LeBron James selectively picked the Warriors apart on his timing and terms in Game 3.

LOS ANGELES — One lopsided contest deserved another. One star player laid eggs, then 48 hours later dropped the hammer. The Warriors had the eye-test momentum edge in this series one day, the Lakers claimed it the next.

So this is where Warriors-Lakers is right now, completely stumping anyone trying to get a grip on a Western Conference semifinal that has only one sure thing: L.A. is up 2-1 after winning Saturday’s Game 3.

Everything else? Who knows.

There was one predictable outcome, and that was Anthony Davis going from cold to hot from one game to the next, like clockwork. That’s his pattern, or has been in this postseason, and he did not disappoint once again. Good thing for the Lakers, who rode their two stars to secure the home win.

And lucky us, we only have to wait two days to become confused all over again, with Game 4 on Monday.

“The score doesn’t represent what type of team they are,” said Lakers coach Darvin Ham, “and when they beat us big it didn’t represent the type of team we are. This is gonna be a battle to the end.”

Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ 127-97 win, on a night where fans left Crypto.com Arena feeling friskier about the best-of-seven.

1. Davis deals Draymond a defeat

Maybe Anthony Davis read all of those glowing reviews about Draymond Green and how the Warriors’ defensive ace put AD on ice in Game 2. Players don’t get motivated by that stuff anymore, do they?

Well: Davis unlocked the handcuffs. Once again unleashed, he was impactful in the paint; largely due to outplaying the initial line of defense, JaMychal Green, and then getting Draymond — the second and most important layer — in foul trouble. Davis absorbed contact and took 12 free throws, missing once. And right on cue, Draymond took exception to the whistles even as he lost every review. He walked to each ref and spoke his mind. He even approached comedian Kevin Hart courtside to plead his case.

By then, the damage was done. Davis dropped enough mid-range shots and buckets off pick-and-rolls to finish with 25 points. The Lakers used a big third quarter to push an 18-point lead into the fourth. With a rout in the works, Draymond — along with other very important Warriors — was on the bench anyway much of the fourth.

2. Never take LeBron for granted

Let’s be very clear — this was less of a monumental day for LeBron than for his son, Bronny, who finally announced his college choice: The teenager will fight on at USC next year. Meanwhile, the father fought on, as he has for 20 years, with a very smart Game 3 performance. It was clever because LeBron picked his spots, and when the game was there for the taking, he seized it.

For example: LeBron didn’t take a shot until the 8-minute mark of the second quarter, which surely caused the arena to stir. That would be an ominous sign for most players. But LeBron was busy setting up teammates. He said: “I’m never going to force shots. I’m going to let the game come to me.”

Then the scoring burst happened — 21 points in the third and fourth quarters combined, on a collection of spin moves to the hoop, pull-up jumpers and post-ups. It was cerebral how he performed surgery on the Warriors, and this is where it gets worrisome for Golden State: When will the pace of the schedule — one game every other night — cause a 38-year-old to fade, or is that not an issue?

LeBron was helped in that the last two games were blowouts; he wasn’t needed in either fourth quarter with the outcome already decided. The Basketball Gods, therefore, are load managing him for the next game; LeBron played a breezy 32 minutes Saturday. The Warriors better hope he is pushed beyond the minutes threshold at some point, because their game plan, starting with Andrew Wiggins against LeBron, hasn’t limited him yet. They need some help.

3. So, when does the Steph ’splosion happen?

Good news for the Warriors: They didn’t waste a ballistic Stephen Curry performance. Bad news for the Warriors: He hasn’t delivered one yet. It will arrive soon, right? That’s what Warriors world is hoping. Curry usually drops an epic scoring game at some point in a playoff series, given they’re a best-of-seven. He did it multiple times in the first round against the Kings, including a 50-piece in the closeout.

But Curry’s 23 points Saturday were very ho-hummish. He’s still waiting to top 30 against the Lakers. One reason for the delay? The twin blowouts. Curry had no reason to play a complete game in either. That said, he isn’t seeing many good looks, and his efficiency has dipped (below his high standards).

Maybe this wore on Curry in Game 3; he uncharacteristically and briefly lost his cool when he fed a perfect bounce pass to Klay Thompson, who had his back turned and therefore blew a scoring chance. The dangling mouthpiece was almost tossed to the floor. Curry shot only 4-for-10 on 3s Saturday and the Warriors followed their leader — they made only 13 from deep and shot 29.5%. That usually means doom for a team that (mostly) lives and (sometimes) dies by that shot. Their inability to make 3s obviously hurt their chances of rallying when the Lakers broke the game open in the third quarter.

4. Slanderous to suggest Reaves is the Lakers’ version of Jordan Poole?

Reaves had a breakout season, soared up the rotational ladder, claimed a starting spot and the Lakers began calling plays for him. Jordan did likewise last season and had an enhanced role for a championship team. Yet both are struggling mightily this series.

For Reaves, however, the dropoff has been sudden and drastic. He tore though the Grizzlies in the first round much like he did from January to April in the regular season. Here against the Warriors, he’s being exposed. His defense against Thompson seems mostly lacking and he can’t release his own shot as easily. His efficiency through three games: 9-for-28, with an average of nine points (after shooting 44% and averaging 16.5 against Memphis).

The Lakers haven’t been hurt too badly by this; after all, they hold a 2-1 series lead. But the matchups aren’t in Reaves’ favor against the Warriors, and one of these games, maybe they’ll need more form him.

5. Free throws aren’t free for the Warriors

What a surprise: one of the lowest-scoring teams from the free-throw line is trailing big in that category against the highest-scoring team from the stripe. The Lakers are leading in free throw attempts in this series by a commanding 83-39 margin.

It was more of the same Saturday, when the Lakers out-paced the Warriors from the line, 37-17 — and nine of those Warriors makes came from the subs during fourth-quarter mop-up duty. The Warriors can win this series if that margin stays lopsided, but they’ll need to shoot better from 3-point range to combat the deficit. When they struggle from deep, as they did in Game 3, then the free throw disparity comes back into question.

In the Game 1 loss, Golden State was outscored 25-5 from the line, which seems like a misprint (it wasn’t). The explanation is simple: They lack players who live in the paint, and their best bigs (Draymond and Kevon Looney) are non-shooters. The Lakers are giving both plenty of space and neither player is taking full advantage, mainly because they’re uncomfortable doing so. Draymond, Looney and JaMychael Green shot a combined three shots outside 15 feet Saturday — and since they don’t draw contact, just two free throw attempts.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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