The Golden State Warriors have evened up their series against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Western Conference Semifinals, defeating their cross-state rivals 127-100.
The Warriors jumped out to a sizeable lead in the third quarter of Game 2 and never looked back, sending the Lakers home to Southern California with a 27-point loss.
The clash of two sports titans continued Thursday in what is one of the most-watched NBA Playoff series in history.
The Lakers stole Game 1 in the series earlier this week behind a dominant performance by Anthony Davis, defeating the defending champions in San Francisco by a score of 117-112. Davis led the Lakers with 30 points and 23 rebounds.
On Thursday, the Warriors knotted things up on their home court, evening the series 1-1 before the teams head south to Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
Golden State was led by Klay Thompson, who scored 30 points, including 8 three-pointers. Stephen Curry chipped in 20 points and 12 assists and Draymond Green notched a near-triple double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. JaMychal Green, in an unexpected start, added 15 points.
Lakers star LeBron James led the Purple and Gold with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Davis failed to live up to his stellar performance in Game 1, scoring only 11 points and grabbing 7 boards. Rui Hachimura added 21 points off the bench.
By winning Game 2, the Warriors have guaranteed themselves at least one more game at the Chase Center to either extend the series or close out the Lakers for good.
Game 3 of the highly anticipated matchup between two of California’s premiere professional sports franchises is set to tip off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles.
