Klay Thompson’s 30 points help Warriors even series vs. Lakers
SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson was due for a big game.
It finally came Thursday night.
Thompson opened the floodgates in the second quarter, scoring 14 points and making four 3s, to help put the Warriors back into the driver seat of Game 2 as they cruised to a 127-100 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Western Conference semifinal series is now tied at one-win apiece before it heads to Los Angeles.
Thompson put together his best game of the postseason, ending the night with 30 points on 11 of 18 shooting and knocked down eight of his 11 3-point attempts. He also had three rebounds and an assist in 31 minutes.
Meanwhile, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both notched double-doubles. Curry tallied 12 assists, the most he’s had in the playoffs under Steve Kerr, to go with his 20 points. And Green, who was frustrated after getting into foul trouble in Game 1, recorded 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
The Lakers watched their seven-point lead at the start of the second quarter quickly evaporate as Golden State used a 10-2 run, capped off by Stephen Curry feeding Thompson for a 3 in transition, to regain the lead.
The Lakers tied the game twice early in the second quarter, but the momentum was on the Warriors’ side the remainder of the way.
Up 67-56 at the half, the Warriors bolstered their lead with an explosive 15-8 run at the start of the third.
Kerr started to clear his bench in the fourth, with the Lakers’ starters — including Anthony Davis, who was basically a non-factor in Game 2 — nowhere in sight.
Golden State outscored Los Angeles a combined 84-47 in the second and third quarters, taking a 30-point lead at the start of the fourth.
The Lakers might have outscored the Warriors by seven in the first quarter, but Golden State went on to outrun its Southern California rivals 101-67 over the final three stanzas.
With Kevon Looney feeling under the weather and on a minutes restriction, Kerr had to make a last-minute change in the starting lineup, inserting JaMychal Green at center.
Green has done a good job at staying ready. After playing less than 15 minutes in all of the Warriors’ seven-game series against the Sacramento Kings, he’s stepped into the starting role with little issue. His 10 points in the third helped build the Warriors’ edge to 30 at the end of the quarter. He ended the night with 15 points, which tied his a postseason career high.
Meanwhile, Looney did look sluggish in his 12 minutes, which was to be expected with him feeling unwell. Regardless, his impact was still felt. He finished the night with six points and eight rebounds in 12 minutes, which helped the Warriors win the battle of the boards, 55-40.
Two nights after Davis blitzed the Warriors for 30 points and 23 rebounds, Golden State locked up the LA big man, limiting him to 11 points on 5 of 11 shooting. LeBron James and Rui Hachimura had 23 points and 21, respectively.
The Warriors also did a good job keeping the Lakers off the free throw line. After allowing them to take nearly five-times more free throws in Game 1, the Lakers got to the charity stripe 17 times on Thursday night, and the Warriors made 10 of their 16 free-throw attempts.
The series will shift to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday before returning to San Francisco for Game 5 on Wednesday.