LOS ANGELES — Lonnie Walker IV came off the bench to score 15 points, lifting the Lakers to a 104-101 victory Monday night over the Golden State Warriors and put Los Angeles on the brink of advancing to the NBA Western Conference finals.
The defending NBA champs now need to win at home on Wednesday night to avoid elimination,
Trailing by 3 points, the Warriors sealed their fate with a pair of turnovers in the final seconds. Walker’s heroics overshadowed an outstanding performance from Steph Curry, who scored 31 points, had 14 assists, 10 rebounds and 3 steals.
Walker went 6 for 9 in the fourth quarter and hit the go-ahead jumper with 1:53 to play. Curry’s layup with 1:05 left trimmed the Lakers’ lead to one point, but Curry missed a long jumper and a 3-point attempt on Golden State’s next possession before Walker made two free throws with 15 seconds to play.
“We don’t win this game tonight without Lonnie Walker, that’s for sure,” LeBron James said. “As hard as this game was, it’s going to be even harder. We understand that. We know that.”
For the Lakers, James scored 27 points and 9 rebounds while Anthony Davis added 23 points and 15 rebounds.
While both Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole were non-factors for the Warriors. Thompson had just 9 points and fired up two ill advised shots late in the fourth quarter. Poole went scoreless.
Andrew Wiggins added 17 points for the Warriors, who made just 25 combined 3-pointers in their two games in Los Angeles after making 21 apiece in the first two games in San Francisco.
Curry was magnificent all night. He continued his all around onslaught in the third quarter. His 4 points and 6 assists accounted for half of the Warriors 32 points in the quarter.
With the Lakers leading 59-57 lead with 8:57 to go in the quarter, the Warriors went on an 11-0 run including seven from Gary Payton II.
Golden State led 84-77 at the third break. Davis scored only two points in the quarter with Austin Reaves having his best scoring night of the series with 17 points.
The second quarter featured a duel between Davis and Curry.
Oddly coming into Monday night, Davis had had a pattern of outstanding games in odd numbered playoff contests followed by sub-par performances in the even number games.
That wasn’t the case in Game 4. Davis had 19 points and 6 rebounds in the first half with James adding 11.
Curry, meanwhile, carried the Warriors as both Thompson and Poole struggled mightily. He stuffed the stat sheet, scoring 17 points, pulling down 7 rebounds, dishing off 7 assists and adding 3 steals in the half.
The Warriors star scored or assisted on Golden State’s final 14 points of the half. His two free throws after he drew a blocking foul on Reaves with 7.5 seconds remaining gave the Warriors a 52-49 halftime advantage.
Free throw disparity continued to be a significant factor as it has all series. The Lakers were 9-of-9 from the free throw line in the half while the Warriors were 3-for-3.
Neither team could find the range in the first quarter as the Warriors were an icy 9-of-22 from the field and the Lakers went 8-for-23 and missed all three from deep.
Wiggins had a wild opening quarter. He had 2 fouls and 2 turnovers in the first 4 minutes then he hit on 3-of-5 to score 6 points. With Curry adding 7, Golden State held a slim 22-21 advantage at the first break.
Davis led Los Angeles with six points and three rebounds, but Golden State coach Steve Kerr’s Game 4 adjustment of starting Gary Payton II at center and forcing Davis into pick and rolls away from the basket helped open up the lane.
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