State Warriors, 127-97, to capture the Game 3 of their Western Conference Semifinals affair on Saturday night.
After squaring the series in Game 2 back home in San Francisco, the Warriors were trembled by the balanced effort and the smothering defensive activation made by the Lakers to completely hoist the 2-1 series edge in Los Angeles.
Anthony Davis regained his supreme form, dominating the Game 3 victory with 25 points, 13 boards, four blocks, three assists, three steals and shot 70 percent from the field (7-of-10). With another godly performance, he became the first player since Houston Rockets great Hakeem Olajuwon in 1986 to etch 25+ points, 10+ boards, 3+ blocks, 3+ steals in 70+ percent efficiency in a postseason game (per StatMuse).
On the other hand, LeBron James had 21 markers, eight boards and eight assists, while D’Angelo Russell carried L.A. on the first-half with a sizzling 21 points while firing five treys, becoming the first player in Lakers history with 20 points and five three-pointers before halftime of a playoff game (h/t ESPN’s Stats & Info).
Besides the star trio, the Lakers received plenty of help from Dennis Schroder who had 12 points off the bench. Meanwhile, Lonnie Walker IV, who was seldomly utilized by coach Darvin Ham in these playoffs, rose into the occasion of the call-up and churned 12 points in 24 minutes of activity.
Swarmed by their two-way shortcomings and foul troubles by giving up 37 free-throws, the Warriors weren’t able to respond against the Lakers’ overwhelming rally as early as the second frame. They grabbed a 40-29 lead, but were stunned by L.A.’s 30-8 blitz to cap off the first-half with a 59-48 lead into the break.
The Lakers further widened their gap against the Dubs in the third frame, courtesy of James. After a passive first-half, the superstar feasted for 11 of his 23 total points in the period alone, with Golden State also limited to just 20 points, 86-68.
Following a Schroeder trey, Steve Kerr elected to bench all of his main units with 9:11 left on the final frame – a signal of waving that white flag on their camp. Steph Curry chalked 23 points, with Andrew Wiggins adding up 16 on the defending champs’ lowly night shooting 39.6 percent from the floor.
With the Game 3 dub, the Lakers have maintained their historic win streak for every Game 3s, further extending it to 10 – standing as the longest in playoff history.
Los Angeles will once again host the star-studded series’ Game 4 on Monday.
