Anthony Davis goes off for 30 points, 23 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks as the Lakers hang on to take Game 1 vs. the Warriors.
SAN FRANCISCO — One game into this Western Conference semifinals and the series looks like it has legs. The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers are the stiff test that each team expected to get Tuesday and right up until the final minute, the outcome was a coin flip.
In the end, though, the Lakers had too much Anthony Davis — at both rims — and the Warriors had no answer, and maybe a bit less energy after coming off a grueling seven-game series with the Sacramento Kings in the first round. So the Lakers wisely doubled Stephen Curry with the Warriors needing a 3 to tie in the final seconds and forced the ball to Jordan Poole for the biggest shot attempt of the game. From 30 feet! (Whoops.) That’s one of a reasons why the Warriors dropped their semifinal opener at home.
POOLE DEEP 3 MISSES.
LAKERS WIN GAME 1. pic.twitter.com/g1LtkVwvqN
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 3, 2023
Golden State did produce a rally from 14 points down with six minutes left to generate noise inside Chase Center, but never could seize the outcome. It was Lakers 117, Warriors 112 and now a Thursday sense of urgency for a Golden State team that can’t afford to drop two straight at home. For anyone thinking the Lakers might not be able to duplicate what happened Tuesday, Davis has already issued a warning:
“I’m going to continue being aggressive. I know our guys are going to continue being aggressive.”
Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ five-point victory.
1. Anthony Davis was a warrior
All things considered, this was AD at his most dominant in these playoffs. He was active, aggressive, opportunistic and an overall problem for the Warriors. And he suddenly puts Golden State on red alert with a masterful 30-point, 23-rebound, five-assist, four-block effort.
The following statement is hardly a revelation but needs to be mentioned anyway: Davis is a far tougher challenge for Warriors center Kevon Looney than Domantas Sabonis, especially off the pick and roll. Besides being the better and more experienced player than the Kings’ center, Davis, unlike Sabonis, also brings court stretchability and versatility. It’s a fancy way of saying Looney must venture from the paint, his comfort zone, and deal with Davis 15 feet and beyond the basket.
And as expected, that provided difficult at times in Game 1 for Looney, who isn’t very quick or athletic. Compared to Sabonis, Davis is mobile, moves better laterally, has confidence in his outside shot and can go to either hand. Basically all of the issues that handcuffed Sabonis and enabled Looney to be the finest big man on the floor in the first-round series.
“He continues to show why he’s one of the best players we have in this league,” LeBron James said.
Oh, and one other thing: Because Looney and Draymond Green, the Warriors’ two most functional big men, are so mild offensively, Davis and James will likely never be in foul trouble in this series. Both combined to play 84 minutes in Game 1 … and collectively had just two fouls.
Anthony Davis joins the pantheon of Lakers greats with his 30-20 in Game 1.
2. Lakers’ defense no longer in denial
Remember back in the gloomy days for this team — roughly from October through February — when defense was a major concern for the Lakers? Their inability to get stops caused the Lakers to slowly free-fall in the standings, all the way to 11th in the West at one point.
That memory is foggy now because suddenly, the Lakers are getting stops. Whether this is a result of the drastic personnel changes at midseason — Jarred Vanderbilt in particular is a refreshing addition from a defensive standpoint — or simply the Lakers are just buying into the concept more than before, defense is no longer holding this team back.
On Tuesday the defensive leader was Davis, whose rim protection forced the Warriors to think twice before attacking. Davis had a pair of back-to-back stuffs of Curry and Poole layup attempts that was very telling. Yet it’s not just Davis — the Lakers held the Grizzlies to 112 points or less all but once in the winning that first-round series.
The Warriors shot under 40.6% in Game 1 and the Lakers forced them into numerous tough shots. With the score 115-112 with 9.7 seconds left, the Lakers removed Curry from the equation by forcing him to surrender the ball. That defensive strategy led to Curry passing to Green (a non-shooter), who tossed the hot potato to Poole (precisely the result the Lakers wanted to see).
3. Warriors free throws a sore and rare sight
The free throw disparity was drastic in Game 1: 29 attempts (and 25 makes) for the Lakers compared to just six (no misprint) and five for the Warriors. In fact, the Lakers had six free throw attempts in the fourth quarter alone.
Overall, that’s a massive gap in a game that was close and a crucial factor for the winners. Davis (eight attempts) and Dennis Schroder (10) were especially active in driving the paint and drawing contact for the Lakers. Meanwhile, the Warriors settled for too many jumpers: they took 53 3-pointers and went 7-for-24 in the paint (non-restricted area) and 8-for-18 in the midrange. When that happens, this is the result.
“They’re going to shoot more free throws than we are; they were No. 1 in the league and we were next to last,” Kerr said. “So that’s not a surprise but we have to bring that down. With Davis in the paint you’re not going to get anything easy at the rim but you still have to attack.”
4. Curry went from 50 to 27 real quick
The good news for the Warriors is Curry left it all on the floor for the decisive game of the first round, delivering 50 points, the most by a player in Game 7 history. The bad news for the Warriors? He didn’t have enough time to refuel. There was only a one-day break before Curry could catch his wind — the man did take 38 shots in that game — and perhaps predictably, his impact in Tuesday’s opener was much milder.
Not only that, his 27 points weren’t very efficient (10-for-24 shooting overall, 4-for-11 on twos). Plus, there were stretches where Curry couldn’t even make open shots. And he didn’t see many of those against the Lakers, who made him work. The one shot Curry had to have was a 3-pointer in the final seconds, and he was double teamed, and he passed … well, we covered that already.
Stephen Curry scores 27 points to help the Warriors make the Lakers sweat late in Game 1.
5. Lakers didn’t need LeBron’s A-game
James scored just one more point than Poole and the Lakers managed just fine. The Lakers will take that all day. That’s a good sign and proof that as long as the Lakers are getting premium from Davis, James can settle into more of a supporting role.
It also says much about the players besides Davis: Schroder, D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. There is more of a trust developed with this group than the one James was surrounded by before the trade deadline. Russell (19 points in Game 1) is less reckless and a better outside shooter than Russell Westbrook, Hachimura brings front-line scoring and Reaves’ development continues to soar.
It’s not that LeBron didn’t have moments, though. He blocked a Curry layup, grabbed 11 rebounds and showcased a solid post-up game (which was once a weakness for him). But anytime the Lakers can preserve a 38-year-old and keep him fresh for the next game is always a victory in itself. Especially with these games being played every other day.
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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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