Lakers rally past Warriors 104-101, take 3-1 series lead

LOS ANGELES (AP) —LonnieWalker scored all of his 15 points in a phenomenal fourth quarter,and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied late to take a 3-1 series leadwith a 104-101 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 onMonday night.

LeBron James scored 27 points and Anthony Davis had 23 pointsand 15 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who moved to thebrink of an improbable trip to the Western Conference finals withtheir eighth consecutive home victory since March.

Los Angeles overcame Stephen Curry's third career postseasontriple-double down the stretch largely because of Walker, who hasmade a seismic impact in returning to the Lakers' rotation in thisseries after the former starter was stuck on the bench in recentweeks.

Walker went 6 for 9 in the fourth quarter and hit the go-aheadjumper with 1:53 to play. Curry’s layup with 1:05 left trimmed theLakers’ lead to one point, but Curry missed a long jumper and a3-point attempt on Golden State’s next possession before Walkermade two free throws with 15 seconds to play.

Davis then forced a jump ball in the waning seconds, and it wentout of bounds off Curry with 1.3 seconds to play.

“We don’t win this game tonight without Lonnie Walker, that’sfor sure," James said. "As hard as this game was, it’s going to beeven harder. We understand that. We know that.”

Curry had 31 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists in his 13thcareer triple-double for the defending champion Warriors, who willhave to overcome a 3-1 series deficit for only the second time infranchise history to continue their NBA title defense. Golden Statealso did it in the 2016 Western Conference finals.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in San Francisco.

Gary Payton II scored a season-high 15 points in his first startof the season for Golden State, but Klay Thompson had his secondstraight quiet game in Los Angeles, scoring nine points in 41minutes. Andrew Wiggins added 17 points for the Warriors, who madejust 25 combined 3-pointers in their two games in Los Angeles aftermaking 21 apiece in the first two games in San Francisco.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr switched to a three-guard startinglineup to affect the Los Angeles defense that held the Warriors to97 points in Game 3, and the changes largely worked: Davis, whoblocked 11 shots in the first three games, wasn’t able to protectthe rim with the same ferocity when his defensive matchups requiredhim to go out to the perimeter, and the Warriors capitalized with52 points in the paint.

The Lakers compensated: They made all 20 of their free throws,and Austin Reaves added 21 points.

But they won with a gritty, timely effort by Walker, who pickedup the Lakers’ slack when D’Angelo Russell scored just four pointson 1-for-10 shooting after a strong performance in Game 3.

Curry secured the 13th triple-double of his career early in thefourth quarter, adding it to his postseason triple-doubles in the2017 NBA Finals and again in 2019. But he missed nine of 10 3-pointattempts spanning three quarters, and the most prolific 3-pointshooter in NBA history finished 3 for 14 from distance.

The rivals split the series’ first two games last week in theBay Area, and the Lakers followed up their 27-point loss in Game 2with a 30-point thrashing of the Warriors in Game 3. Both teamsshot poorly to begin Game 4, but Curry’s 17 points put Golden Stateahead at the half.

The Warriors minimized Davis’ impact on defense after hedominated long stretches of the Lakers’ first nine playoff gamesthis spring. After blocking 19 combined shots — 11 by Davis — inthe first three games of this series, Los Angeles blocked just oneshot in Game 4 — a majestic, swooping swat by James on a layupattempt by Curry in the fourth quarter.

TIP-INS

Warriors: Payton’s only previous NBA start this season was forPortland on Feb. 8. He started two playoff games for Golden Statelast year before signing a three-year deal in the summer with theTrail Blazers, who traded him back to the Warriors in February.Payton’s return was slowed by a core muscle injury. ... KevonLooney started Game 1 against Los Angeles, while JaMychal Greenstarted Game 2 and Game 3.Lakers: In the first quarter, James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar —who was courtside — for the most two-point baskets in NBA playoffhistory. Game 4 was James’ 276th career postseason game, whileAbdul-Jabbar played in 237. James passed Abdul-Jabbar to become thetop scorer in NBA history in February. ... Jack Nicholson returnedto his courtside seats for the second time in their last three homegames. The Lakers’ 86-year-old superfan headlined anothercelebrity-studded crowd including Chris Pratt, Dodgers president ofbaseball operations Andrew Friedman, Dave Chappelle, DustinHoffman, Kim Kardashian, Colin Jost and Flea.