Disastrous second quarter sinks Warriors as Lakers cruise to Game 3 win
The Warriors have 48 hours from Saturday's meltdown to regroup for Game
4 Monday at Crypto.com Arena.
>Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis (3) drives past Golden State
Warriors’ Kevon Looney (5) during the first quarter of Game 3 of the NBA
basketball Western Conference semifinal playoffs at Crypto.com Arena in
Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, May 6, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay
Area News Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 6, 2023 at 8:20 p.m. | UPDATED: May 7, 2023 at 3:36 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/05/06/disastrous-second-quarter-sinks-warriors-as-lakers-cruise-to-game-3-win/

LOS ANGELES – Everything seemed to be going the Warriors’ way Saturday
night – until it wasn’t.

Stephen Curry thought he and Klay Thompson were on the same page during
a fast-break opportunity near the midway point of the second quarter.

But when Curry passed the ball to Thompson for a layup, Thompson was
already darting to the corner. Curry turned around and yelled in
frustration as the ball bounced out of bounds.

What happened next was an onslaught of careless turnovers by the
Warriors and barrage of whistles that swung the game in favor of the Los
Angeles Lakers.

“All that stuff changed momentum quickly,” Curry said. “That was really
the point where I felt like they got life.”

And it was the moment the Warriors faded, ultimately conceding to the
Los Angeles Lakers 127-97. The Game 3 win gave the Lakers a 2-1
advantage in the Western Conference semifinals.

“We got punked tonight unfortunately on the boards, on the glass, on the
free throw line,” Thompson said.

The Warriors overcame an early Lakers burst to take a seven-point
advantage into the second quarter.

They started to create separation early in the second quarter, pulling
ahead by 11 points Saturday night. But Golden State lost its composure
and fell out of rhythm — starting with the miscommunication between
Curry and Thompson at the 7:35 mark in the second quarter — resulting in
an epic second-quarter collapse.

The Lakers thumped the Warriors with a 30-8 run over the last 7:53 of
the second quarter to take an 11-point lead at the half.

The struggles carried over to the third and left Curry and Thompson
sitting on the bench for good early in the fourth, and Curry shaking his
head as he looked at the floor with a towel hanging over his head.

>Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) watches a ball being thrown
while sitting dejected on the bench in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of
the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoffs at Crypto.com
Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, May 6, 2023. (Jose Carlos
Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

What changed?

“They played harder,” Andrew Wiggins said. “They played like they wanted
it more.”

The Warriors didn’t do themselves any favors during the home team rally.
Draymond Green and JaMychal Green were each assessed technical fouls,
Moses Moody was called for a Flagrant 1 foul and Donte DiVincenzo was
whistled for a defensive three-second violation.

“The game stopped,” Draymond Green said in an uncharacteristically brief
post-game press conference. “They go to the free throw line every time.”

By halftime, the Lakers had attempted 21 free throws — 15 in the second
quarter alone — to the Warriors’ six tries from the foul line. And the
discrepancy was just as glaring at the end of the game, with Los Angeles
taking 20 more free throw attempts than Golden State.

>Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) shows his disappointment
while playing the Los Angeles Lakers during the third quarter of Game 3
of the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoffs at
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, May 6, 2023. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

“We were in control of the game, in pretty good shape, and that’s when
we lost our poise,” coach Steve Kerr said. “[When you’re] on the road,
and you’re going against a great defensive team, you know the crowd is
going to be into it, gotta be more poised.”

The Warriors couldn’t stop the bleeding in the second half. The Lakers
opened the third with an 8-2 run and never looked back.

Kerr challenged Draymond Green’s fourth personal foul but was
unsuccessful. A visibly frustrated Green went to the bench at the 6:54
mark of the third quarter after picking up his fifth.

With the Warriors trailing 26 with 9:11 to go in the fourth, Kerr pulled
his starters and called it a night.

Curry led the Warriors with 23 points but went 9 of 12 from the field
and 4 of 10 from 3-point land. Wiggins had 16 points, nine rebounds and
four assists and Thompson contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, but
it wasn’t enough to overcome the Warriors’ mistakes.

>Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) reaches for out of bounds
ball while playing the Los Angeles Lakers during the third quarter of
Game 3 of the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoffs at
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, May 6, 2023. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Los Angeles scored a whopping 27 points off the Warriors’ 19 giveaways.

“We got our butts kicked,” Wiggins said. “During the second half of the
game, [we] really got away from ourselves. But just got to regroup and
come back stronger.”

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After being a non-factor in Game 2, Anthony Davis made his presence
felt. Davis scored 16 of his 25 points in the first half and had 13
rebounds, four blocks, three steals and three assists.

Former Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell got the Lakers’ offense humming
early, scoring 13 of the team’s first 17 points. He finished with 21 on
8 of 13 shooting. Meanwhile, LeBron James didn’t take a single shot in
the opening quarter for the first time in his 275 playoff games. He got
it going in the second, scoring 10 points during the Lakers’ run, before
ending the night with 21 points.

After slapping the Lakers with 43 and 41 points in the second and third
quarters of the Warriors’ Game 2 win, Golden State recorded a total of
38 points in the second and third quarters of Saturday’s loss.

“When we play like that, it’s on us. We know what we can do when we play
the way we usually do,” Wiggins said. “Warriors basketball is moving the
ball, having fun, making the right plays, and at the end of the day, we
didn’t do that as well as we did in the previous game.”

The Warriors have 48 hours from Saturday’s meltdown to regroup for Game
4 on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

“That’s the beauty of a series and having an opportunity to throw this
one in the garbage and move on,” Curry said. “That’s the challenge, too.
We have to be able to focus on the things that we need to to combat what
they’re doing and get the game at our pace and speed.”

--
Madeline Kenney | Warriors reporter
Madeline Kenney is the Bay Area News Group's Golden State Warriors beat
reporter for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. A Nebraska native, she
is graduate of Loyola University of Chicago. She holds a Bachelor in
Communication degree, with a major in broadcast journalism and minors in
sports management and marketing, and is a friend of Sister Jean, the
103-year-old nun who became famous during the Ramblers’ 2018 run to the
Final Four, Madeline previously worked for the Chicago Sun-Times
covering everything from sports to crime and politics. When she’s not
working, she enjoys trying new restaurants and exploring the great outdoors.