Jimmy Butler arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon and made his way inside Crypto.com Arena before the Warriors tipped off against the Lakers.
Golden State could have used its new acquisition, who might make his debut on Saturday in Chicago.
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Playing on the road for the second consecutive night, the Warriors started slowly before summoning enough grit to close the gap, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 120-112 loss to LeBron James and the Lakers.
Five Warriors scored in double figures – led by 37 points from Stephen Curry – but it wasn’t enough offset the enduring brilliance of James, who finished with 42 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists.
Steph doing what he does 😤
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 7, 2025
pic.twitter.com/joSZYQaQSi
The loss dropped the Warriors back under .500 (25-26) and was their third in three games against the Lakers (30-19) this season.
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Here are three observations from Golden State’s second consecutive “clutch game” loss:
Defense Slow to Arrive
It’s exceedingly difficult for an NBA team to give up 20 points in three minutes, but the Warriors accomplished that feat in their collapse against the Jazz on Wednesday.
That same negligence was on display in LA.
The Lakers roasted the Warriors early, finishing the first quarter with an 18-2 advantage in paint points and a 12-0 advantage in fast-break points. LA shot 56.5 percent from the field, including 47.6 percent from deep, in the half, nearly putting the game out of reach.
The Warriors were consistently outhustled by the Lakers, and the difference in effort was so stark that TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy was aghast at what he was seeing.
“The Warriors’ transition defense is absurd,” Van Gundy, a former NBA head coach, said in the second quarter. “No one is ever back on the shot. Giving up runout, after runout after runout.”
He wasn’t lying.
The Warriors are shorthanded and perhaps emotionally fatigued in the wake of losing four players in the trade for Butler. They might have been physically tired, having arrived in LA from Salt Lake City in the wee hours.
Defense, which theoretically doesn’t slump, did exactly that through the first 24 minutes. And it was too much for the Warriors to overcome.
The Struggles of Stephen
When Butler walks out for tipoff in a Warriors jersey, nobody on the roster will be more relieved than Curry. He is desperate for scoring support, and it shows.
Curry entered this game averaging 21.4 points over his last 10 while shooting 39.6 percent from the field, including 33.9 percent from distance. This game was an extension of one of the most ineffective stretches of his 16-year career.
Coming off a 12-of-31 shooting night in Utah, Curry missed his first eight shots. Early in the second quarter, missed two layups three seconds apart. He warmed enough to go into halftime with 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field, including 1-of-7 from distance.
Curry’s 37 points came on 13-of-35 shooting, including 6-of-20 from beyond the arc.
The greatest 3-point shooter of all time is 15-of-56 (26.8 percent) from deep over his last four games.
Third Quarter Wakeup Call not Enough
Perhaps disgusted with his team’s performance in the first half, Warriors coach Steve Kerr made a significant adjustment entering the third quarter.
He turned to the small lineup, with Green at center, Moses Moody at power forward, Buddy Hield at small forward and Brandin Podziemski joining Curry in the backcourt.
Voila! That group changed the defensive energy, which allowed Golden State’s offense to shift from second gear into overdrive.
The Warriors opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run in only 83 seconds, cutting the deficit to 12. The Warriors pulled within six (81-75) on a Curry 3-ball with 3:44 left in the quarter.
After trailing by his much as 26 in the first half, Golden State was back in the game.
The Warriors got within five inside the final three minutes, but the Lakers did enough down the stretch to secure the victory.