West Notes: Warriors, Lakers, LeBron James, Mavs, Luka Doncic

Warriors

The Warriors have been on fire lately, and just in time for the NBA playoffs. Or in the case of the Warriors, at least the play-in tournament.

Nowhere was that better exemplified than their road win over the Lakers on Tuesday — when Golden State shot a sizzling 63 percent on 3-pointers. Even Draymond Green went 5-of-5 on threes in the first half. Klay Thompson led the way with 27 points and Stephen Curry added 23.

So it was like the good old days of the Big Three and multiple Finals appearances.

“I didn’t feel like we played that well, but we made a million threes,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters. “The ball was going in, but I didn’t think we were sharp. A lot of possessions where we weren’t just quite locked in and we were a little bit disjointed, but the ball kept going in. … To shoot 63% from 3, that’s crazy.”

• Curry, Thompson and Green combined to go 16-of-23 on threes. Overall, the Warriors went 26-of-41.
• The Warriors (44-35) have won eight of nine and are now just a half-game of the ninth-place Lakers (45-35) in the Western Conference standings. Golden State owns the tiebreaker should they finish with identical records.
• Green told NBA reporters that the Warriors are confident about their chances in the postseason. “We’ve kept that same sentiment all along, just about what we feel this team is capable of,” he said. “At times this year it hasn’t always come together for us, but we feel like it’s coming together at the right time.”

Lakers

The Lakers were without power forward Anthony Davis in the loss to the Warriors. Davis sat out due to the aftereffects of being hit in the head against the Timberwolves.

“We know we’re as good as any team in the league when we’re whole — and when we’re not, we’re not,” said LeBron James, who finished with 33 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. “It’s hard for us to make up, especially having a guy like AD not playing. It’s almost pretty much impossible to make up for what he provides for our ballclub, both offensively and defensively.”

• Green admitted the Lakers aren’t the same without Davis. “It’s different when it’s AD out there,” he said. “He can cover up so many mistakes. It’s a totally different look for them when he’s out there.”
• The Lakers dropped to 2-4 in games without Davis. They also lost the two games in which he only appeared in the first quarter after receiving blows to the head.
• Coach Darvin Ham said the Lakers just have to try to move on to the next and get back on track. “They were blazing hot — blazing, blazing hot,” Ham said. “But we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to get our bootstraps together, get back on the drawing board, look at the film and try to make the best out of these last two games.”

Mavericks

Star guard Luka Doncic continues to set every imaginable record in Mavs franchise history, and the NBA MVP candidate picked up a few more in Tuesday’s road win over the Hornets.

Doncic, the league’s leading scorer, finished with 21 points and set a franchise record for points in a season with 2,341, surpassing Mark Aguirre (2,330 in 1983-84).

“It means a lot,” Doncic told reporters. “This is the franchise that drafted me and they gave me the set of the keys. I’m just glad I’m here.”

Coach Jason Kidd added that nothing really surprises him when it comes to Doncic.

“It’s incredible what Luka has done,” Kidd said. “He’s going to rewrite the record books for the Mavericks and also for the NBA. For him to pass Mark is incredible because Mark is a legend for the Mavs. It shows what Luka has done and how much better he has gotten year to year.”

• The win all but assures the Mavs will avoid the play-in tournament. “We sure need some rest,” Doncic said. “We are playing some of our best basketball of the season on the defensive end as well right now. That is the key for us.”
• In case you missed it, one NBA executive told our Ashish Mathur that Doncic and fellow guard Kyrie Irving are the best duo in the West. You can check out the full story here.