Warriors Erase 23-Point Hole, Bury Lakers 112-95 on Halloween
Luka Doncic put up 37 points and Golden State still won by 17. The Warriors trailed 38-15 after one quarter and outscored Los Angeles 97-57 the rest of the way.
The first quarter belonged entirely to Doncic. He orchestrated a 38-15 demolition — hitting step-back threes from 24, 27, and 22 feet, threading assists to Jake LaRavia, Matisse Thybulle, and Quentin Grimes, and finishing at the rim with the kind of casual authority that makes defenses look helpless. By the time the buzzer sounded on the period, the Lakers had a 23-point lead and Golden State looked cooked. They were not cooked.
The second quarter was where the Warriors quietly rewired the game. De'Anthony Melton — who finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals — opened the comeback with a floating jumper, then a 24-foot three, then two free throws in rapid succession. Draymond Green was the engine behind it, assisting on three straight Golden State buckets as the Warriors chipped the deficit from 25 down to 13 by halftime. Brandin Podziemski and Georges Niang kept feeding the fire, and what looked like a Lakers blowout had quietly become a game. The second half is where it became a Golden State win. The single play that flipped the math: Podziemski's 22-foot three-pointer, assisted by Gui Santos, in the third quarter with 51.1 seconds left. Home win probability swung from 41% to 51% on that shot — a 10-point swing that, in retrospect, looks like the moment the Lakers' grip finally broke.
Stephen Curry finished with 31 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists, and Podziemski added 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and a block in what appears to be a coming-out performance against a marquee opponent. Austin Reaves gave the Lakers 21 points and 5 assists in a losing effort, but the story of the night was Golden State's collective refusal to fold after getting embarrassed in the opening 12 minutes. Ziaire Williams missed the game with left foot soreness per pre-game reports, and the Lakers' depth looked thin when the Warriors turned up the pressure. Doncic's 37 points were real and dominant — but Golden State made sure they didn't matter.