New Look Lakers Defeat Warriors 109-103

Feb 12

The new look Lakers took care of business in San Francisco taking down a great home team in the Warriors, 109-103. The Lakers were without their superstar Lebron James, however, the Warriors were without Stephen Curry. It was a back-and-forth battle, with each team trading blows up until the final minutes of the game. Jordan Poole caught fire in the 4th scoring 17 points in the quarter. The heroic defensive presence of Anthony Davis helped and sealed the game late in the 4th quarter.

Lakers fans can rejoice as they come out with a win with no Lebron James and Anthony Davis finishing with just 13 points on 5-19 shooting. The new additions of D’angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley have already made an impact. Russell was able to control the pace of the game and hit shots under pressure and Jarred Vanderbilt was everywhere last night. Vanderbilts motor doesn’t stop, he is a do-it-all type of player. He finished with a near double-double in just 17 minutes of play. Malik Beasley’s shot wasn’t falling, however, he stayed aggressive and continued to hunt for his shot. The Warriors continued to run out on Beasley and gave him no space to get a shot off which led to more spacing for the rest of the team. Overall, it looked like the new additions fit like a glove for the struggling Lakers team.

Another recent addition in Rui Hachimura had a big game for the Lakers. We once again got to see him start alongside Anthony Davis and he did not disappoint. He finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 6-11 from the field and 2-4 from three. Hachimura had a great fourth quarter where he hit a three to put the Lakers up by three and a midrange at the end of the shot clock the bail out the Lakers.

Dennis Schröder was easily the player of the game for the Lakers with 26 points. Schröder and Russell looked very comfortable playing off of each other as the main ball handlers. Schröder was picking apart the Warriors pick and roll defense, while knocking down open threes and hitting clutch free throws.

The Lakers look to continue this momentum with just two games left before the All-Star break. The Lakers play two big games against conference teams: The Trailblazers in Portland on Monday and New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday in Los Angeles. The health of Lebron James is still unknown and it's likely he will only play one of the two games. The Lakers will look to Anthony Davis to take charge as they look to fight for a play-in spot.