Written by Drew Garrison at Silver Screen and Roll.com
The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors put on an exciting game on a night all about honoring Kobe Bryant, but the Warriors would pull away 116-114 in overtime. The Lakers once again pushed the Warriors to the brink, but once again couldn’t close things out in extra time.
Kevin Durant put the finishing touches on the Lakers in OT, but overall the defense did a good job keeping him in check. Durant finished the night with 36 points, but shot 10-of-29 from the field. Klay Thompson added in 17 points, but on 6-of-24 shooting.
Overall the Lakers did a fairly good job of disrupting the Warriors’ offense, holding them to 40.2 percent shooting from the field. Once again it was horrific free-throw shooting (22-35) and turnovers (12) dooming an otherwise-solid effort from the Lakers.
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but even 25 points off the bench from Kyle Kuzma — putting on a show in front of Kobe — weren’t enough to take advantage of Golden State being shorthanded.
Lonzo Ball scored 16 points with six rebounds and six assists. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope continues racking up the attempts, going 4-of-17 on the night.
The Lakers are off Tuesday, traveling to face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday before bouncing back up to face the Warriors again on Friday. The game, ultimately, served as the backdrop to a much bigger night honoring one of the greatest professional athletes ever.
To continue reading this article, click here.
