Lakers struggle offensively, fall to Warriors despite late rally

Despite a strong night from LeBron James, the Lakers struggled offensively for much of the night against the Warriors, dropping a critical game in the playoff race.

The Lakers offense struggled for most of the night on Thursday, leading to the Warriors grabbing a 123-116 win in Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers drop back down to the No. 4 seed with the loss.

While the team shot 45.3% from the field overall, almost all of that came in the fourth quarter. Golden State, meanwhile, went 19-42 from the 3-point line to punish the purple and gold.

Of the Lakers Big Three, only LeBron James really stepped up throughout the night, finishing with 33 points along with five rebounds and nine assists. Luka Dončić struggled with his shot all night, finishing with 19 points on 6-16 shooting.

After a strong start in the opening two possessions in which he connected on 3-pointers, Reaves struggled for the entirety of the second and third quarters before catching on absolute fire in the fourth, ultimately going 10-20 from the field for 31 points.

Rui Hachimura helped pick up the load, pouring in 24 points. No other Laker had more than three points.

It was a red-hot start for both teams as they combined to hit seven of their first 13 shots with all four of Golden State’s coming from range. After all the offense, the Lakers stood tall with a 17-12 lead.

An injury scare for LeBron briefly stopped the game, though he ultimately was fine. That came as the Warriors were grabbing the momentum, eventually tying the game at 20-20.

Golden State eventually took the lead on a Jonathan Kuminga 3-pointer. After 17 points in the first 4:10 of the game, the Lakers scored just five points the remaining 7:50 and went into the second frame down 26-22.

The offensive struggles continued into the second half as the Lakers could not find a rhythm. The only points in the opening three minutes came on a pair of Austin Reaves free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer.

Fortunately, the Lakers were getting stops to remain down just four. However, that dam eventually burst and the Lakers quickly fell down eight points. A pair of Luka free throws briefly halted the run, but the visitors responded with a Moses Moody 3-pointer and Kuminga layup gave Golden State an 11-point lead.

While the Warriors were shooting 50% from the field, the Lakers were at a sizzling 29% overall and 27% from range.

LeBron stopped the 12-2 run with a 3-pointer. The Lakers’ offense came alive enough to cut the deficit to six points, but Golden State repeatedly had answers and eventually opened the lead back up to 15 points after seven straight points from Brandin Podziemski.

The Lakers were limited to little more than trading baskets with the Warriors at best. An unserious first half came to an end with the Lakers allowing Podziemski to connect on a running shot from just inside half court to cap off his 22-point half, sending the purple and gold into the locker room trailing 60-47.

The Lakers opened the half with a pair of 3-pointers from Rui and LeBron, but the Warriors, as always, had responses and the lead remained in double digits. Steph and LeBron went back and forth on a pair of possessions as the Lakers trimmed the lead to nine. Ultimately, though, LA couldn’t make any headway into the lead.

A...controversial foul call against Luka on a Steph 3-pointer was matched on the other end as the Slovenian converted his three freebies. While Luka was trying to find some rhythm at the line, Steph was remaining hot behind the arc and the lead stayed at 10 points.

Second-chance points were one of the biggest factors in Golden State maintaining their lead as they had 23 through the first three quarters. As a result, the margin would never dip below about eight or nine points.

Luka came alive at the end of the period, scoring nine points in the frame. However, Steph had 16 in the period, including three final freebies with 0.5 seconds left to give the Warriors an 88-77 advantage heading into the fourth.

Jimmy Butler and Podz opened the fourth with 3-pointers as the lead increased to 14. Austin Reaves scored eight points in the opening three-and-a-half minutes to try to rally the Lakers, but as was the case all night, Golden State had answers and the lead remained at 13.

Things were going so well for the Warriors that Draymond Green even connected on his second 3-pointer as the Lakers had no answers.

It was at that point that the Lakers mounted their comeback. Threes from LeBron and Austin sandwiched around some defensive stops cut the deficit to seven points, the lowest it had been since the middle of the second quarter.

Luka made it an 11-2 run with a putback jumper, but Steph reached 30 points with a layup and Kuminga finished a layup to make it a nine-point lead again. Steph and LeBron traded 3-pointers to make it a seven-point game, giving both 33 points on the night.

Podz and Reaves then traded 3-pointers, but the Lakers were quickly running out time with just over a minute remaining. Reaves stayed on fire from range to keep giving the Lakers a chance.

A steal following one of those threes led to an open 3-pointer from Dorian Finney-Smith that would have cut the deficit to two with just over 20 seconds left. Instead, he missed, then committed a turnover on the rebound, putting the nail in the coffin.

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