Warriors knockoff Lakers 134-120 to get half-game back of the 9th seed

With no Anthony Davis and with LeBron James still feeling the effects of flu the Lakers were beaten 134-120 last Tuesday night at the Cryto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. The win put the Warriors just a half game behind the 9th place Lakers with two games remaining on the regular season schedule. Both teams play in the super competitive Western Conference.

Davis missed the game due to a headache and nausea. He left Sunday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves after getting hit in the face in the first quarter. The Warriors took advantage of the absence of Davis as the team attacked the rim with ease shooting 57.5% from the field and created opportunities for plenty of open threes.

Golden State made 26 3-pointers and with their deadeye shooting halted any run the Lakers tried to make. "They were blazing hot, blazing, blazing hot," Laker head coach Darvin Ham said. "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."

James, who was a game-time decision, played well finishing the game with 33 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. The Lakers had won eight of nine before taking back-to-back home losses. "We know we're as good as any team in the league when we're whole and when we're not, we're not," James said. "It's hard for us to make up, especially having a guy like AD not playing. It's almost pretty much impossible to make up for what he provides for our ballclub, both offensively and defensively."

Austin Reaves who scored 22 points and Rui Hachimura added 20 points, but it wasn't enough as D'Angelo Russell, who is expected to step up offensively scored just 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

With the loss, the Lakers failed to take advantage of another loss by the struggling eighth place Sacramento Kings. The Lakers are hoping Davis returns for the final two games before the playoffs start so they can finish the regular season with some momentum.

Los Angeles' final two games will be on the road as they travel to Memphis on Friday, for a 5 p.m. contest and to New Orleans to play the Pelicans on the final day of the regular season on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.