Stephen Curry scored 31 points in his first game back from an ankle injury, Klay Thompson poured in 26 off the bench and the Warriors picked up a much-needed and pivotal 128-121 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
Golden State’s 10th victory in its last 12 road games moved the Warriors (35-31) percentage points ahead of the Lakers (36-32) for the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference playoff race.
Curry had missed Golden State’s previous three games with a right ankle injury but was cleared after practicing in Southern California on Friday. He came out slow and was held scoreless in the first quarter before finding his rhythm. Two days after his 36th birthday, the two-time NBA MVP shot 12 of 24 and made three 3-pointers.
Jonathan Kuminga continued his emergence as one of the Warriors’ top scoring threats with 23 points. It’s the sixth consecutive game and the 44th time in his last 46 games that Kuminga has reached double figures.
Draymond Green, also back in the starting lineup, had his sixth double-double of the 2023-24 NBA season with 12 rebounds and tied his season-high of 13 assists.
Andrew Wiggins added 16 points and six rebounds to help the Warriors to their first road win against the Lakers since Oct. 10, 2021.
The Lakers appeared to get within 124-120 on a 3-pointer by LeBron James with 2:07 remaining. Replays on television appeared to show that James’ left heel was out of bounds, and after a lengthy replay review, the call was overturned.
There was another long replay review moments later when Green appeared to throw a ball off Austin Reaves that went out of bounds. Referees ruled in the Lakers’ favor and awarded them the ball with 1:48 left.
A malfunctioning shot-clock delayed the end of the game even more, drawing boos from the crowd and raising eyebrows among the players.
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