Five takeways from the Lakers' shocking victory over Golden State

Kobe Bryant hugs teammate Jordan Clarkson during the Lakers' 112-95 win over the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center on March 6.

Staff Writer

March 7, 2016 7:30 AM PT

Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ stunning 112-95 victory over the NBA’s best team, the Golden State Warriors, on Sunday:

1. The Lakers young backcourt of D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson held their own against the NBA’s best guard duo, Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, at Staples Center.

Russell had 21 points on six-for-14 shooting, five assists and a career-high four steals. Clarkson, who missed Friday night’s game with a left knee injury, had 25 points.

“I think, first of all, they took the challenge,” Lakers Coach Byron Scott said. “They were playing against the best backcourt in the league. If you want to get measured or get talked about as being a young backcourt that has a chance to be very good, then you’re going to have to measure up against these two guys. And I thought they took the challenge from the start.”

Curry had just 18 points, missing 14 of 20 shots, nine of his 10 three-pointers.

Thompson had 15 points, missing 13 of 20 shots and all eight of his three-pointers.

2. Before the game against the defending NBA champion, Scott challenged his team.

He said he wanted the Lakers to execute the game plan, he wanted them to play hard for all 48 minutes and he wanted them to stay strong when the Warriors made a run.

“To a certain extent, you’re almost challenging their manhood ... when you’re going against a great team, especially the way we played the last game [Friday night’s 106-77 loss to Atlanta], where I didn’t see that type of effort,” Scott said later.

“So sometimes you’ve got to challenge that manhood to get some type of response. And the response we got tonight was a great response. So, I might have to do it for the rest of season, I guess. I don’t know.”

3. Reserve guard Marcelo Huertas was on top of his game with a career-high nine assists and 10 points.

His lob pass to Larry Nance Jr gave the Lakers a 99-81 lead in the fourth quarter.

“Marcelo was probably the MVP tonight, in terms of getting us easy baskets,” Scott said.

“He’s getting an opportunity to play and perform and he’s making the most of it,” Kobe Bryant said. “He’s such a smart player, and there are certain things he comes down the floor and sees, and then two plays later, he put the guys in the right place and took advantage of it. He’s extremely, extremely intelligent and he sees the floor extremely well. He’s just a smart basketball player. A smart basketball player can play anywhere.”

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Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson drives past Warriors forward Anderson Varejao during a game March 6 at Staples Center. Clarkson led all scorers with 25 points.