Stephen Curry beat LeBron James today, who missed the shot on the horn to take the victory, in a highly anticipated NBA duel in which the Golden State Warriors surprised the Los Angeles Lakers (113-115), who saw their streak of five consecutive wins broken.
With 1.7 seconds to go, James had a front triple to give the Lakers victory, but the ball did not go in and the Warriors thus culminated a spectacular comeback after having been losing throughout the game.
Curry had 26 points (8 of 22 shooting) and 7 assists, while James had 19 points (6 of 16), 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
The big NBA spotlights were on them, but the supporting actors didn’t disappoint either: Dennis Schroder (25 points) and Anthony Davis (17 points, 17 rebounds and 7 assists) shone for the Lakers, while Kelly Oubre Jr. (23) points) stood out on the Warriors.
Marc Gasol played 16 minutes for the Lakers in which he contributed 5 points (2 of 5 in shooting), a rebound, an assist and a steal against 2 losses.
Recent NBA history can be explained in large part through Curry and James, as every Finals in the last decade has featured at least one of them on the court.
The sharp rivalry between them reached its peak with the four consecutive finals (between 2015 and 2018) in which James with the Cleveland Cavaliers faced the historic Curry Warriors, who won the ring three times.
Curiously, James and Curry had not met in an official match since December 2018 due to injuries, which gave today’s match a very special air.
Schroder started his night of fireworks with 6 straight points that, together with two early triples from Gasol and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, boosted the Lakers from the first minutes (15-10).
The German point guard was absolutely unleashed in the beginning, so much so that in the first quarter he had more points (12) than the rest of the Warriors (23-10).
Defense and counterattack, one of the hallmarks of the current NBA champions, stood out in a first quarter in which Montrezl Harrell provided power and delivery as always, Davis finished with 6 assists, and Schroder closed it with 14 points.
On the opposing side, Curry despaired of Schroder’s sticky defense (1 of 5 shooting, 5 points total) and only a triple from his on the horn somewhat relieved the Warriors’ pain (34-22).
Like Curry, James also struggled to warm up (only 2 points in the first 12 minutes).
Fortunately for the Warriors, their second unit came out briskly from the bench, closed the spaces in defense, and with 6 points from a hearty Eric Paschall reduced the difference (40-33).
Faced with Curry’s poor scoring presence, Oubre Jr. took a step forward in the first half (16 points).
But in that moment of unease between those in purple and gold, the starting five jumped to clear any doubts.
James began to sing, and Schroder and Davis returned to the court just as inspired as they had gone to the bench, with which the Lakers once again boasted of lush resources against a Warriors that were deflated at the minimum (64-48 at rest).
The passage through the locker room threw the Lakers off track (Gasol received a technical foul for protesting) and Andrew Wiggins took advantage of it wonderfully with three consecutive triples to put the Warriors back into the game (70-61).
And between losses in attack, errors in defense and a new technical foul (this time for coach Frank Vogel), the Lakers, totally stuck, suddenly found themselves with the Warriors on their heels after a front triple by Curry (70-68 ) culminating in a monstrous 2-17 run.
The fire department formed by Davis and Schroder was joined this time by Kyle Kuzma from the perimeter to put out the fires again (92-81) against a Curry who threatened to set everything on fire (11 points in that quarter alone).
Already in the decisive quarter, the Warriors bench returned to give a first-rate performance in the rest minutes of Curry (103-97).
Accustomed in recent games to reaching the last quarter with the ballot cleared, the Lakers suddenly found themselves sweating until the end after 5 consecutive points from Curry (108-106 with three minutes to go).
And the storm clouds continued over Los Angeles: Oubre Jr. forced a loss from Schroder to tie the game, and Draymond Green gave the Warriors their first lead of the night with just two minutes left (108-112).
Finally, the duel was resolved from the hit in the triple: Curry scored a very distant home mark (110-115 with one minute left), and James missed his on the horn.
The Lakers continue to lead the Western Conference with 11 wins and 4 losses (the best record in the league), while the Warriors now have 7 wins and 6 losses. EFE