There's still a chance the Golden State Warriors end up battling for playoff or play-in positioning with the Los Angeles Lakers in the last week of the regular season. Should that peak drama comes to pass, the defending champions will rue missing out on a golden opportunity to get a win against their new-look Southern California foes as LeBron James was watching from the sideline.
The Warriors fell to the Lakers 109-103 at Chase Center on Saturday, crunch-time offense once again dooming them in a game that was there for the taking.
“Our guys are frustrated. We've had so many close losses and we're right up agains the All-Star break. I think our guys, like everybody around the league, they need a break,” Steve Kerr said on the postgame podium. “But they're frustrated that we couldn't close out these last two games and haven't been able to string together enough wins to kind of create a little momentum and some separation in the standings.”
Jordan Poole got his team back in front by scoring the Dubs' first 17 points of the fourth quarter, exploiting Anthony Davis in drop coverage with multiple pull-up jumpers and fighting his way to the paint for tough finishes. His last points came as the game clock read 6:23, though, and Golden State managed to score just seven more points over the game's remainder, Poole's hot hand leaving him as Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins continued to struggle.
The loss moves the Warriors to 28-28, half game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder for ninth in the Western Conference standings. The Lakers loom two-and-a-half games behind them, still at 13th in a tightly packed, re-loaded Western Conference after the trade deadline.
Golden State has held a late-game lead in four of its last five losses, still nagged by labors in the clutch that long pre-date Steph Curry once again going down with injury.
“Our guys are definitely frustrated, but we'll keep going,” Kerr said. “We gotta just keep fighting, keep competing, and we'll see where it all goes.”
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