Reactions: Warriors 102, Lakers 83

Los Angeles Lakers

102

Golden State Warriors

	David Lee, PF 33 MIN \| 8-18 FG \| 3-4 FT \| 10 REB \| 0 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 3 TO \| 19 PTS \| +22Lee was given an early Christmas gift when it was announced Pau Gasol would be out Saturday night with an upper respiratory infection. The move allowed Lee to match up with Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman for the majority of the game. While Lee once again forced the issue inside — 14 of his 18 attempts came inside the paint — he failed to have the monster game I expected him to have. Still, who am I to complain? Sure, Lee missed half of his 14 attempts inside the paint, but against a weak Lakers frontcourt the rise in attempts was to be expected. Lee has also taken advantage of weaker frontcourts lately due to injuries — Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol — but it’s a good sign Lee has dominated in their absences as opposed to the alternative. The jump shot is still missing, but one would think he would get that going eventually. His offense is as important as it was to the team’s success as it was last season, but nailing his jumper can only help space the floor and open it up for his teammates.
	Andre Iguodala, SF 24 MIN \| 1-6 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 2 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 3 TO \| 3 PTS \| +8Mark Jackson reassured us after the game that he feels Iguodala is healthy and he is not being hindered by his left hamstring. He says it’s a matter of getting him back into rhythm and getting his feet back under him. It doesn’t help Iguodala’s cause when he’s being fouled hard by Xavier Henry, but that’s exactly what happened as Andre was slow and carried a slight limp afterwards. It’s clear he’s not 100% but just having him out on the floor helps this team exponentially.
	Andrew Bogut, C 28 MIN \| 6-12 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 20 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 2 BLK \| 2 TO \| 12 PTS \| +10Bogut has looked great this season. Lost with their disappointing record and disappointing losses and disappointing performances from key players has been an incredible season by the Warriors center. Bogut snagged 20 rebounds for the first time this season and looked every bit the dominant center the Warriors envisioned they’d be receiving when they acquired him two seasons ago. His vertical, speed and lateral quickness have all been on display this season. While Curry is the team’s best player, Bogut might be the most important.
	Stephen Curry, PG 33 MIN \| 5-15 FG \| 4-4 FT \| 6 REB \| 9 AST \| 3 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 18 PTS \| +26Curry — along with the whole team — struggled early. Given the Lakers’ extreme lack of depth in the backcourt, this game had all the makings for Curry domination. It wasn’t that the team wasn’t getting open looks, the shots simply weren’t falling. Curry stressed this after the game when asked what changed for the team in the second half: “Shots just started falling”. For a team so dependent on outside shots, as simple as it may seem, that’s what the key will be nearly every night. The Warriors don’t have a dominant inside force to throw to inside when shots go awry, so the team will often be forced to shoot themselves out of their slump. Luckily for them they were able to do that Saturday night.
	Klay Thompson, SG 33 MIN \| 5-15 FG \| 3-4 FT \| 3 REB \| 2 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 17 PTS \| +19Thompson continues to struggle and it’s becoming increasingly disappointing as the season progresses. Many uttered “All-Star” and “Klay Thompson” in the same sentence earlier in the season, and those discussions have quickly been put to bed. Thompson was clanking early and often and never really found his groove until the 3Q when he made two threes from the elbow. No one doubts Thompson’s skill, shooting stroke or will to win, it’s simply hasn’t clicked for him offensively the past two weeks. His defense has still been impressive, but the team will need him to produce on the offensive end — and quickly — if they hope to gain serious ground in the Western Conference.

Quote of the game:

“We saw that against the Spurs. We let one slip there with them resting their starters. We didn’t really need a miracle speech before the game on how important this game was for us, we went through that a couple of days ago. We got the win. We haven’t accomplished anything by this win. We won a game we should’ve won and now it’s going to a big game for us in a couple days in Denver.” — Andrew Bogut

Curry family update: The Memphis Grizzlies have reportedly signed Seth Curry, who had been playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors. Curry has played well in Santa Cruz, averaging 21.3 PPG, 7.8 APG on 44% shooting. averaging 22.0 points, 7.9 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game for the 7-3 Santa Cruz Warriors. He’s currently ninth in the D-League in scoring and third in assists. Seth has the skills of a shooting guard in a point guard’s body (6’2, 185 pounds) and it was unclear when or if the Warriors would call him up. The Warriors next play Memphis on March 28 at Oracle Arena.

Nick Young’s shot chart for the season, just because:

Nick Young highlight of the night:

[youtube id=”WMI8xG3GRaQ” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Looking ahead: The Warriors travel to Denver on Sunday for their first matchup with the Nuggets since last season’s playoffs. The team then heads back home for their long-awaited Christmas showdown with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Tweets of the night:

Lakers fans, lol. pic.twitter.com/skgF71DA4e

— Jim Del Favero (@SiliconPM) December 22, 2013

Iguodala’s only back in technicality

— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) December 22, 2013

@Mospeights16 good job brawler!!!

— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) December 22, 2013

Follow @JRAM_91

	David Lee, PF 33 MIN \| 8-18 FG \| 3-4 FT \| 10 REB \| 0 AST \| 1 STL \| 0 BLK \| 3 TO \| 19 PTS \| +22Lee was given an early Christmas gift when it was announced Pau Gasol would be out Saturday night with an upper respiratory infection. The move allowed Lee to match up with Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman for the majority of the game. While Lee once again forced the issue inside — 14 of his 18 attempts came inside the paint — he failed to have the monster game I expected him to have. Still, who am I to complain? Sure, Lee missed half of his 14 attempts inside the paint, but against a weak Lakers frontcourt the rise in attempts was to be expected. Lee has also taken advantage of weaker frontcourts lately due to injuries — Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol — but it’s a good sign Lee has dominated in their absences as opposed to the alternative. The jump shot is still missing, but one would think he would get that going eventually. His offense is as important as it was to the team’s success as it was last season, but nailing his jumper can only help space the floor and open it up for his teammates.
	Andre Iguodala, SF 24 MIN \| 1-6 FG \| 1-2 FT \| 2 REB \| 1 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 3 TO \| 3 PTS \| +8Mark Jackson reassured us after the game that he feels Iguodala is healthy and he is not being hindered by his left hamstring. He says it’s a matter of getting him back into rhythm and getting his feet back under him. It doesn’t help Iguodala’s cause when he’s being fouled hard by Xavier Henry, but that’s exactly what happened as Andre was slow and carried a slight limp afterwards. It’s clear he’s not 100% but just having him out on the floor helps this team exponentially.
	Andrew Bogut, C 28 MIN \| 6-12 FG \| 0-0 FT \| 20 REB \| 1 AST \| 1 STL \| 2 BLK \| 2 TO \| 12 PTS \| +10Bogut has looked great this season. Lost with their disappointing record and disappointing losses and disappointing performances from key players has been an incredible season by the Warriors center. Bogut snagged 20 rebounds for the first time this season and looked every bit the dominant center the Warriors envisioned they’d be receiving when they acquired him two seasons ago. His vertical, speed and lateral quickness have all been on display this season. While Curry is the team’s best player, Bogut might be the most important.
	Stephen Curry, PG 33 MIN \| 5-15 FG \| 4-4 FT \| 6 REB \| 9 AST \| 3 STL \| 0 BLK \| 1 TO \| 18 PTS \| +26Curry — along with the whole team — struggled early. Given the Lakers’ extreme lack of depth in the backcourt, this game had all the makings for Curry domination. It wasn’t that the team wasn’t getting open looks, the shots simply weren’t falling. Curry stressed this after the game when asked what changed for the team in the second half: “Shots just started falling”. For a team so dependent on outside shots, as simple as it may seem, that’s what the key will be nearly every night. The Warriors don’t have a dominant inside force to throw to inside when shots go awry, so the team will often be forced to shoot themselves out of their slump. Luckily for them they were able to do that Saturday night.
	Klay Thompson, SG 33 MIN \| 5-15 FG \| 3-4 FT \| 3 REB \| 2 AST \| 2 STL \| 0 BLK \| 2 TO \| 17 PTS \| +19Thompson continues to struggle and it’s becoming increasingly disappointing as the season progresses. Many uttered “All-Star” and “Klay Thompson” in the same sentence earlier in the season, and those discussions have quickly been put to bed. Thompson was clanking early and often and never really found his groove until the 3Q when he made two threes from the elbow. No one doubts Thompson’s skill, shooting stroke or will to win, it’s simply hasn’t clicked for him offensively the past two weeks. His defense has still been impressive, but the team will need him to produce on the offensive end — and quickly — if they hope to gain serious ground in the Western Conference.