Lakers at Warriors
Some fans weren’t happy about the Golden State Warriors resting key players on Friday, but the team certainly seemed to benefit from the rest. The Warriors will try to blow out their second straight hapless opponent when they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. Golden State left Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala on the bench at Denver on Friday, and Curry and Thompson combined for 12 3-pointers on Saturday.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr sent a few emails to fans that were upset about his decision in Denver but won’t have to do much explaining if the team keeps up its impressive pace. The Warriors own a 6 1/2-game lead over the Memphis Grizzlies for the top spot in the Western Conference and have won eight straight at home to improve to an NBA-best 29-2 in their own building. The Lakers are enduring the most difficult back-to-back the NBA has to offer with two conference leaders in a row after dropping a 91-86 decision to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (17-48): Los Angeles has lost seven of its eight games this month and needs to win 11 of its last 17 games to eclipse last season’s record, which was the franchise’s worst since moving to Los Angeles. The Lakers have dropped 14 of their last 15 on the road, where they will play six of their final eight games in March. A bright spot of late has been the maturation of forward Ed Davis, who posted his second straight double-digit rebounding effort on Sunday and is shooting 71.7 percent from the field in the last eight games.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (52-13): Curry celebrated his 27th birthday by dropping 25 points and 11 assists in 27 minutes on the Knicks in a 125-94 win on Saturday. Curry and Thompson each buried six of Golden State’s season-high tying 19 3-pointers and Kerr felt the day off had done the two some good. “I think you could see the bounce in Steph’s step for sure, and Klay as well,” Kerr told reporters. “They were both moving really well. I think the day off did them a lot of good. That’s the best pace we’ve played at in quite a while, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors have taken two of the first three meetings this season, including a 136-115 home win on Nov. 16 in which Curry collected 30 points and 15 assists.
2. Los Angeles G Nick Young has missed the last nine games with swelling in his knee.
3. Golden State G Justin Holiday scored 36 points in the last two games – 31 more than his total from the first seven games this month.