OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Klay Thompson returned from a one-game absence with an illness to score 28 points and light up the Lakers for the second time in 13 days, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 115-101 victory Saturday night over a Los Angeles team again missing LeBron James.
Splash Brother Stephen Curry missed his first eight shots before a layup with 6:20 remaining and still wound up with 14 points, two days after going off for 41 in a loss to the 76ers when he hit 10 3-pointers. The rest of the Warriors picked up the slack.
Andre Iguodala hit a go-ahead 3 in the final minute of the third, two more early in the fourth as Golden State pulled away and finished with 17 points. DeMarcus Cousins contributed his first double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in his second home game and seventh in all since coming back from a nearly yearlong recovery from surgery for a ruptured left Achilles tendon.
Kevin Durant added 21 points and 11 of the Warriors’ 31 assists.
The Lakers hung tough without James just as they did here in a 127-101 victory Christmas night. They lost James in the third quarter of that game to a strained left groin. He returned from a 17-game absence Thursday night against the Clippers only to sit again Saturday.
James’ rest was for what coach Luke Walton called “load management.” The four-time MVP had been set for his second game back but woke up Friday “very sore” after playing 40 minutes in the 123-120 overtime win against the Clippers. He finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.
Cousins drove for a filthy one-handed slam against Kyle Kuzma at the 5:28 mark of the third then stared him down and trash-talked to pick up a technical.
Golden State had its 11-game winning streak, longest in the NBA this season, snapped with a 113-104 loss to the 76ers on Thursday night in Cousins’ home debut. The Warriors missed Thompson in that one.
He connected on his first four shots Saturday with a 3 and finished 10 for 15.
On Jan. 21 at L.A., Thompson tied an NBA record by making his first 10 attempts from 3-point range – going 10 for 11 from deep overall and hitting seven in the third quarter – on the way to 44 points in the Warriors’ 130-111 win. Golden State led by 36 at one point against the short-handed Lakers.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Reserve C Tyson Chandler also rested for the Lakers. … Los Angeles shot 7 for 27 from 3-point range.
Warriors: Durant notched his fourth points-assists double-double of the season. … Coach Steve Kerr won his seventh Western Conference Coach of the Month award in five seasons, honored for the month of January.
