On Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors 127-97 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The Lakers prevailed for the following three reasons.
With a comfortable 127-97 victory over the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers have broken the series tie.
Following a run in the second quarter, Los Angeles was able to secure the rout victory. The last two games in this series have featured very peculiar shooting nights for one team during a particular quarter.
The Lakers were able to defeat the Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, the second non-competitive game of the evening.
There are three reasons the Lakers won Game 3: 3. Andrew Davis
Anthony Davis appears to be on a trend where he plays well one game and then poorly the next. He played poorly in Game 2, but he was a defensive juggernaut this time. He finished with 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. In this game, Davis appeared to be in complete control of the paint. He was also a monster offensively in the paint as the Lakers won thanks to him.
There are three reasons the Lakers won Game 3: 2. Bronson James
In the opening period, LeBron James had a lot of difficulty and failed to score any points. In the opening frame, “The King” displayed extreme passivity by declining to drive to the basket. The first quarter of this game gave the impression that James was coasting, but he was able to pick it up later on as he started to play much more aggressively toward the basket in the middle of the second. LeBron then started doing LeBron things.
There are three reasons the Lakers won Game 3: 1. Russell
Davis finished with 25 points on a very effective 70 percent of his field goal attempts. He had a floor rating of +28.
D’Angelo Russell had a very good game in this one. He was very crucial in the early going of this game where the Lakers lacked a bit of offense. Russell made three straight three pointers to start the game. After that, he slowed down a bit but still had a really nice night from the floor. LeBron didn’t really do anything in the first quarter and Russell made up for him. The Lakers were down by seven after the first, but could have been down a lot more if Russell didn’t make shots.
