The Warriors’ winning streak came to an end on Friday night, as Golden State fell 117-97 to the Lakers in Los Angeles. Kevin Durant led the Dubs with 27 points, tying him with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the sixth-longest 20-point streak in NBA history at 70-straight games. Stephen Curry added 13 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, but failed to make a three-pointer, ending his NBA-record streak of 157 consecutive games with at least one trey. With the loss, Golden State drops to 4-2 on the season.
Golden State’s offensive struggles were evident from the get-go, as the Lakers opened up an 8-0 lead while the Warriors missed their first five shots, four of which came from three-point range. Stephen Curry would get Golden State on the board with a layup and ignite a Warriors’ 7-0 run in response, but the Lakers followed that up with an immediate 6-0 burst to put the Dubs in an early 14-7 hole. Curry’s jumper with 4:43 left cut the deficit to 16-12, but the Warriors would be held scoreless for the remainder of the quarter until Andre Iguodala sank Golden State’s first three-pointer of the night as time expired. Golden State committed eight turnovers, while making just six field goals in the opening frame.
Things would only get worse for the Warriors, as the Lakers scored the opening basket of the second quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the half. After Golden State had climbed within 11 with 9:32 left, Los Angeles responded with a 14-6 run to take their largest lead of the game up to that point just less than halfway through the second frame. Draymond Green would follow that with back-to-back baskets, after which Kevon Looney made all three of his field goal attempts in a span of 47 seconds to cut the deficit to 13. Nick Young’s three-pointer with 1:12 remaining extended that lead to 16, and Los Angeles would maintain that advantage going into halftime up 65-49. After making just one of eight three-point attempts in the opening quarter, the Warriors did one worse in the second, shooting just 1-of-9 from behind the line as a team.
Los Angeles looked in danger of running away with the game for good when D’Angelo Russell sank a technical free throw to expand their lead to 73-52 two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, but the veteran Warriors wouldn’t go down without a fight. Kevin Durant would sink two free throws on the ensuing possession, kick-starting an 16-2 Golden State run over the next four minutes that would pull the Dubs within seven points, their first single-digit deficit since the end of the first quarter. Kevon Looney’s layup with get the Warriors as close as 87-81 with 1:39 left in the third frame, but Los Angeles ended the quarter on a 6-1 run to rebuild a double-digit lead heading into the fourth.
Durant split free throws to cut the deficit to 95-85 with 9:22 remaining in regulation, but that was as close as Golden State would get. Lou Williams’ three-point shot at the eight-minute mark began a 10-2 Los Angeles run in response, as the young Lakers began to put the game out of reach. Julius Randle’s layup with 1:28 remaining gave Los Angeles their largest lead of the entire game at 115-93, as the Warriors’ division rival coasted to the eventual 117-97 win.
The loss drops the Warriors’ record to 4-2 on the season. They’ll attempt to bounce back and start a new winning streak when they play host to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
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