Lakers grab home-court advantage with Game 1 win over Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — When you get to this stage of a Hall of Fame career, a space that LeBron James shares with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr, you learn to savor the firsts.
James versus these guys on the road to the NBA Finals? Never happened.
The Lakers and the Warriors, L.A. and the Bay, in the NBA playoffs? It hadn’t happened since 1991 when Magic Johnson and James Worthy shut down Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond.
But even though this was new, it didn’t feel forced. None of it was awkward. Game 1s in the NBA playoffs are classically considered to be “feel out” games, but this, Tuesday night at Chase Center, felt so right, so familiar, the exact kind of big-time basketball when you combine all these ingredients.
The Lakers and Golden State Warriors slipped into the game like a perfectly broken-in pair of sneakers, the Lakers announcing exactly what they wanted to do while the Warriors did the same.
The end result? The Lakers’ size, physicality and force were more effective than the Warriors’ three-point shooting, the Lakers winning 117-112 to snatch the home-court edge.
Anthony Davis stars as Lakers survive late Warriors run to win Game 1
Anthony Davis’ dominant 30-point, 23-rebound performance led the Lakers to a 117-112 win over the Warriors on Thursday in San Francisco, stealing home-court advantage from the defending NBA champions to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven conference semifinal series.
“We know that this team is the defending champions, man,” Davis said courtside on TNT after the game. “We saw what they did against [Sacramento]. ... It’s just a mindset for our team. If we can win in this building ... we can do anything.”
The Warriors overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the score, but the Lakers held on with late free-throw shooting.
The Lakers made 25 of 29 free throws in the game compared to the Warriors’ five of six.
LeBron James had 22 points and 11 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half and Dennis Schroder scored 19 points off the bench. Davis had five assists and a team-high four of the Lakers’ 10 blocked shots.
The Lakers survived 21 three-pointers from the Warriors, who took 53 shots from distance. Stephen Curry had 27 points. Klay Thompson added 25 and Jordan Poole finished with 21.
Lakers holding on to late three-point lead
The Lakers have the ball with a 115-112 lead and 4.7 seconds remaining.
LeBron James extended the Lakers’ lead to three points with a free throw with 1:05 remaining.
Jordan Poole missed a driving layup over the extended arm of Anthony Davis on the other end.
After James missed a three-pointer that could have ended the Warriors’ hopes, Poole tried to tie the score with a desperate 28-foot heave that was off the mark.
The Lakers, who had forced Stephen Curry to give up the ball in transition with a double team before Poole’s heave, collected the rebound and called a timeout.
Close game down the stretch as Warriors roar back
The champs are here.
After the Lakers opened up their largest lead of the game, the Warriors responded with an 14-0 run and tied the score on a three-pointer from Stephen Curry.
The Lakers went back ahead with a basket in the lane from D’Angelo Russell and lead 114-112 with 1:05 to go.
The Warriors missed three three-point shots on one possession, including open looks from Klay Thompson and Curry. The Lakers were lucky to get out of that possession unscathed, but Jordan Poole didn’t let the Lakers off the hook the next time with a three-pointer that cut the lead to three.
Curry tied the score with a three at the 1:38 mark. He has 27 points.
Do the Warriors have a run in them?
The defending champions are on the ropes.
The Lakers had their largest lead of the game at 112-98 after a basket from LeBron James with 5:58 left in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors responded with six straight points.
Stephen Curry completed a three-point play then set up Klay Thompson for a three-pointer to pull the Warriors to within 112-104 with 5:17 to go.
Thompson has 25 points and Curry 22.
Anthony Davis joins elite group
With 30 points and 21 rebounds, Anthony Davis is just the fifth Laker to have 30 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game.
The Lakers lead 108-98 with 6:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Lakers holding steady to begin fourth quarter
The Lakers are on a 7-3 run early in the fourth quarter and lead 103-95 with 8:47 remaining in the game.
The Warriors scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to four, but Austin Reaves found LeBron James for an alley-oop to spark the Lakers’ streak.
Jarred Vanderbilt has scored three points in the fourth quarter while also matching up with Stephen Curry on the defensive end. Curry has 16 points on six-of-16 shooting and five turnovers.
Vanderbilt has five points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Lakers take eight-point lead into fourth quarter
Draymond Green was hit with a technical foul with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter, helping the Lakers take a 96-88 lead going into the fourth.
Anthony Davis made the technical free throw and sank two more on a foul call to give the Lakers a 10-point lead before Kevon Looney got a dunk with 11.8 seconds remaining to keep the margin at single digits.
After dominating the first half, Davis was relatively quiet in the third quarter and has 28 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. The Lakers still stretched their lead with D’Angelo Russell taking over. The guard has 17 points and six assists.
Klay Thompson leads the Warriors with 22 points.
Lakers extend lead with timely three-point shooting
The threes are finally falling for the Lakers, who lead 86-80 with 3:47 to go in the third quarter.
After back-to-back three-pointers from Austin Reaves and LeBron James, the Lakers opened up a 10-point lead.
The Lakers were one-of-eight shooting from three-point range in the first half and have made three of seven in the third quarter. Reaves has two.
Reaves has 10 points, three rebounds and two assists. James has 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three turnovers.
The Warriors responded with two baskets, including an emphatic dunk from Gary Payton II that came off an offensive rebound for the Warriors.
Lakers lead by five in third quarter
Austin Reaves hit the Lakers’ second three-pointer of the night to force a timeout from the Warriors with 7:11 left in the third quarter.
The Lakers lead 78-73 after Reaves’ second made shot of the game.
D’Angelo Russell, the only other Laker with a made three-pointer tonight, scored the Lakers’ first eight points in the third quarter. He has 15 points and five assists.
Anthony Davis has 25 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Stephen Curry all have three fouls for the Warriors, who have given up 18 free-throw attempts while taking just five.
Second half is underway
And we’re back for the second half.
The Lakers led 65-64 at halftime and missed their first shot of the third quarter while the Warriors scored on an Andrew Wiggins jumper. Wiggins has scored four early points to put the Warriors ahead 68-67 with 9:55 remaining in the third.
Lakers cling to one-point lead over Warriors at halftime
The Warriors have their three-point shooting. The Lakers have their free throws and, most importantly, the lead after the first half.
With 16-of-17 shooting from the free-throw line compared to just three attempts by Golden State, the Lakers lead 65-64 at halftime in the opener of the Western Conference semifinal playoff series.
LeBron James hit a jumper with two seconds remaining in the second quarter to give the Lakers the one-point lead. He has 12 points, five rebounds and four assists while Anthony Davis is dominating with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers opened a five-point lead with a 10-2 run, but Jordan Poole injected some life into the home team with a four-point play with 38 seconds left before halftime. He made the Warriors’ first free throw of the night.
The Warriors have made 13 of 30 three-pointers while the Lakers are one for eight from beyond the arc.
Klay Thompson has 18 points to lead the Warriors and Stephen Curry has 10. Kevon Looney has 13 rebounds.
Anthony Davis dominating, but Warriors still lead
The Lakers are dominating the paint and Anthony Davis is on fire, but the Warriors are countering with their signature three-point shooting to take a 56-53 lead with 2:44 remaining before halftime.
Davis has 21 points on nine-of-10 shooting from the field with 10 rebounds.
The Lakers are outscoring the Warriors 28-12 in the paint, but the Warriors have drained 12 three-pointers, led by four from Klay Thompson, who has a team-high 16 points. The Lakers have made one three-pointer.
The Lakers opened their biggest lead of the game — a four-point advantage after a layup from D’Angelo Russell — but the Warriors responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Jordan Poole. He has nine points, all on three-point shots, with four assists and one steal.
Dennis Schroder, bench lifts Lakers to second-quarter lead
Back-to-back baskets and a steal from Dennis Schroder gave the Lakers their first lead of the game with 11:08 remaining in the second quarter.
Schroder has seven points off the bench as the Lakers lead 39-38 with 7:50 left in the second.
The Lakers reserves have a 13-3 scoring advantage over the Warriors. Along with Schroder, Rui Hachimura has six points, one rebound and one assist for the Lakers.
Lakers trail 31-29 after one
The Lakers trail 31-29 after the first quarter.
LeBron James tied the score at 23-23 with two free throws with the 2:16 left in the quarter before the Warriors inched ahead again behind two three-pointers from Stephen Curry.
James has just four points but has four assists. Anthony Davis is benefiting from James’ playmaking with 14 points on seven-of-eight shooting.
Curry, coming off a 50-point Game 7 performance against the Kings, has 10 points to match Klay Thompson’s total.
Anthony Davis jump-starts Lakers offense
Anthony Davis has entered the chat.
After coach Darvin Ham called the early timeout, Davis came out and made his first four shots of the game to help the Lakers cut into the Warriors’ lead. The Warriors lead 21-17 with 3:59 remaining in the first quarter.
Davis has eight points and two rebounds.
D’Angelo Russell knocked down the Lakers’ first three-pointer of the night at the 7:41 mark of the quarter. The team missed its first four shots from distance and is one of six from deep while the Warriors are three of six from three-point range.
Klay Thompson leads the Warriors with 10 points.
Lakers off to cold shooting start, trail 10-2 early
It’s a quick pace to start, but an ugly shooting night early for the Lakers, who trail 10-2 with 8:31 remaining in the first quarter.
LeBron James is responsible for the Lakers’ only points. The team is one for eight from the field and has two turnovers.
Defensively, the Lakers started with Jarred Vanderbilt guarding Stephen Curry and D’Angelo Russell matching up with Andrew Wiggins. Austin Reaves began on Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis was against Kevon Looney.
Lakers vs. Warriors series opener: Game on
Hello, this is your live blog driver for the night, Thuc Nhi Nguyen. I’m in Los Angeles for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors while my colleagues Dan Woike and Brad Turner along with columnist Bill Plaschke are at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Lakers are coming off a six-game opening round series win against the Memphis Grizzles while the Warriors survived Game 7 against the Sacramento Kings to set up this highly anticipated matchup between LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
The Lakers are starting James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, Austin Reeves and D’Angelo Russell. The Warriors will begin with Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
Lakers vs. Warriors Game 1: The starting lineups are set
Steve Kerr discusses career paths of LeBron James and Steph Curry
Darvin Ham pregame: It’s about Anthony Davis and defense
Lakers live up to their legacy with a close-out win for the ages
Jack was back.
The Memphis Grizzlies never stood a chance.
D-Lo was floating.
The Memphis Grizzlies never got close.
A.D. was relentless, The King ruled, and screams of “Dee-fense” and “M-V-P” and “Let’s Go Lakers” rocked the house and rolled down Figueroa Street.
It was over before it started.
On a familiar Friday night dominated by first names and nicknames and ancient chants, these newfangled Lakers resoundingly lived up to their legacy.
Needing to close out a series, they slammed it so hard that Crypto.com Arena shook.
Lakers-Warriors series: Plenty of story lines, but LeBron vs. Steph is No. 1
Pick one of the storylines. Alone, any could carry the Lakers-Warriors playoff series.
The top geographical rivalry on the West Coast, the battle between the Bay and L.A.
The generation’s two best players, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, meeting once again in the playoffs.
The admiration between James and Draymond Green.
The Hall of Fame coach from Pacific Palisades, Steve Kerr, getting to test his legacy against the team for which he used to cheer from high up in the Forum.
Betting lines and odds for Lakers vs. Warriors
Here are the latest betting lines and odds for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night:
Lakers vs. Warriors: What scouts expect in playoff series
You can be forgiven if your mind goes to a specific place when you first start thinking about the Lakers’ upcoming playoff series with the Golden State Warriors.
Yeah, it’s regional, L.A. versus the Bay Area, but in this league, it’s another round of the NBA’s two biggest stars meeting in the playoffs, this time the Western Conference semifinals, which open Tuesday night in San Francisco.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry have shared the court for four NBA Finals, James and his Cavaliers winning once, and now they’ll do it again for the first time in the same conference.
The series will hinge on more than its two most famous contributors.