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Warriors dominate Lakers from start to finish, close in on clinching first seed

By

Jacob Hutchinson

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© Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

LOS ANGELES – If you looked at a schedule at the start of this season, a matchup between the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors would have, at the very least, seemed intriguing. It may not have been close, but a healthy Lakers team would have at least had the capability to put up a fight.

Such was not the case in tonight’s 108-90 win, which was never in doubt from the moment the ball went up for opening tip. Here are three notes from tonight’s game:

“Ran a couple marathons just to get established”

The Lakers began tonight with a moment of silence and brief tribute to the late Nipsey Hussle. The Crenshaw, Los Angeles rapper was shot and killed outside his own store on March 31 outside his own store in Crenshaw. In addition to the Lakers’ tribute coupled with his music, LeBron James donned a Nipsey Hussle shirt:

On dedication Nipsey rapped, “Ran a couple of marathons just to get established.” That’s what the Warriors have had to do in the regular season in the years preceding and during their run to three out of the last four NBA championships. The regular season is an 82-game grind, and that’s never been more apparent than this season, which seems to have dragged on slower than in seasons past.

While this could have easily been a game in which the Warriors came out slow against weak opposition, the Warriors came out firing, especially on the defensive end. Draymond Green had a couple blocks and Klay Thompson notched one himself in the first four minutes, and the Warriors broke quick and effectively in transition.

With tonight’s win and effort, the Warriors need to win two of their next four games to secure the first seed over the Denver Nuggets, who are now two games behind the Warriors in the Western Conference standings. Because the Warriors hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Nuggets, if they finish even on record, the Warriors will take the first seed. If the Warriors win their next two, it will provide a chance to rest their starters with no risk of losing home court advantage.

DeMarcus Cousins is rolling

On Tuesday night, DeMarcus Cousins dropped 28 points (12-of-17, 2-of-4 from 3-pt, 2-of-4 from FT) 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and had 5 turnovers. That dominant energy carried through to tonight, as Cousins eased his way through JaVale McGee and Mike Muscala, or whoever else was unfortunate enough to find themselves switched onto Cousins.

Cousins was effectively unstoppable again tonight in just 24 minutes. In that abbreviated performance, he finished with 21 points (9-of-17, 3-of-7 from 3-pt), 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and failed to turn the ball over a single time.

Alex Caruso threw down a massive putback, to everyone’s surprise

There were so many Warriors highlights (which I will list below) that it was refreshing to watch the Lakers accomplish something that didn’t involve some form of stumbling and bumbling. That happened late in the second quarter when Alex Caruso, who had been blocked twice already in the game, took flight and a slight bit of revenge upon the rim:

Again, this was a rare highlight for the Lakers, who, were torched tonight. The following is a taste of just how badly the Lakers were beat, which the 18-point loss does not do justice to. Here’s a dunk from Cousins:

The Warriors’ hot first quarter:

And Steph’s absurd behind-the-back pass:

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