Lakers rout Warriors as James plays in 1,300th game
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers blew a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead in their first meeting against the Golden State Warriors. They were determined not to let that happen Sunday night.
LeBron James scored 19 points in his 1,300th regular-season appearance as the Lakers routed the Warriors 117-91. He was one of six Los Angeles players to score in double figures in a game that was never in doubt.
The Lakers were up 20 at the end of the first quarter and had a 73-44 lead at halftime.
“Our starters played terrific,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “They had a mindset to make sure they took care of business against a team that stole one from us the last time.”
Forward Markieff Morris was a little more direct about the revenge factor.
“We remember getting up big last time and then coming back,” he said. “We wanted to make our mark early and just keep our foot on their neck throughout the game.”
Vogel said the best thing to come out of the game was that James played a season-low 24 minutes and sat during the fourth quarter.
Kyle Kuzma had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth doubledouble this season, while Morris and Alex Caruso each scored a season-high 13 points.
The defending NBA champions had dropped five of six since Anthony Davis suffered a right calf strain on Feb. 14, but have won their last two.
“When you lose a mega piece like AD, it is going to take some time offensively and defensively on how we want to play. Over the last couple games, we have done a good job,” said James, who’s the 23rd player in NBA history to appear in at least 1,300 regular-season games.
Eric Paschall scored 18 points for Golden State, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Stephen Curry added 16 points and Kelly
Oubre Jr. 14.
“We were just never in it. Right from the start, we were fouling them like crazy,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “There are going to be a handful of games that are inexplicable. You don’t spend too much on this one. You flush the toilet and move on.”