Three Warriors scored at least 20 points and all five Warriors starters scored in double figures as the Warriors took an early lead versus the L.A. Lakers, withstood a Lakers run, and did not trail in the second half en route to a 121-106 game five win. Stephen Curry led the way with 27 points on 12-24 field goal shooting and a game-high eight assists. Andrew Wiggins had his best game of the 2023 playoffs (25 points, seven rebounds, five assists), and Draymond Green delivered a double double (20 points, 10 rebounds) instead of the triple single that he had in four of his previous 10 playoff games this year. Coach Steve Kerr inserted Gary Payton II in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game, and Payton II finished with a game-best +25 plus/minus number even though his boxscore numbers were modest (13 points, six rebounds). Klay Thompson continued to struggle (10 points on 3-12 field goal shooting), which is a concern not only for game six but for subsequent rounds if the Warriors survive and advance. The undersized Warriors outrebounded the Lakers 48-38, and only lost the points in the paint battle by two (52-50), which is a victory for the Warriors because they can expect to win the battle from beyond the arc (plus nine points in game six).
LeBron James led the Lakers with 25 points and nine rebounds. He played well, but he did not dominate, which is what is needed to win game five on the road, and the same can be said of Anthony Davis, who posted nearly identical numbers (23 points, nine rebounds). Davis left the game with 7:34 remaining in the fourth quarter after being accidentally hit in the head by Kevon Looney. The Lakers trailed 102-88 at that point, and Davis had a game-worst -22 plus/minus number, so his absence down the stretch is not why the Lakers lost this game. TNT's Chris Haynes reported that Davis had trouble walking (this was not evident in the video shown on television), and that he required a wheelchair to move around the bowels of the stadium. Davis' reputation for being tough and playing through injuries speaks for itself. ESPN showed footage of Davis walking out of the arena unassisted. Assuming that the wheelchair report is true--and I still have not figured out why Haynes is incapable of delivering a report about something that happened five minutes earlier without reading text messages on his phone from a source close to the situation--we can only hope that Davis recovers from what obviously must be a serious injury. I mean, Kobe Bryant once played in an All-Star Game with a broken nose, a concussion, and soft tissue damage in his neck after being hit in the face by Dwyane Wade, so if a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team cannot return to a playoff game and reportedly needs a wheelchair then we have to assume that he has suffered an injury more serious than a broken nose, a concussion, and soft tissue damage in his neck. So, if Davis does not play in game six or does not play well, we already know that he has good reason to disappear for the rest of this series. NFL player Chris Spielman vowed to retire if he ever had to be helped off of the field, but Dwyane Wade once needed a wheelchair for a shoulder injury, so each person defines toughness in his own way.
Both teams shot well in the first quarter, and the Lakers offset the Warriors' three point barrage (7-12 shooting from beyond the arc) with Davis' 13 points on 6-8 field goal shooting. That kind of three point shooting is not sustainable, but a big and skilled player attacking smaller players in the paint is sustainable (or, at least, it could be). The Warriors led 32-28 after the first 12 minutes.
Both teams continued to shoot well in the second quarter, but the Warriors won the points in the paint duel 20-12 while each squad made four shots from beyond the arc. The Warriors led 70-59 at halftime. The Lakers' vaunted defense apparently did not make the trip across California, staying home to get ready for game six. The teams played to a 23-23 tie in the third quarter, and then the Lakers threw in the towel near the end of the fourth quarter after not being able to make a meaningful dent in the deficit.
Almost every day, I read or hear some commentator asserting that Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka turned the Lakers' season around by trading Russell Westbrook for D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley. Some "experts" are even suggesting that Pelinka should be voted Executive of the Year--for putting together a team that struggled to make the Play-In Tournament, and then struggled to survive the Play-In Tournament!
Lakers Coach Darvin Ham does not share the same assessment of that trade as the "experts" do. How do I know that without speaking to Ham? In game six, with a chance to eliminate the Warriors, Ham played Vanderbilt for 11 minutes, and he did not put Beasley on the court until the final three minutes when both teams emptied their benches. Two of the three players from the supposedly brilliant trade have essentially played themselves out of the rotation because they are who I said they are: limited role players. Russell scored 15 points in 30 minutes, right in line with his playoff averages this season. Russell has some value as a rotation player when he is making his shots, but in other areas of the game he provides little to no value, so if he is not making his shots or not getting shot opportunities he is just another guy running around getting some cardio work done while other players decide the outcome of the game.
The Lakers' best "trade" was when Davis became available down the stretch and actually put forth effort at both ends of the court. He is capable of being a fearsome defender and a very difficult to guard scorer in the paint. When James is also playing in the paint at both ends of the court, the Lakers can be pretty good. When the Lakers' defense is indifferent and when the Lakers are indifferent about attacking the paint, they give up 121 points, lose by 15, and get ready for the next game.
Road elimination games are tough, as the Knicks proved earlier in the evening by beating the Heat to send their series back to Miami for game six. The Lakers will likely find out that home elimination games versus the Warriors are not a picnic, either. At least the Lakers know that they can count on Davis and the "triumphant trio" to have big performances so that the Lakers do not have to return to Golden State for a winner take all game seven.