The Golden State Warriors crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 127-100 Thursday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals, evening the playoff series at 1-1.
Klay Thompson had a game-high 30 points for the Warriors and shot 8-for-11 from 3-point range. Steph Curry had 20 points for the Warriors while facing double teams through much of the game. He made the Lakers pay for that strategy with his passing, dishing out 12 assists in front of a sellout crowd at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points while Anthony Davis managed only 11 points and seven rebounds after his 30-point, 23-rebound performance in Game 1.
James and Davis remained on the bench for the fourth quarter, as did the rest of the Lakers’ starters, during the blowout.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played Saturday in Los Angeles.
On Thursday, James jump-started the Lakers with 14 points in the first quarter as Los Angeles took a 33-26 lead.
But the Warriors opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run and took command of the game, steadily increasing the lead that continued to balloon.
The Lakers’ frustration was evident, as assistant coach Phil Handy got a technical foul in the second quarter and James got a technical foul in the third quarter.
JaMychal Green, a Warriors reserve starting in place of the ailing Kevon Looney, provided a spark with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. As a team the Warriors hit 21 of their 42 3-point attempts, compared to the Lakers’ 10 makes (on 34 attempts).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Warriors rout Lakers in Game 2 to even second round series