Splash Brothers lead Warriors past Lakers for a key 134-120 win in Anthony Davis’ injury absence

By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Klay Thompson scored 27 points, Stephen Curry had 23 and the Golden State Warriors capitalized on Anthony Davis’ injury absence for a 134-120 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Andrew Wiggins had 17 points for the 10th-place Warriors, who hit 26 of their 41 3-point attempts — including an astonishing 16 of 23 from Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green, who went 5 for 5 in the first half by himself.

Golden State’s 26 3s were the most allowed in a game by the Lakers.

The Warriors (44-35) have won eight of nine down the stretch to move within a half-game of ninth-place Los Angeles (45-35). Golden State also won the head-to-head tiebreaker between the rivals, putting homecourt advantage for a potential 9-10 play-in game next week in the Warriors’ hands over their final three regular-season games.

LeBron James had 33 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for the Lakers, who had won eight of nine before taking back-to-back home losses in the past three days. Austin Reaves added 22 points and Rui Hachimura had 20, while D’Angelo Russell struggled to 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Davis sat out due to the aftereffects of being hit in the head by Minnesota’s Kyle Anderson in the Lakers’ loss to the Timberwolves last Sunday night. Davis took a similar blow to his left eye last month from Golden State’s Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Without its All-Star big man, Los Angeles couldn’t defend the Warriors effectively and missed the chance to move into eighth place past struggling Sacramento (45-34), which blew a big second-half lead and lost to Oklahoma City.

Davis showed up to the Lakers’ downtown arena Tuesday, but “couldn’t overcome the headaches and nausea” caused by that blow, coach Darvin Ham said. Davis isn’t in the concussion protocol, Ham added, but he missed a key game after largely avoiding serious injuries all season for the first time in a half-decade.

Los Angeles fell to 2-4 without Davis this season, not counting two losses in which he played only the first quarter due to head blows.

James didn’t arrive until just over an hour before tipoff against the Warriors after missing that loss to the Wolves due to an apparent case of the flu. James didn’t do his usual on-court workout, but still suited up.

The Warriors played freely on offense without Davis in the middle, and Green improbably matched his total 3-pointers from his previous nine games combined and tied his career record for most 3s in one half.

The Warriors made 12 of their first 17 3-point attempts, and they went 20 of 32 in the first three quarters overall.

James came out looking for his shot aggressively, finishing the first half with 14 points. But the Lakers couldn’t keep up with the Warriors, who scored 10 consecutive points in the final 1:23 of the third quarter to leap to a 17-point lead.

Curry returned after taking a game off to rest with six 3-pointers without a miss along with eight assists and seven rebounds. Wiggins returned from a two-game absence with an ankle injury.

The crowd included Kim Kardashian, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, new USC coach Eric Musselman and Los Angeles Rams receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua — and nose tackle Kobie Turner, who sang the national anthem.

UP NEXT

Warriors: At Portland on Thursday.

Lakers: At Memphis on Friday.

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