Klay Thompson scored a game-high 30 points on 11-18 field goal shooting--including 8-11 from three point range--as the Golden State Warriors led by as many as 32 points en route to a 127-100 win over the L.A. Lakers to tie their second round series at 1-1. Stephen Curry had a quiet scoring game by his standards with 20 points on 7-12 field goal shooting, but he had tremendous impact with his passing (game-high 12 assists) and his overall shot creation in terms of breaking down the Lakers' defense off the dribble to create open shots even on plays when he did not make the assist pass. JaMychal Green started in place of Kevon Looney, contributing 15 points on 6-9 field goal shooting in just 13 minutes. Looney, who was limited to 12 minutes by an undisclosed illness that affected him prior to the start of the game, had six points and eight rebounds.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points and tied for team-high honors with seven rebounds, but he had just two points on 1-5 field goal shooting in the third quarter as the Warriors outscored the Lakers 43-24. Three of James' five field goal attempts in that crucial period were three pointers. The Warriors led 110-80 at the end of the third quarter, and thus James and the other four Lakers' starters did not play in the fourth quarter. Rui Hachimura was the only Laker who played at or above expected standards, finishing with 21 points on 8-14 field goal shooting. Anthony Davis had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots, and zero meaningful impact on the outcome of the game.
Thompson's three point shooting was important, but it must be noted that the Warriors outscored the Lakers 48-42 in the paint, flipping the script from game one when the Lakers dominated the paint scoring by a 54-28 margin. The Warriors also outrebounded the Lakers 55-40 after being outrebounded 53-49 in game one. As ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy put it, during the second quarter the Warriors were "living in the paint." Early in the third quarter, Van Gundy noted that James "does not love to play in the post" but that his team needs him to do so more often because "he is so overpowering."
The extent to which the Lakers are successful is not about "lasers" or Russell Westbrook or the role players who the Lakers acquired in exchange for Westbrook; it is much simpler than that: when Anthony Davis and LeBron James play effectively in the paint at both ends of the court the Lakers can be dangerous--but when Davis and James do not play effectively in the paint at both ends of the court the Lakers are the same mediocre team that they were for most of the regular season when Davis and James were missing in action in terms of attacking the paint (or just missing in action, period: Davis sat out 26 regular season games, and James sat out 27 regular season games).
The reason that I keep saying that the Lakers are not better now than they were before they traded future Hall of Famer Westbrook for three role players is that I am evaluating the team's capability to win a playoff series against a good team at full strength; I am not impressed by the Lakers winning a few regular season games against tanking teams, injury-depleted teams, and teams that had already secured their playoff position. When the Lakers had an opportunity to avoid the Play-In Tournament by beating their crosstown rival L.A. Clippers, the Lakers lost and James made excuses. The Lakers needed overtime to beat a mediocre Minnesota team in the Play-In Tournament, and it took them six games to dispatch a Memphis team missing two of its best big men, one of Ja Morant's hands, and half of Dillon Brooks' brain.
Davis lived up to his press clippings in game one versus Golden State, and the Lakers won by five points; unless you believe that Davis is going to consistently put up 30-23 stat lines, a close win in what may turn out to be his best game of the series is not a great sign for the Lakers. Davis disappeared in game two, and the Warriors obliterated the Lakers. Yes, the series is tied 1-1, and yes the Lakers have the mathematical advantage because they do not need to win another road game to advance--but the Warriors have the better, more consistent, and more disciplined team. The Lakers were unable or unwilling to figure out how to best utilize Westbrook's talents, and they are unable or unwilling to figure out how coax Davis into playing effectively in the paint on a consistent basis. When the going gets tough, James is content to jack up three pointers, put up decent boxscore numbers, and absolve himself of responsibility for the game's outcome. I have followed the Lakers closely this season, and until they prove otherwise they are who I said they are.