The Los Angeles Lakers comprehensively outplayed the Golden State Warriors in game three of their semi-final playoff series on Sunday AEST, cruising towards a 127-97 victory in California.
After a slow start, the Lakers dominated proceedings in the final three quarters to take a 2-1 lead in the seven-game playoff series.
The defending champion Warriors, who committed 19 turnovers, had no answer for Anthony Davis, who was a standout for the Lakers with a game-high 25 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks plus three steals in 33 minutes. He made 7-of-10 shots from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free throw line.
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“I wanted to get back to that dominant performance I do defensively,” Davis said after the final siren.
“We were bad defensively as a team (in game two) … we wanted to get back to our roots in defence and guarding.”
In unusual scenes, NBA icon LeBron James did not attempt a shot in the opening quarter of the contest, a first for him in 275 playoff games.
The Warriors were seemingly in control until Los Angeles ended the second quarter with a 30-8 run, including a Davis buzzer beater at half-time.
Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, sent the crowd into a frenzy with a dunk over in Davis in third quarter, footage of which circulated social media.
The Lakers, who remain undefeated at home this post-season, held an 18-point lead at three-quarter time, but it was all on-way traffic in the final term as the 2020 champions secured a thumping 30-point win.
James was literally throwing himself around the court throughout the second half, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Meanwhile, D‘Angelo Russell sunk five 3-pointers while scoring 21 points for the seventh-seeded Lakers.
“You’ve got to be more poised than we were,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr confessed after the defeat.
“I’m very confident in our team and our ability to bounce back.”
Game four of the semi-final playoff series gets underway in Los Angeles on Tuesday at 12pm AEST.