Without their best rim protector Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura lamented their game plan which backfired leading to their 134-120 loss to the Golden State Warriors on April 10.
“They are a 3-point team and then when we deny them, of course, the rim is going to be wide open and there was nobody really protecting tonight so that kind of hurt us for sure,” Hachimura told reporters after the loss.
The Lakers ended up on the wrong side of history as they allowed the Warriors to hit a record 26 of 41 3-pointers with the Golden State trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green combining for 16.
It was the most 3-pointers the Lakers have allowed in their franchise history.
Green made the Lakers pay for continuously sagging off him as he made five of seven 3-point attempts.
“It was our game plan for those guys that made a three tonight to let them shoot and they did so just we can’t do anything about it,” Hachimura lamented.
Davis missed the game after getting hit in the head during their April 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Their second straight loss pushed the Lakers back to ninth seed in the West with only two games left in the regular season.
Hachimura logged a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. LeBron James also had a double-double with 33 and 11 assists to lead the Lakers.
Jaxson Hayes, who started in place of Davis, produced 11 points and six rebounds. But he could not fill the big void left by Davis.
“It’s different when it’s AD (Davis) out there,” Green told reporters. “He can cover up so many mistakes. It’s a totally different look for them when he’s out there.”
Austin Reaves Tips His Hat to Draymond Green
Green has not made five 3-pointers in a game since the 2017 NBA Playoffs which was one of the reasons why the Lakers’ game plan was to dare him to shoot.
“You tip your hat to [Green],” Austin Reaves told reporters. “At the end of the day, Draymond is a
fierce competitor as you see in the NBA and it really doesn’t surprise me if he does that because of what he gives to the game and like Rui said said, some of those [shots] are game plan-driven and for him to just you know step up and knock him down. You tip your hat and you move forward and that’s all you can really say about it.”
Green connected on 5 of 5 in the first half, matching his career high in a single half which set the tone for the rout.
The Lakers Don’t Have Time to Feel Sorry for Themselves
Two games ago, the Lakers had a golden shot at cracking the top six in the West until Davis’ setback.
The Timberwolves took advantage of Davis’ early exit. So did the Warriors, who knocked down 12 of their first 17 3-point attempts.
“They were blazing hot, blazing, blazing hot,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham told reporters of the Warriors. “But we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to get our bootstraps together, get back on the drawing board, look at the film and try to make the best out of these last two games.”
The Warriors, who cut the Lakers’ lead for the ninth seed to just half-game, now hold the season tie-breaker after winning their last three meetings this season.
“Whatever it takes for this team to win, these next two games are going to be important for us too. So we just got to focus on that,” Hachimura said
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