The Los Angeles Lakers struggled in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals as they couldn’t contain the long-range firepower of the Golden State Warriors and lost 127-100.
With only one full day of rest between each game in this series, some are concerned about LeBron James and Anthony Davis possibly becoming fatigued. But James said after Game 2 on Thursday that they “feel great.”
"We feel great, and yes, we contested their threes," LeBron says in response to a question about if he and AD are healthy and if they contested enough Warriors threes.
Yes, that was the full answer.
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) May 5, 2023
Late in the first quarter, it looked like perhaps Los Angeles would steal another game from the defending NBA champs and put a stranglehold on the series. It led 33-26 after 12 minutes, and James was hitting from the outside, unlike in Game 1.
But that would do it as far as its highlights for the night. The Warriors became a five-alarm fire, and they outscored L.A. 84-57 in the middle two quarters, due mainly to Klay Thompson, who scored 30 points and connected on eight of his 11 3-point attempts.
On the other end of the floor, Anthony Davis was almost invisible, scoring just 11 points. Draymond Green, a former Defensive Player of the Year, guarded him and turned him into a mere mortal after he was unstoppable on Tuesday.
James had 21 points in the first half, but other than reserve forward Rui Hachimura, who had 21 points for the entire game, no one else helped him out offensively. As was the case in Game 1, Los Angeles couldn’t hit from the outside, and it finished the night just 10-of-34 from beyond the arc.
Since the game was so lopsided so early, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham didn’t play James or Davis at all in the fourth quarter. That allowed them to get a little extra rest, and it just may result in both of them being very energetic and effective when the series resumes for Game 3 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
