Lakers vs. Warriors: Five takeaways from Monday night’s game

Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 130-111 loss to the Golden State Warriors:

1. Perhaps the best news that came out of the shorthanded Lakers’ loss was coach Luke Walton saying late Monday night that help could be on the way for his team in the form of Rajon Rondo.

Walton said Rondo could play Thursday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing the last 14 games recovering from surgery on his right ring finger.

“I think Rondo will play Thursday as long as he continues to move with no setbacks until then,” Walton said. “But that will be something that we’ll keep pushing him and we’ll re-evaluate each morning.”

The return of Rondo to take over the controls at the point guard position couldn’t come at a better time for the Lakers.

That’s because starting point guard Lonzo Ball will be out four to six weeks with a Grade 3 left ankle sprain and LeBron James remains out with a groin injury he suffered on Christmas against the Warriors.

So the Lakers really need Rondo right now. He’s one of the best in the game at running an offense and getting his teammates in the right spots.

Rondo, 32, has played in just 14 games this season because of two injuries to his right hand and a three-game suspension for his role in a fight with Houston point guard Chris Paul.

2. Brandon Ingram was forced into being the starting point guard with Ball and Rondo being out.

Ingram had just three assists, but he was seven for 16 from the field.

This role was nothing new for Ingram because he started at point guard some last season when Ball was injured.

“I thought Brandon did a really nice job,” Walton said. “I thought he was pushing the pace. I thought he got himself going. He was playmaking.”

3. The Lakers were shown a clinic on how to share the basketball, how to move without the basketball, how to pass and cut and be willing to move the ball along.

The Lakers had just 20 assists on 42 made field goals. Meanwhile the Warriors had 41 assists on 50 made shots.

Lance Stephenson led the Lakers with five assists. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 12 assists and Draymond Green had seven.

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4. The Lakers struggled from three-point range, making just five of 20 attempts.

5. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope started at shooting guard, but he was way off the mark with his shot.

Caldwell-Pope was just one for five from the field and he missed both of his three-point attempts in scoring four points. He was a minus-23 in the plus/minus category.