The Golden State Warriors kept themselves alive in the West playoff race with a crucial 134-120 win over the Los Angeles Lakers where the team enjoyed an incredibly hot shooting night. Steve Kerr reacted to the win by editing the shooting while looking disappointed with his team's overall play on the night.
"I didn't feel like we played that well, but we made a million 3s, so the ball was going in but I don't think we were sharp. There were a lot of possessions where we weren't locked in or our passing wasn't good. They were disjointed but the ball kept going in. Draymond going 5/5 in a half, you don't see that often. Everybody got going and to shoot 63% from three, that's crazy."
The Warriors made 26 three-pointers on the night on 41 attempts, converting at a ridiculous 63.4%. This is statically the greatest 3-point shooting game in NBA history, with the Lakers also suffering their most threes conceded in a single game. Given we saw NBA history be made tonight about free throws as well, it's fitting that the Warriors broke a team 3-point record.
The Lakers kept pace offensively but were just not equipped to defend the Warriors with absences such as Anthony Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt. But even those two players could have fallen victim to the historic outlier shooting night the Warriors have just pulled off.
They did concede 120 points without the Lakers having their second-leading scorer, so Kerr is right to criticize the team for what they didn't do well instead of celebrating this shooting performance.
The Warriors saw Klay Thompson drop 27 points, while Draymond Green had 15 points and 10 assists, hitting five straight threes in the first half. Stephen Curry had 23 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists during the game, as the trio outperformed the depleted Lakers led by LeBron James putting up 33 points, seven rebounds, and 11 assists.
Warriors Have Caught Momentum At The Right Time
The Warriors and Lakers have been two sides of the same coin all season. They've showed flashes of being a competitive team on multiple occasions but are plagued by inconsistency that restricts them in the regular season., The Warriors have caught fire recently, winning eight of their last nine games.
The Warriors have some really high-quality wins in this stretch, including their win over the Mavericks last week which has made them the only team to beat the franchise with Luka Doncic healthy in the last 18 games. They've picked up clutch wins over the likes of the Lakers and Rockets in this stretch as well, with the franchise controlling their own destiny as far reaching the No. 9 seed is concerned.
The Wwarriors face the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, and Jazz in their final three games. Two of these games are against already-eliminated teams, so the Warriors should handle their business in those contests. If they can beat the Pelicans who are still fighting for the No. 6 seed, the Warriors would end the season as the No. 9 seed by virtue of their tiebreaker over the Lakers.
If both Lakers and the Warriors won out, they'd finish with identical records and likely drop the Pelicans into the play-in considering they both face them.
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