The Golden State Warriors find themselves trailing the Los Angeles Lakers again in the second round of the 2023 NBA playoffs. Game 3 was an ugly one for the defending champs as they lost 127-97 and trailed by a good margin for much of the game, particularly the second half.

The Lakers cruised to victory thanks to more great defense and taking it right to the defense on the other end. The Warriors held an 11-point lead in the second quarter but ended up going down by as much as 34 points later in the game. Head coach Steve Kerr laid it out plainly and simply: they can't let themselves get unraveled.

“That point in the mid second quarter, we had control of the game. We were in pretty good shape. And that's when we lost our poise,” Kerr said following the game. “I think we might have had four technicals in the first half and 12 turnovers at halftime. You're on the road, you're going against a great team — a great defensive team in particular. You know the crowd is gonna be into it. Got to be more poised than we were.”

Stephen Curry pointed to the second quarter as well, explaining that the Lakers had stolen the momentum. The Warriors just didn't have the juice to get back into the game and now trail the series 2-1. Curry had a team-high 23 points on 9-21 shooting while no one else on his side had 20 points.

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Klay Thompson, who tallied only 15 points on 5-14 shooting and six turnovers, said the Warriors got punked. It's hard to argue with him after such a big loss. Golden State was prone to turnovers and allowed Los Angeles to make 19 of its 25 shot attempts inside the restricted arc and 13 of its 24 three-point attempts above the break. Such shooting splits will always be tough to overcome.

The Warriors now have to steal a game on the road to avoid a 3-1 deficit. Although they have found themselves there before, it's never easy to pull off a comeback like that. Meeting the Lakers' intensity on defense and solving the problems created by Anthony Davis' defense will be extra important as they look to tie the series on Monday night.