The Los Angeles Lakers were humbled in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday, as the Golden State Warriors, and in particular Klay Thompson, turned into a volcano and submerged them in hot lava.
Thompson scored 30 points while hitting eight 3-pointers, as Golden State rolled its way to an easy 127-100 victory.
The Purple and Gold are glad to be back home for the next two contests, and the home crowd at Crypto.com Arena is sure to give them a huge boost after they looked lackadaisical and a step slow in Game 2.
But the Lakers must take care of these three areas on Saturday, otherwise, they will be facing a virtual must-win situation in Game 4.
Anthony Davis must play up to his standards
This one goes without saying.
Davis had a historically dominant playoff performance in Game 1, but he just didn’t have it in Game 2, scoring only 11 points on 11 field-goal attempts and one attempt from the free throw line.
He doesn’t necessarily need to have one of his vintage 30-point, 15-rebound games on Saturday, but he needs to have a major impact, one way or another. In Game 1 and Game 6 of the previous series, he didn’t score as many points as one would expect from him, but he was absolutely dominant defensively and on the boards.
The Lakers cannot afford another clunker from Davis the rest of the way.
The Lakers’ complementary players must play better
Davis and LeBron James could both have great performances in Game 3, but they will need offensive support from their teammates.
In particular, starting guards D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, who combined to go 8-of-23 overall and 1-of-8 from 3-point range in Game 3, need to play up to their standards.
The Lakers also need more from their bench. Rui Hachimura was excellent in Game 2 with 21 points in 22 minutes, but he cannot be the only reserve who throws in darts on a consistent basis. Los Angeles will need a strong contest from Dennis Schroder, who had 19 points in Game 1 but did not make a single field goal on Thursday.
Get off to a good start
In Game 3 versus the Memphis Grizzlies, the Lakers roared their way to a 35-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised to an easy win to take a 2-1 lead in that series.
The Warriors have been a poor road team all season, and Los Angeles must make them nervous early by forging a sizable lead while giving its home crowd a reason to get rowdy.
In addition, winning by a sizable margin would cut down on the minutes played by Davis and James, which would help cut down on their fatigue moving forward.
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