Warriors Lakers Comeback: Curry Erases 23-Point Hole

The Warriors Lakers comeback on Friday night in San Francisco was the kind of game that makes you question the scoreboard. Golden State trailed by twenty-three points after one quarter and still won one hundred twelve to ninety-five in an NBA Cup opener, according to NBA.com.

Stephen Curry led the way with thirty-one points, six assists and four rebounds, while Luka Doncic finished with thirty-seven for Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press. The win was Golden State's third in a row after an opening stretch of three straight losses.

A first quarter that looked like a disaster

Steve Kerr burned his first timeout just two minutes and eighteen seconds into the game, with the Lakers already up twelve to two. Golden State had coughed the ball up three times and then turned it over again right after the break.

By the end of the first quarter the Lakers led thirty-eight to fifteen. The Warriors gave up seventeen points off turnovers, more than they scored themselves, and Doncic had twenty-one of his own, according to NBA.com.

Kerr did not bother with a speech. "We couldn't have played worse," he said, adding that the players already knew it. Curry said there was plenty of chatter among the players at the end of the quarter about how to respond.

The second quarter flip

The response started immediately. Golden State opened the second quarter on a thirteen to two run with Doncic on the bench, then closed the half on a sixteen to two run to go into the locker room tied at fifty-three.

That matters historically. NBA.com reports that no team in the shot-clock era, which dates back to the 1954-55 season, had ever trailed by twenty-three or more after a first quarter and then tied or led at halftime. The Warriors are now the first.

The AP adds that it was the largest margin of victory in the shot-clock era for a team that trailed by twenty or more points at the end of a quarter. The final margin was seventeen.

Bench mob and Curry highlights

The stat of the night was bench scoring, where Golden State won fifty to seven. De'Anthony Melton scored sixteen points with four threes, and Georges Niang added eleven with three more. Together they hit seven of nine from deep, and the Warriors made twenty-two threes to the Lakers' eleven.

Brandin Podziemski chipped in a season-high twenty-one points, and the bench also got big minutes from Brandon Williams and Charles Bassey. Kerr said the night was about the bench and the energy it brought.

Ball security flipped too. After ten first-quarter turnovers, Golden State committed only five the rest of the way, while forcing sixteen Lakers turnovers that became twenty-three points.

Curry also supplied the clips. Midway through the third quarter he used a crossover and a sidestep to shake Doncic, who slipped to the floor, then paused before sinking the three. Later he went behind his back and drilled another while backpedaling, per NBA.com. He finished with eight threes.

What it means for Doncic and the Cup

Doncic was not quiet. He hit five threes in the first quarter and now has eighteen career games with twenty or more points in the opening period, the most in the play-by-play era. Then he shot just five for fifteen the rest of the way. It was only the third loss in those eighteen games.

The game opened West Group C play in the Emirates NBA Cup, and the Warriors are not done. They host the Clippers on Sunday and the Suns on Monday as part of a four-day run of events at Chase Center that also includes WNBA Finals Game Seven on Saturday. For more on the sports world, check out our sports coverage.

For a team that began the season with three losses, the Warriors Lakers comeback is a statement: the deep bench works, Curry still has the tricks, and a twenty-three point hole is not the end of the world.