As the Los Angeles Lakers came to Oracle Arena tonight, they had to get a win to keep their hopes of stealing the number one spot from the San Antonio Spurs alive. But they didn’t and they won’t.The Warriors took down the defending champion Lakers at Oracle Arena this evening by a score of 95-87, surprisingly using their interior presence and defense to knock off a team that is one of the best in the NBA at both.
The Warriors were down by as much as 12 in the first quarter, but turned up the heat for the rest of the game. David Lee had a monster double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds, he also hand 5 assists and 4 steals. Monta Ellis led all scorers with 26, Steph Curry had 20, while Dorell Wright struggled for the second night in a row. Despite his 10 points on 3-13 shooting, he managed to surpass Jason Richardson’s 2005-06 record of most three pointers made, hitting his 184th of the year. The Warriors out rebounded the much bigger Lakers 50-47, and were a plus 7 in turnovers with 11 compared to the Lakers 18.
To go along with their large number of turnovers, the Lakers also shot an abismal 59% from the free throw line (16-27), an all around out of character night for the Lake Show. Kobe Bryant still managed 25 points, Andrew Bynum finsihed with another nice double-double with 13 points and 17 boards, Pau Gasol had 18 and 7 rebounds, while Matt Barnes added 10 from off the bench.
Next up for the Warriors will likely be their last meeting ever with the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at Oracle Arena, with tipoff set for 6:00 p.m.
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