Stephen Curry scored a game-high 27 points, Draymond Green chipped in with 20 in a rare offensive explosion and the Golden State Warriors stayed alive in the Western Conference semifinals with a 121-106 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Still up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, the seventh-seeded Lakers will get a second shot at advancing to the Western finals when the series returns to Los Angeles on Friday.
“We know it’s one game at a time,” Warriors center Kevon Looney said. “Come in with our focus on one possession at a time, one quarter at a time, one play at a time. If we play our style of play, we can win the series.”
The Lakers might have to seek the Game 6 clincher without star center Anthony Davis, who was inadvertently belted on the side of the head by Looney while both were positioning for a rebound just before the midpoint of the fourth quarter on Wednesday.
Davis left the court and reportedly rode a wheelchair into the Los Angeles locker room, where he was scheduled for further evaluation. Davis, who scored 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting, did not return to the game.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said postgame, “He took a shot to the head. He seems to be doing really good already. That’s where he’s at and the status of it right now.”
Seeking a 20th straight playoff series win against Western competition, the Warriors broke from a 54-all tie with a 16-5 burst to take an 11-point advantage into halftime. Curry capped the flurry with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, giving the Warriors 11 treys in 21 first-half attempts.
Sixth-seeded Golden State was able to keep the visitors at arm’s length in the second half, as Green wrapped up a 10-rebound night and Andrew Wiggins put a bow on a 25-point performance.
The 20-point game was the 15th of Green’s postseason career, but just his fourth since 2018. He had 21 in a key win against the Sacramento Kings in Game 5 of the opening round last month.
“He really set the tone with a lot of intensity,” Looney said of Green.
“I was kinda following his lead. He’s real aggressive. We always play better when he plays like that.”
Making his second consecutive start, Gary Payton II contributed 13 points to the Golden State cause, while Jordan Poole had 11 and Klay Thompson added 10.
Curry, who also found time for a game-high eight assists, buried three 3-pointers in the win. Eight different Warriors connected from deep as Golden State enjoyed a 39-30 advantage over the Lakers from beyond the arc.
LeBron James had 25 points and matched Davis with a team-high nine rebounds to pace the Lakers, who likewise lost Game 5 on the road in their first-round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies before returning home to wrap up a series win in Game 6.
Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell scored 15 points apiece and Dennis Schroder had 14 for Los Angeles, which is 5-0 at home this postseason.
Ham was asked about the teams having a nearly equal number of fouls called on them — 18 against Golden State and 17 against Los Angeles — after three of the first four games saw significantly more called against the Warriors.
“I don’t know what a foul is anymore,” Ham said. “We play a physical brand of basketball. We don’t teach flopping. We don’t teach head snaps.
“You see LeBron, he has scratches on him. Same with AD. Same with Austin Reaves … It’s unfortunate that it comes to that. We haven’t done it all year, we’re darn sure not going to start right now looking for a third party to dive in and help us.”
–Field Level Media
