SAN FRANCISCO — For all of the ups and downs they’ve experienced this season, the Lakers’ issues have rarely come when they’re at home.
With a 16-6 record when playing at Crypto.com Arena, the league’s fourth-best home record entering Saturday, it’s been what occurs when the Lakers are away from their own building that gives them trouble.
So Saturday’s 118-108 win over the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center can be considered the step in the right direction to kick off a six-game, 12-game trip.
The Lakers’ victory not only moved them to seven games above .500 (25-18) for the first time this season but gives them a 9-12 record away from Cryto.com Arena, inching them closer to a .500 road record.
They haven’t finished a season with a .500 or better road record since 2020-21, when they went 21-15.
“You have to be able to win on the road,” coach JJ Reddick said. “You think back to our first five-game trip of the season, go 1-4. Some disappointing performances. And then we had the, the shorter trip, four-gamer, where we get blown out in Minnesota, Miami.
“We’re a better basketball team than we were then. And we’re more connected group now. Our resiliency and poise is building as a group. And that to me lends itself to more road success.”
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with a game-best 36 points and 13 rebounds to go with three steals, three assists and a blocked shot. LeBron James finished with 25 points, 12 assists and five rebounds.
Austin Reaves added 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a game-high 39 minutes.
Dalton Knecht scored 13 points off of the bench on 5-of-9 shooting (three of seven on 3s), while Dorian Finney-Smith had eight points and three rebounds in his first start as a Laker in place of Rui Hachimura, who sat out because of left calf soreness.
Jarred Vanderbilt made his return to the floor after being sidelined for nearly a year because of feet ailments that led to offseason surgery.
“I knew I might be a little rusty coming in and as far as rhythm and knowing the plays and all that stuff,” Vanderbilt said. “So my main goal was just to go in there and play hard. Bring the energy and then everything else – just control the controllable and everything else will play its hand.”
He finished with two points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in 12 minutes.
“Vando was awesome,” Redick said of Vanderbilt. “Did all the things that we need him to do. And I have a strong sense that he’s been sandbagging over the last three weeks, just in terms of his intensity level with playing against coaching associates. We have not seen that in the gym and it looked like the Vando that we know. He was great, and I thought that run that he had in the second half, just his activity, got a couple offensive rebounds. Just, just fantastic stuff from him.”
The Warriors (22-23) were led by Andrew Wiggins’ 20 points, six rebounds and three assists.
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Golden State All-Star guard Stephen Curry finished with 13 points (4-of-17 shooting, two of nine on 3s) and nine assists, with the Lakers holding him scoreless in the second half.
Curry missed all eight shots he took in the second half, including four 3s.
“We did a great job on and off the ball,” Redick said. “Our guys, again for the second straight game, just the gameplan discipline and trusting the game plan and then going out and executing at an extremely high level was really good.”
The Lakers have won five of their last six games.
“I feel like we’re playing the game the right way,” Reaves said. “We know who our big dogs are. Bron and AD are going to carry us. And we had to figure out how to help them be successful. And we’ve done that. We played the game the right way. We got multiple really good looks [on Saturday] that didn’t go in. And we didn’t stray away from that. We continued to make the right play, shoot the right shot, make the right rotation, extra effort on defense. So continuing to do that will lead to success for us.”