Lakers facing a harsh reality after Game 2 loss to Warriors

Lakers star Anthony Davis reaches toward Golden State's Donte DiVincenzo, who grabs a loose ball as the two fell to the court

By Bill Plaschke

Columnist

May 4, 2023 10:23 PM PT

SAN FRANCISCO —

It was a reality check swatted across the mouth.

It was an equalizer pounded into the ribs.

It was precisely what is printed on those silly shirts worn by the screaming locals.

It was Gold Blooded.

News flash! The Golden State Warriors aren’t going to go down easy.

News flash! The Lakers are going to make this really hard.

Handed a literal golden opportunity to severely damage the defending NBA champions in the Western Conference semifinals Thursday, the Lakers squandered a 1-0 series lead after coming face-to-face with the heart of, well, a warrior.

It was Game 2 that was game on.

It was Golden State pummeling Anthony Davis, tormenting LeBron James, blowing past the Lakers as if they were standing still, winning 127-100 at a gleeful Chase Center to even the best-of-seven series.

“I fully anticipate our team to respond,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said afterward.

The Lakers had better. And quick.

The Lakers franchise has won each of its last nine series when tied 1-all, the longest such streak in NBA history, but this doesn’t feel tied.

The next two duels in this best-of-seven clash will be at Crypto.com Arena beginning Saturday, but it no longer feels as if the Lakers can make quick work of their weary Northern California rivals.

It no longer feels like anything other than ... a Klay Thompson rainbow three ... a falling-down Stephen Curry three ... a grinding Draymond Green rebound ... and a wincing, crumbling Davis.

It all starts with the end of that sentence. One game after he was unstoppable, AD was KOd, swarmed into submission, held to five baskets with four turnovers, 11 points after taking 11 shots, illustrating the Warriors’ best chance to win this series.

Toss around AD and push your way into the next round.

“The Lakers are huge, they are a massive team,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “We felt like going into the game, we had to bring some size and physicality.”

It didn’t happen in the opener. It might not happen again. But it happened Thursday, and the Lakers were demoralized into basically standing around.

Except for James’ 23 points and Rui Hachimura’s 21 points with four three-pointers, no other Lakers player really did anything.

“Our stagnation ... my eyes saw us settle a little bit,” Ham said. “They did a good job of crowding the paint. Not allowing us to play downhill.”

Davis said he didn’t feel crowded. He said he didn’t feel as if he were settling. He said it wasn’t them, it was him.

“I took all the same shots I took in Game 1, I just missed them,” Davis said. “Same exact looks, didn’t shoot no shot that I didn’t shoot in Game 1. Just missed them. That’s all.”

Meanwhile, led by Thompson’s 30 points, the Warriors had six players in double figures while collecting 15 more rebounds, six more points in the paint and five more second-chance points.

While the Lakers were nowhere, the champions were everything, everywhere, all at once.

“I thought we just played simple basketball,” Kerr said, adding, “Our guys were playing with a lot of force, a lot of aggressiveness but making good decisions within that aggression.”

And pride. Don’t forget pride. The Warriors were clearly too proud to be beaten down by AD for a second consecutive game.

“They’re a championship ballclub for a reason,” Ham said. “After Game 1, we fully anticipated them to come out and throw some haymakers, which they did.”

With an interior defense fueled by Draymond Green and JaMychal Green, the Warriors made the proper adjustments. Now it’s the Lakers’ turn.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” Ham said.

He better have a ton of chalk.

The one day of rest between games doesn’t favor James. The speed of Curry and Thompson doesn’t favor the Lakers’ defense. And if JaMychal Green can score 15 points with a trio of threes ... yeah, pull out that drawing board.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Ham said. “But you don’t get to this point in the season by it being easy. You have to buckle down.”

The Warriors began their push on the biggest Laker immediately, holding Davis to one basket in the first quarter and fewer baskets (two) than turnovers (three) at halftime. The Lakers still led by seven at the end of the quarter, but without Davis imposing his will, the Lakers eventually lost theirs.

In the second quarter, the Warriors began attacking the basket and Davis with joyous abandon, Thompson throwing in threes from the rafters, the Lakers staggered and reeling and outscored 41-23 for the entire ugly period.

And that was that.

The Warriors kept blitzing after halftime, outscoring the Lakers by 19 in a third quarter that ended with James sulking, Davis collapsing and somebody named Moses Moody throwing down a dunk. The Lakers trailed by 30 after three and the final dozen minutes wouldn’t be necessary.

The game unofficially ended when Ham pulled the starters before the fourth quarter, but the Warriors just had to rub it in.

With 9:43 left in the game, Curry sprinkled the salt, knocking down a three while being knocked down by Malik Beasley, Warriors leading by 31, Curry laughing, everybody laughing, everything so funny ... not.

“You give credit where credit is due,” James said. “They played exceptionally well tonight and we didn’t.”

The Warriors’ variety of weapons was mirrored by their public address announcer, whose initial announcement of “Hollywood royalty!” was accompanied by the giant scoreboard showing a disheveled Danny DeVito. But in the second quarter, the Hollywood royalty displayed was the still-so-cool Joe Montana, showing a range of celebrity matched only by the versatility of the city’s basketball team.

Before the game, Kerr all but predicted this rout, saying, “We feel good about our ability to adjust, but also about our ability to respond to losing a game and being down in the series. ... This is nothing new for our team. We know what we’re capable of.”

Now, so do the Lakers.

They have won 25 consecutive series in which they won the first game. But these are the Warriors. And the fight has just begun.