On Saturday night in Oakland, Klay Thompson celebrated his new $70 million contract with a career night and a 127-104 victory for the Golden State Warriors over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Warriors improved to 2-0 on the season in large part due to a career-high 41 points from Thompson. Meanwhile, the Lakers dropped to 0-4 for the first time in Lakers' history since the franchise moved to LA.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Lakers struggled to hang around in the second half despite Kobe Bryant hitting a wide array of circus shots and catching fire at one point. During the third period, Bryant scored 19 points, but the Lakers struggled to stop the Warriors' scoring duo all night long.
Along with Thompson, Stephen Curry was deadly. The Warriors' point guard finished with 31 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and three steals. The backcourt duo combined for 72 points, as they combined to splash in eight of the Warriors' 11 three-pointers.
The Lakers played well for the majority of the game, so it was not all doom and gloom. Jordan Hill continued to make his set shot from 15 feet away and finished with 23 points on the night.
"He's had two great games," Lakers coach Byron Scott said about Hill after the contest. "He's playing really well offensively. Defensively, I'm still asking more from him."
Hill was able to continue building off the progress he displayed in Friday night's loss to the Clippers, but Jeremy Lin fell back into the abyss. Lin failed to make a single shot against the Warriors and finished with six points and six assists to go along with five turnovers and five fouls. Lin had a night to forget.
"I feel terrible about how I played tonight," Lin said after the game. "I didn't give the team what they need from me."
In more positive news, Ed Davis continued to be the Lakers' most reliable player off the bench. The power forward added 13 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes at Oracle Arena. Also, Wesley Johnson had his best game of the young season with 15 points and four rebounds.
Ultimately, though, the Lakers fell to 0-4 after losing four games to strong Western Conference teams in five nights. After the day off on Sunday, the Lakers will practice Monday morning and play the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night in the hopes to finally win a game.
