NBA: Walton’s Lakers stuns Warriors as Curry goes cold

Lou Williams and Julius Randle scored 20 points each as the Los Angeles Lakers shocked Golden State 117-97 on Friday to give coach Luke Walton a big win in his first game against his former team.

Published : Nov 05, 2016 12:54 IST , Los Angeles

The Warriors rallied in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 87-81 after a layup by reserve forward Kevon Looney.
The Warriors rallied in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 87-81 after a layup by reserve forward Kevon Looney.
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The Warriors rallied in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 87-81 after a layup by reserve forward Kevon Looney.

Lou Williams and Julius Randle scored 20 points each as the Los Angeles Lakers shocked Golden State 117-97 on Friday to give coach Luke Walton a big win in his first game against his former team.

Randle also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for the Lakers, which took full advantage of the shooting woes of Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.

Curry, the reigning two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, missed all 10 of his three-point attempts, ending his remarkable streak of 157 games with at least one three-pointer made.

D’Angelo Russell added 17 points and Larry Nance contributed 12 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, which never trailed against the top offensive team in the league.

Kevin Durant scored 27 points, while Draymond Green had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors, which was coming off an emotional blowout win over Durant’s former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on Thursday.

Durant stayed steady, scoring 20 or more points for the 70th consecutive regular-season game. That’s the longest run since Michael Jordan had a 69-game streak during the 1990-91 season.

Curry finished with just 13 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, while teammate Klay Thompson scored just 10 points — connecting on four of 18 from the floor and two of 10 from three-point range.

“Obviously for us it was nice that Steph and Klay went two for 20 from three (point range),” said Walton, a former assistant to Steve Kerr at Golden State who guided the Warriors early last season as Kerr recovered from spinal surgery complications.

But Walton also liked what he saw from his young players, including 26 assists and a 51-40 rebounding advantage.

“That means that we’re sharing the ball, we’re playing like a team and we’re fighting,” Walton said.

The Warriors rallied in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 87-81 after a layup by reserve forward Kevon Looney.

Walton said his message to the Lakers players was to keep their heads.

“Let’s not let them back in the game,” Walton told his players. “They’re good enough they can find a way back in on their own. Let’s make them work for everything.”

The Lakers had rebuilt the lead to 93-82 going into the fourth quarter, and the Warriors wouldn’t again get the gap into single digits again.

- Lillard erupts to lead Blazers -

Portland’s CJ McCollum couldn’t find enough adjectives to describe teammate Damian Lillard’s 42-point performance in the Trail Blazers’ 105-95 victory over the Mavericks in Dallas.

“Sensational. Amazing. All-Star. MVP,” McCollum said. “He was big tonight. He hit some huge shots. He kept us afloat even though we blew some big leads.”

Lillard hit 12 of 18 shots from the floor, including five of six from three-point range. He has scored at least 27 points in all six games this season, the best scoring start in club history.

The Blazers added to the early season misery of the Mavs, which fell to 0-5 for the first time ever.

Aussie big man Andrew Bogut missed the game for personal reasons, and Dallas’ talisman Dirk Nowitzki started at centre in Bogut’s place but missed the second half with a sore right Achilles tendon.

Nowitzki had already missed two games this season, and Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said the 38-year-old German would miss at least another week.

“It’s not getting better the way it needs to, so we’ve got to shut him down,” Carlisle said.

The New Orleans Pelicans was also left searching for a first win of the season after Phoenix forward T.J. Warren threw down the game-winning dunk in overtime, lifting the Suns to a 111-110 triumph.

- Milestone night for Paul -

Chris Paul became the Los Angeles Clippers all-time assists leader, scoring 27 points and handing out 11 assists in an otherwise unremarkable 99-88 victory over the Grizzlies in Memphis.

Paul passed Randy Smith (3,498) for first place on the Clippers career assists list with 3,502.

“It’s cool anytime your name will last,” Paul said.

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