Steph Curry’s triple-double not enough as Warriors collapse, Lakers win
Game 4
The Warriors-Lakers series will shift back to San Francisco for Game 5
on Wednesday.
>Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) has a large scratch on his
face during the second quarter of Game 4 of the NBA basketball Western
Conference semifinal playoffs at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles,
Calif., on Monday, May 8, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 8, 2023 at 9:41 p.m. | UPDATED: May 9, 2023 at 2:10 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/05/08/steph-currys-triple-double-not-enough-as-warriors-collapse-lakers-win-game-4/

LOS ANGELES — Stephen Curry did everything in his power to put the
Warriors in a position to win Monday night.

But his first playoff triple-double since 2019 wasn’t enough in the end
to keep the Los Angeles Lakers at bay as they pulled off a stunning
104-101 win to take a 3-1 series lead over the defending champs.

Curry’s 31-point, 14-assist and 10-rebound effort was overshadowed by
the Warriors’ inability to squash the Laker’s fourth-quarter rally.

Every time the Warriors showed signs of life down the stretch, the
Lakers found a way to squash it.

“We had good looks that didn’t go in,” Curry said. “We fought them down
all the way to the last second in terms of trying to give ourselves a
chance to steal a win.”

>Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) attempts to guard Los
Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (6) during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of
the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoffs at Crypto.com
Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday, May 8, 2023. The Los Angeles
Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors 104-101. (Jose Carlos
Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

The Lakers outscored the Warriors 27-17 in the fourth quarter. “That’s a
tough way to finish,” Curry said.

Curry’s layup bounced in with a little more than a minute left to make
it a one-point game, with the Lakers still holding the edge.

The ball was back in Curry’s hands with a little over 30 seconds to go
and a potential series-tying win on the line.

But Curry missed back-to-back shots over Anthony Davis on the Warriors’
next possession. And Moses Moody fouled Lonnie Walker IV, the Lakers’
surprising hero of the fourth, after he grabbed the rebound with 15
seconds left.

>Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) misses his last three-point
basket attempt past Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis (3) during the
fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA basketball Western Conference
semifinal playoffs at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on
Monday, May 8, 2023. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State
Warriors 104-101. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Walker made his two free throws — his 14th and 15th points in the
quarter — to give the Lakers a three-point lead.

After a timeout, Davis recovered a Draymond Green pass with seven
seconds left. The Warriors, still fighting the good fight, smother the
Lakers’ big man, forcing a jump ball with only seconds remaining.

This was their last hope.

Andrew Wiggins and Davis squared up on each side of the foul line. They
went up and swung at the ball, which was batted backward. Curry managed
to recover the loose rock, but he fell to the floor in the process. He
threw the ball back in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation as
the clock wound down. But a teammate wasn’t there and it instead bounced
out of bounds.

Lakers ball with 1.7 seconds left.

>Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr reacts after a missed
three-point basket attempt by Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11)
during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA basketball Western
Conference semifinal playoffs at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles,
Calif., on Monday, May 8, 2023. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the
Golden State Warriors 104-101. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Coach Steve Kerr tried to challenge the call but it was no use. This one
was over.

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The Warriors now face a win-or-go-home situation on Wednesday at Chase
Center.

After the game, Kerr said he tried to call a timeout when Curry was on
the floor.

“I was yelling, ‘Timeout,’” Kerr said. “But he lost control of the ball
so quickly and didn’t get the call.”

Overall, though, Kerr said Game 4 was “a pretty solid effort” from his
group.

“It was… a game we obviously very easily could have won but we didn’t,”
Kerr said. “So we just got to go watch the film and see what we can do
differently and go home and take care of business.”

>Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr stands on the court during
the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA basketball Western Conference
semifinal playoffs at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on
Monday, May 8, 2023. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State
Warriors 104-101. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Even with the Warriors facing an uncertain future — between Green having
a player option for next season and general manager Bob Myers’ contract
expiring this summer — Curry is focused on the present and getting this
right.

The Warriors, who’ve often turned to their championship experience for a
boost in faith, have been down 3-1 in a series only twice before under
Kerr, with Golden State coming up with mixed results. The Warriors beat
the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games in 2016 after facing a 3-1
deficit, and they lost the 2019 NBA Finals to the Toronto Raptors after
falling into a similar situation.

Curry said the Warriors use that experience “as confidence that we can
figure this out.

“Obviously you just focus on winning Game 5,” he said. “You can’t fast
forward to the end but we have a lot of confidence in our ability to
take the good things from tonight and protect our home court so that’s
all you can do right now. Maintain positivity and how tough this was
tonight, but a long way to go.”

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>Golden State Warriors’ Gary Payton II (8) tries to block a pass by Los
Angeles Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt (2) during the first quarter of Game 4
of the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoffs at
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday, May 8, 2023. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

--
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.