How the Lakers turned a 25-point lead into a 17-point loss at Golden State

Steph Curry's ankle-breaker on Luka Dončić will run on every highlight show, but it did not cost the Lakers this game. A second quarter did. The Lakers led 40-15 early in that quarter, then lost it 38-15 and lost the night 112-95 at Golden State.

The second quarter was the whole game

Los Angeles won the first quarter 38-15 and kept shooting. Then the shots stopped. In the second quarter the Lakers went 5-for-22 from the field, 0-for-9 from three and committed 6 turnovers, while the Warriors scored 38. The teams went to halftime tied 53-53, and a lead that looked safe was gone in 12 minutes.

J.J. Redick pointed to that stretch as the turning point, citing the turnovers and an 0-for-7 start from deep. His own words for the night: "Problem-solving and connectivity, we just didn't have it tonight... And they got hot."

Threes and giveaways

The full-game numbers show why the lead never came back. The Lakers made 11 of 39 threes. The Warriors made 22 of 46. That gap alone is 33 points of scoring from the arc to 33, and it explains most of a 17-point margin. The Lakers also finished with 20 turnovers in the official box score, and several outlets counted more.

Golden State led 85-80 after three quarters, having won the third 32-27. The fourth ended the argument. The Lakers scored 15 points and the Warriors scored 27, so the second half went to Golden State 59-42.

Dončić carried the load, and the bench could not

Dončić scored 37 points on 12-for-27 shooting, with 6-for-16 from three. Curry answered with 31 points and 8-for-14 from three. Dončić finished plus 9 for the night, which in a 17-point loss means the Lakers were buried whenever he sat. No second creator was on the floor to run the offense, and LeBron James is now in Philadelphia, not in the box score.

Austin Reaves tried to take that role and said afterward, "I was terrible again." The Lakers got no other consistent shot creation, and the turnovers and cold threes followed from that.

The Warriors won despite a nightmare from one of their own. Lendeborg had 5 turnovers and 6 fouls and finished minus 20, which makes the margin more striking. Golden State won with its stars and its shooting while a rotation player sank.

What it means

Los Angeles is 4-2 and Golden State is 3-3, so the standings can absorb this. The roster question is harder. A team that leans on Dončić for 37 minutes and has no one to steady the offense when he rests will see this game again, and a 25-point lead is not safe against a team that shoots like Golden State did.