Lakers vs. Warriors: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season
On Nov. 4, the Los Angeles Lakers handed the Golden State Warriors a stunning 117-97 defeat. Wednesday evening at Oracle Arena, the Warriors exacted their revenge.
Now riding a nine-game winning streak, the Warriors—who haven't lost since that early-November game at Staples Center—rattled off a dominant 149-106 victory over the Lakers to push their record to 13-2 on the season.
Stephen Curry—who scored 13 points and shot 0-of-10 from three in the teams' first meeting—bested those totals by the time the first quarter was over. In his first 11 minutes on the floor, Curry scored 15 points and shot 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Curry finished with 31 points (11-of-18 shooting, 7-of-12 from three), nine assists and five rebounds.
The same trend held true for Klay Thompson, who was limited to 10 points (4-of-18 shooting, 2-of-10 from three) on Nov. 4. In 24 minutes, Thompson poured in 26 points on a tidy 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Then there was Kevin Durant, who funneled home 28 points (11-of-15 shooting) against a Lakers defense that entered Wednesday ranked 26th in defensive efficiency, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
In the midst of the blowout, CBSSports.com's Matt Moore noted opponents don't stand much of a chance when Curry, Thompson and Durant are all streaking down the court together:
"You should probably find Kevin Durant in transition.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 24, 2016"
And Steph.
And Klay.
Yeah.
All told, the Warriors tallied a franchise-record 47 assists on 53 made baskets—with Curry providing arguably the prettiest of the evening when he found Shaun Livingston with a no-look bullet under the basket:
Anthony Slater of the Bay Area News Group provided a jaw-dropping tidbit regarding Golden State's distribution:
According to Warriors PR, the defending Western Conference champions have now tallied at least 30 assists in a franchise-record nine straight games. The last team to post a streak that long was the Charlotte Hornets in 1989.
As Fox Sports 1's Chris Broussard explained, Wednesday served as a reminder that the Lakers still have a long way to go despite their encouraging early-season success:
However, the Lakers weren't exactly at full strength.
D'Angelo Russell missed his second straight game due to a sore left knee, and Julius Randle was out with a hip pointer. Also consider that the Lakers were on the second night of a back-to-back following a last-second win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, and they didn't stand much of a chance against the well-rested Warriors.
As a result, the Warriors blitzed the Lakers from all over.
Golden State posted a 50-34 edge in paint points and outscored the competition by 16 points in transition on a night when Luke Walton's bunch shot 43 percent from the floor.
If you think that's terrifying, consider this from The Vertical's Michael Lee:
Already in possession of the league's top-ranked offense, the Warriors are quickly resembling the destructive force they were forecast to be when Durant bolted for the Bay Area in July.
And based on the way things have been going for the last three weeks, the Warriors' evolution should continue at a steady clip as 2017 approaches.
With back-to-back showdowns against the Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves looming Friday and Saturday, don't be surprised if the Warriors push their winning streak to 11 games before the end of the weekend.
Speaking of L.A., losses could start to pile up with Randle and Russell sidelined.
After the Warriors return to Staples Center on Friday, the Lakers will close November with games against the Atlanta Hawks, surging New Orleans Pelicans and Chicago Bulls.
Postgame Reaction
"The last two games, to me, were the first where we put four quarters together," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said, according to the Bay Area News Group's Marcus Thompson.
Kerr also touched on his team's stellar passing, as Slater documented:
"I've never been on a team that's scored 150 in a game...but 149 is all right," Thompson told reporters, according to the Washington Post's Tim Bontemps.
"You give them a lot of credit," Walton said, per Lakers Nation's Serena Winters. "That was a beautiful exhibition they put on us."
