Last night, Lakers had a huge win in Game 4 taking a 3-1 lead against the defending Champions, the Golden State Warriors. This was a big win especially since it wasn't necessarily because of just LeBron or Anthony Davis that they won. It was primarily one of the Lakers bench players, Lonnie Walker IV!
Lakers were trailing by 7 going into the fourth quarter looking for an answer. Lakers coach, Darvin Ham, decided to have Walker start the 4th and he immediately made an impact by sinking a 3. Now keep in mind, Walker was someone who didn’t even touch the court in Game 1 and a player whose fourth-quarter minutes were less than 5 minutes previously in this series. However, for Game 4 he went on the play the entire fourth quarter for good reason scoring 15 points on 6/9 shots. He was deemed the hero of the game especially since Lakers were looking for answers while trailing in the game. What is also impressive is that he didn't even start the game. Lonnie Walker IV is the first Lakers bench player to score 15+ points in the fourth quarter of a playoff game since Kobe Bryant 26 years ago.
What also contributed to the Lakers win was that the Warriors top shooters, Curry and Klay, shot pretty bad. Curry was 3/14 from 3 which is horrible especially for his standard. Klay wasn't as bad but shot 3/9 from 3, also not good for his standard. In addition to Walker's performance, this was also key to the Lakers win. I said it before, if Curry or Klay don't go off, Warriors will not win. Wiggins and Poole have not been as impressive either so the Warriors being down 3-1 is no surprise.
Fun fact, Steph Curry is now 1-6 in his last 7 playoff games against LeBron without Kevin Durant on his team. Statistics usually never lie so Warriors are in deep trouble. It's not over yet as 3-1 leads have been blown before in the NBA, but there's a lot of pressure on the Warriors now. Lakers can advance to the Western Conference Finals with a win in Game 5 on Wednesday!
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