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What we learned as Steph and Wiggs fuel Warriors’ victory over Lakers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry reached into his bag of tricks and turned in another memorable performance, scoring 25 of his 32 points in the first half and becoming the first player in franchise history to reach 6,000 career assists. helping lead the Warriors to a crucial 128-. 110 over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday at the Chase Center.
It was the 23rd time this season Curry reached the 30-point mark. Curry, already the best shooter in NBA history, added six three-pointers and eight assists to his Hall of Fame resume.
Curry also became the eighth player in NBA history with at least 23,000 points and 6,000 assists. He joined an elite list that includes LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and John Havlicek.
More importantly, Golden State continued its climb up the Western Conference standings. With nine wins in their last 11 games, the Warriors (28-26) moved within a half-game of the Lakers (30-27) for ninth place.
It helped that the Lakers were without James, who was sitting with a sore ankle.
Not that it seemed to matter much.
Golden State pretty much controlled the entire game, taking a slight lead in the first quarter and then slowly expanding it as the game progressed.
Andrew Wiggins scored 20 points, Trayce-Jackson Davis had 17 points and five rebounds, while Draymond Green scored eight points with seven rebounds and five assists. Green also had a block and needs two more to become the third Warriors player to have 800 or more blocks in his career.
As a team, Golden State dished out 32 assists, the seventh consecutive game in which they had 30 or more dimes in a game, their longest streak since a seven-game streak during the 2017-18 season.
Unlike the previous two games, when they struggled to close out, the Warriors kept their foot on the gas against the Lakers and won handily in their first game in a week.
The Warriors won’t have much time to digest this as they play the Charlotte Hornets at Chase Center on Friday, then have a day off on Saturday before hosting the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon.
Here are the takeaways from Wednesday’s game:
TJD provides boost off the bench
Jackson-Davis had been playing sparingly over the previous four weeks, primarily due to matchup issues. Coach Steve Kerr opted to use him extensively against the Lakers and the Warriors rookie responded with a solid effort.
After sitting out the entire first quarter, Jackson-Davis came off the bench and made an immediate impact, attacking aggressively every time he touched the ball. His first six shots came inside the key zone near the rim as they helped establish Golden State’s presence inside.
Dario Saric had been taking the bulk of the reserve minutes at center, but Kerr opted to use the more versatile and athletic Jackson-Davis, who was fresh most of the night. He shot 8 of 10 from the field and finished.
The lanky Jackson-Davis brought the Chase Center crowd to its feet with a two-handed shot in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors are thriving with Green under center, but have had some issues when he rests. Jackson-Davis has shown that he can be a factor when that happens, but he has to do it more consistently to remain a major part of rotations.
Going green
There’s no denying that the Warriors flipped the script on the season when Green returned from his second NBA suspension. He has been the team’s anchor on defense and is the main reason why Golden State has been playing significantly better on that end since he returned.
Green, who has been one of the team’s best 3-point shooters since his return, has also been a connector on offense.
Although he only took five shots, Green kept things going as a facilitator. The game against the Lakers marked the 11th time in his last 13 games that Green has had five or more assists.
Not surprisingly, Green finished with a plus-19. As long as he keeps doing all the little things, it really won’t matter much how many points he gets.
Defending the Lakers without LeBron
Even with James not playing, the Lakers were able to do a lot of damage from deep, scoring 58 points in the paint, offsetting their 10-of-25 shooting from beyond the arc. The Warriors also scored 58 points in the paint.
Taurean Prince, who started in place of James, was mostly quiet with 12 points and three rebounds.
The Warriors haven’t had much success against shorthanded teams and things might have been different if James had played. But at this point in the season, Golden State needs every advantage it can get.