Feb 8, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma (0) passes the ball against the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter at the Chase Center.
After being cleared for a Pelvic Contusion, it didn't take 10 minutes for Warriors' forward Draymond Green to be out of the game again after being tossed out by the refs for complaining continuously on multiple scrambles with Dwight Howard. The well balanced Los Angeles Lakers drowned the Golden State Warriors in the NBA standings after pushing Green to an ejection, launching a third-quarter surge to take their 7th straight win and the W in San Francisco.
With only 9 minutes and 44 seconds of playing time, Draymond Green got his first technical for complaining continuously to the refs after a scramble in the paint while boxing out Dwight Howard and just after 10 secs had passed in the game clock, Green was tossed out of the game after tripping Lakers' Center Dwight Howard in a pick and roll play executed by the Lakers in the middle of the 2nd quarter and that is where Lakers got some momentum going to the third quarter.
A slow start from the Lebron-less Lakers gave the Warriors an early lead as the Warriors stretch it up to 7 points with the help of Eric Paschall. But in the middle of the second frame, things are in favor of the Lakers as Draymond got ejected and Lebron's co-all star Anthony Davis is on the floor to take over and made sure that the Lakers will be ahead in the First Half, 54-52.
With halftime adjustments from Lakers' Coach Frank Vogel, the Lakers made a 40-17 third-quarter run led by Kyle Kuzma replacing Lebron, who was absent due to soring groin. Kuzma tallied 18points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 29 minutes of playing time.
Kuzma is not the only suspect for the 40 point surge in the third frame,along with Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo activated his "Playoff Mode" and showed the warriors what a "Playoff Rondo" could do by dropping 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in just 26 minutes of playing in the court.
With a 25 point lead going to the 4th quarter, the Lakers' bench did not take it easy as they continue the hot shooting while the whole team posted a 51.7% Field Goal Percentage dropping 45 out of 87 in the field and finished the game with 30 point margin, 116-86.
The Warriors' Forward Eric Paschall tallied 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists in 27 minutes of playing but it is not enough to get the win for they committed 26 turnovers as a team and let the Lakers score more than half of their points in the shaded area.
The Lakers are on a 7-game win streak and currently sits in the top spot of the Western Conference while the Warriors is in the last spot after being in the NBA Finals for the last 5 years.
With the absence of the league's assist leader LeBron James, the veteran guard Rajon Rondo is expected to do the playmaking while Danny Green will be stretched back to the small forward position.
Related article: NBA News: Lebron Proves He's Still 'The King,' Posts 40-Points as Pelicans Succumb to the Lakers
