Los Angeles (AFP)
The Los Angeles Lakers did not even need their groin-hit superstar James LeBron James to inflict a correction (116-86) on Golden State in its hall Thursday in San Francisco in the NBA Championship.
. The merciless Lakers
Statistics have enough to make the Warriors supporters dizzy: their team, decimated by injuries and weakened by the departure of Kevin Durant in the off season, conceded its third defeat in as many confrontations this season with the Lakers.
It remained however on twelve victories on the last 14 receptions of their Californian neighbors, who have long been a franchise in permanent crisis.
But it is now the Warriors, crowned NBA champions in 2015, 2017 and 2018, who drag in the depths of the ranking with the worst record of the 2019-20 season (12 v-47 d).
The Lakers have chained without forcing their talent a seventh straight victory, an 18th consecutive trip against a team from the Western Conference, a new NBA record.
The leaders of the Western conference were however deprived of "King James", left to rest, while a pain in the groin which had disturbed his previous season, woke up.
In his absence, Anthony Davis disgusted Golden State with 23 points and six rebounds in the first three quarters. He then followed the end of the bench meeting after a third one-way period (40-17).
Kyle Kuzma added 18 points in 28 minutes, while Draymond Green, the only survivor of the Warriors' major five who terrorized the NBA for five seasons, was ruled out after a second technical foul just before the break.
At the end of the meeting, Lakers coach Frank Vogel wanted to be reassuring about the state of health of LeBron James who had missed 27 games last season because of a groin injury.
"It's just a bit painful, he could play the next game" on Saturday in Memphis, he said.
His vis-à-vis Golden State Steve Kerr looks gray after this eighth straight loss.
"We need a win to feel a little better because it's hard for us right now," he said.
The only good news is that the return of his point guard Stephen Curry, who has been absent since the end of October due to an injury to the left hand, is becoming clearer and could take place against Washington on Sunday.
. Harris makes you forget Embiid
Philidelphia is also deprived of its best player Joël Embiid who was injured, apparently minor, on one shoulder on Wednesday. But the Sixers, also without Ben Simmons, beat the New York Knicks for the fourth time in the season (115-106).
Tobias Harris scored 34 points and Shake Milton crucified the Knicks with 19 points.
Philidelphia is 5th in the Eastern Conference (37 v-23 d), while the Knicks, deprived in particular of their French leader Frank Ntilikina (groin) for the third game in a row, are sure to finish for the sixth season in a row negative balance (14th, 17v-42d).
. OKC overthrows Sacramento
Oklahoma City was up 19 points behind Sacramento before winning 112-108 against the Kings. Main architect of this reversal of situation, the Italian Danilo Gallinari with his 24 points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul added 20 and 17 points respectively to give the Thunder a fifth straight win, synonymous with 5th place in the West (37 v-22 d).
© 2020 AFP