Warriors down Lakers in OT on night devoted to Kobe Bryant.
L.A. gave the Warriors all they could handle on the night Kobe was honored, but Durant delivers winner in OT
LOS ANGELES >> The moment became filled with nostalgia, joy and reflection when Kobe Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys were displayed along the Staples Center rafters.
Former Lakers legend Magic Johnson touted Bryant as “the greatest who ever wore the purple and gold.” Lakers president Jeanie Buss thanked Bryant for remaining a “Laker for life.” And various luminaries, including Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal shook Bryant’s hands afterwards. Several Warriors did too, including Kevin Durant and David West.
Somewhere before and afterwards, the Warriors and Lakers played a game on Monday, though it is not exactly how Warriors coach Steve Kerr wanted it.
“It’s such a disruption in the game,” Kerr said. “I didn’t realize it was going to be that long.”
So while the Lakers recognized one of their greats, the Warriors and Lakers did not exactly play their best basketball. The War-
riors secured a 116-114 overtime victory over the Lakers on Monday, satisfying a bottoms-line result to extend a nine-game winning streak that otherwise masked their sluggishness.
It was the Warriors’ ninth straight win, and second time they’ve beaten the Lakers in OT this season.
Durant scored 12 of the Warriors’ 14 points in overtime, including a gamewinning pull-up jumper with 6.4 seconds remaining. Durant finished with 36 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but he only shot 10-of-29 from the field. In overtime? That was a different story. Durant opened overtime to hit a 3-pointer for a 105-102 lead with 4:52 left. After Lakers guard Lonzo Ball made a 14-foot jump shot to tie the game up at 107107 with 2:53 left, Durant answered with a 3-pointer for a 110-107 advantage at the 2:34 mark. Durant then made a pull-up jumper as well as a pair of foul shots for a 114-113 lead with 1:02 remaining.
After Lakers forward Julius Randle made one of two foul shots to tie the game at 114-114 at the, Durant made the game winner on the next possession.
Before that, the Warriors appeared struggling to with both the atmosphere and their circumstances.
The Warriors did not have Stephen Curry, who plans to be reevaluated on Tuesday after missing the past four games with a sprained right ankle. Warriors forward Draymond Green missed four of the past five games because of a sore right shoulder. Warriors center Zaza Pachulia sat in five of the past six games because of a sore left shoulder. Warriors guard Shaun Livingston sat out with a sore right knee after sitting out the last two practices.
For those counting, the Warriors did have two All-Stars (Curry, Green), one key starter (Pachulia) and one key reserve). Then again, the Warriors still had two other All-Stars in
Klay Thompson and Durant.
“We’re so blessed obviously we have two all stars left. How many teams in the league have two all stars period?” Kerr said. “We’re missing two and we have two more. We have a lot of talent and we’re well aware of that and we’re well equipped to handle some injuries.”
The Warriors had some
shaky play.
Durant missed his first six shots. Thompson committed two fouls in the two minutes of the game before finishing with 17 points albeit on 6-of-24 shooting. Though the Warriors held a 57-53 halftime lead over the Lakers, they shot only 37.7 percent from the field while committing nine turnovers. Durant went 3-of-11 from the field, while
Thompson went 3-of-10.
The task did not seem as easy as when the Warriors secured eight consecutive wins despite overlapping injuries to Curry and Green.
“We are much better with Steph,” Kerr said. “Go ahead and tweet that so Steph won’t be mad at me and there’s no controversy.”
Kerr may have sparked some controversy about Bryant’s ceremony.
On Saturday, Kerr welcomed the ceremony in honor of Bryant and said he would have his players watch the ceremony. On Monday, Kerr changed his mind after the Lakers extended the half-time ceremony to 21 minutes. He argued ““half an hour is too long to be sitting there.” The Warriors made it back to the court in time to hear Bryant speak, though.
Therefore, Kerr argued the San Antonio Spurs “had it figured out” for hosting Sean Elliott’s jersey retirement in 2005 after a game.
“That way you’re not on this time constraint,” Kerr said. “I’m kind of confused as to why they’d it this way for Kobe of all people. It’s going to take a while.”