Lakers Vs. Warriors Speaks More About Luke Walton Than Steph Curry And Kevin Durant
The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers faced off in what should have been a blow out victory. And it was — just not by the team everyone predicted.
As reported by Mercury News, the Warriors were blown out by the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center on Friday night.
“For the third straight season,” the article read, “a superior Warriors team dozed through a beatdown at the hands of the inferior, younger Lakers: 117-97 was the final. Golden State never led.”
Not only did the Lakers, coached by former Golden State Warriors assistant, and former Los Angeles forward Luke Walton, destroy last season’s Western Conference champs at home, but they ended an incredible streak held by their star Steph Curry.
As reported by the NY Daily News, the Lakers snapped a whopping 157 game streak in which the reigning MVP made a three pointer.
“Curry scored 13 points while going 0-for-10 from 3-point range, ending several incredible long-distance streaks. He had hit a 3-pointer in every regular-season game since Nov. 11, 2014.”
He commented to reporters afterward that the streak was “cool” but didn’t sound overly distraught by it.
“That was a cool little ride,” Curry said. “Would have loved to finish my career making one every game, but hey, start a new one. What was it, like two years? Kind of weird not to make one, but I will keep shooting.”
The Lakers, meanwhile, were feeling outright giddy afterwards, as reported by the L.A. Times.
“They swung for the fences and connected, again and again, efficiently, dramatically, Russell hitting a three-pointer and screaming into the stands, Young hitting a three-pointer and screaming to the sky, Randle finishing it off with a continuous late bull-rush to the basket.”
On the flip side, the Golden State Warriors have suffered more losses thus far into the season than they did the first two months of last season. Golden State took a one loss record right up until the second-to-last day of the year in 2015, en route to a record-breaking 73 win season. So is it time to panic – especially considering the opponent? Not so, the Times thinks
“Yes, the tired-looking Warriors were coming off an emotional Thursday night win over Oklahoma City in Oakland. But this is the same team picked to dominate the entire basketball universe after adding Kevin Durant to their two-time NBA Finals group.”
And Warriors fans merely look back to another so-called “Super Team” of a few years back when LeBron James took his talents to South Beach in 2010. Similar to what unfolded this past offeseason with Kevin Durant and the Warriors, free agents James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh all agreed to terms with Pat Riley’s Miami Heat.
They were immediately predicted to dominate the basketball world, but struggled initially to build chemistry. At one point, the team was .500 and everyone was ready to call the experiment a failure. Two out of four possible championships later, no one can call LeBron’s “decision” a failure.
Similarly, Durant will need time to adjust to playing with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green and vice versa. If anything, Durant is in an even better scenario than LeBron in that the core of the Warriors have been playing together for years. In this case, Durant is merely an additional piece that has been added. Give them a few months to gel and everyone is certain the Warriors will be where everyone thinks they should be.
But with Luke Walton at the helm, is it possible the Lakers will be there too? At 3-3, and with a fun, young team at his disposal, it’s possible the Staples Center might be hosting some meaningful basketball next spring as well.
[Featured Image by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]
