Golden State Warriors’ issues encapsulated in horror Game 3 loss

The Golden State Warriors have suffered a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their Western Conference Semifinals series, with a horror 24 minutes undoing a positive start at Crypto.com Arena.

When Moses Moody knocked down a wing triple with 7:53 left in the second-quarter, Golden State held a 40-29 lead with Los Angeles seemingly incapable of finding offense. But the Warriors would go on to score a paltry 34 points in the next 24 minutes as the Lakers completely turned the tables in devastating fashion.

Game 3 provided an encapsulation of all the Golden State Warriors’ issues that have plagued their road form throughout the entire season.

After a stunningly bad 11-30 road record in the regular season, there was optimism for the Warriors having won their last two road games in Sacramento and coming off a dominant Game 2 victory. Yet everything that’s troubled their road form was on show under the bright lights in Los Angeles, with Golden State ravaged by their own turnovers and foul-prone defense.

The Lakers started their resurgence with a 30-8 run to close the first-half, turning an 11-point deficit into an 11-point lead in just over seven minutes. The Warriors had a plethora of turnovers during that period, impacting their own scoring capacity and giving Los Angeles’ previously ineffective offense a new lease on life with much easier looks in transition.

It was much the same in the third-quarter with Golden State’s lone highlight coming through a monstrous dunk from Andrew Wiggins over Anthony Davis. It failed to spark the Warriors who were strangled by Davis’ otherwise complete control on the defensive end, with the Lakers’ star returning to his Game 1 best.

He came up on screens rather than allowing open threes in drop coverage, yet used his length and athleticism to play the perfect cat-and-mouse game in completely nullifying Golden State’s usually explosive offense. Davis finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks in 33 minutes, and even that may not fully define his impact on the contest.

Scoring 34 points in a 24-minute stretch is never going to be conducive to getting the right result, even if you score 63 in the remaining 24. There were no real winners for the Warriors who dealt with foul trouble for Draymond Green amid a remarkable 37 free-throw attempts for the hosts.

Wiggins could hold his head high with 16 points and nine rebounds on an efficient 6-for-11 shooting, but there was very little else to write home about from a Golden State standpoint. Stephen Curry led the way with 23, though he took 21 shots to get there. After a spritely start with 11 points in the first-quarter, Klay Thompson had just four afterwards and committed a playoff career-high six turnovers as part of a disastrous 19 for the Warriors in total.

The loss now puts extreme pressure on Golden State to once again tie the series in Game 4. It won’t be an unfamiliar perspective for the defending champions who have been 2-1 down in each of their last two playoff series.