Warriors vs. Lakers: Stephen Curry Scores 31 as Golden State Erases 25-Point Deficit in 112-95 Win

For one quarter, Chase Center belonged to Luka Doncic. The crowd booed every touch, and he answered every boo with a bucket: 21 points, five 3-pointers and five assists in the first 12 minutes, while the Lakers built a 23-point lead before the popcorn had cooled.

Then the Golden State Warriors flipped the whole night upside down. Stephen Curry scored 31 points with eight 3-pointers, the Golden State bench outscored the Lakers' reserves 50-7, and the Warriors erased a 25-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-95 on Friday night in their NBA Cup group play opener.

A First Quarter Straight Out of a Horror Movie

Brandin Podziemski scored the first basket of the night. The Warriors would not lead again until the final minute of the third quarter. The Lakers ripped off 14 straight points behind Doncic, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler and Jake LaRavia, and Steve Kerr burned a timeout just 2:18 into the game with his team already down 12-2. A second Lakers burst, 12 more unanswered points capped by a Doncic step-back 3, made it 34-14, and the quarter ended 38-15.

Golden State coughed it up 10 times in the period and, per NBA.com, gave up more points off turnovers (17) than it scored (15). Kerr skipped the speech.

"We couldn't have played worse," Kerr said. "They knew it. I didn't need to tell them."

Reaves made two free throws to open the second quarter, and the Lakers led 40-15. That was the high-water mark.

The Second Quarter, in Reverse

What followed was pure whiplash. De'Anthony Melton scored seven quick points, Georges Niang and Curry hit 3s, and a 13-0 run had it down to 40-28. L.A. steadied and pushed back to 51-37, and then Golden State went off again: a Curry 3, a Curry layup, a Podziemski layup and an Al Horford 3 made it 51-47. Melton drilled another triple, and Podziemski's 27-footer in the final seconds tied it 53-53 at the half.

The Warriors won the second quarter 38-15. Yes, the exact score the Lakers had posted in the first.

"We had a lot of chatter at the end of the first quarter, how we were supposed to respond and it was kind of cool to see," Curry said.

According to the AP, Golden State became the first team in the shot clock era, playoffs included, to trail by 23 or more after one quarter and be tied or ahead at halftime.

An 18-0 Avalanche

The Lakers punched first after the break, and with 1:28 left in the third they led 80-78. They did not score again until there were fewer than eight minutes left in the game.

Golden State's 18-0 run began with a Yaxel Lendeborg free throw. Podziemski followed with a 3 for the Warriors' first lead since 2-0, then two free throws. Doncic drew a technical late in the period, and Brandon Williams cashed the free throw for an 85-80 lead entering the fourth. Podziemski opened the final quarter with a layup and a step-back 3, Curry hit a pull-up and a step-back 3, and Matisse Thybulle's technical sent Curry to the line for one more. It was 96-80, and the Lakers were done.

That step-back 3 also pushed Curry past Dominique Wilkins (26,668) into 18th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list, according to NBA.com and the AP.

Steph vs. Luka, Round 2

Midway through the third, Curry shook Doncic with a crossover and drilled a 3 over him, then Doncic came right back with a step-back triple at the other end. The rest of the night belonged to Curry.

He finished 11 of 23 from the field and 8 of 14 from deep with six assists and four rebounds. NBA.com noted he joined LeBron James as the only players aged 38 or older to post at least 30 points, five assists and eight 3s in a game.

Doncic finished with 37 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but the math after the first quarter was brutal. He shot 7 of 12 in the opening period and 5 of 15 the rest of the way, including 1 of 7 from deep. NBA.com said it was his 18th career first quarter of 20 or more points, the most by anyone in the play-by-play era, and only the third loss in those 18 games.

Podziemski was the quiet hero with 21 points, six assists and five rebounds, plus the shots that tied it and then gave Golden State the lead. Melton scored 16 off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting from deep, Niang added 11 without missing a 3, and Draymond Green ran the show with nine assists, three steals and a plus-17 on just two points.

"I thought our bench was really awesome tonight," Kerr said. "This was about the bench."

Reaves scored 21 for the Lakers but committed eight turnovers. Kessler had 10 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.

The Receipts

• 50-7: Bench scoring, Golden State. That is not a typo.
• 22-11: Made 3-pointers, Warriors, who went 22 of 46 while the Lakers shot 11 of 39.
• 31-18: Assists in Golden State's favor.
• 38-15: The score of the first quarter for the Lakers, and of the second quarter for the Warriors.
• 4: Technical fouls on the Lakers, including one each on Doncic and Thybulle.

Payback, With Interest

Golden State is 3-3 and 1-1 at home after winning its third straight game following an 0-3 start, according to NBA.com. It also got payback after the Lakers blew the Warriors out in L.A. in the season opener between the teams. Golden State had dropped four straight home games against the Lakers, per the team's own game notes, and had not beaten them at Chase Center since Feb. 22, 2024.

The AP added one more piece of history. Among teams that trailed by 20 or more points after one quarter, none in the shot clock era had ever won by a bigger margin. The previous best also belonged to the Warriors, who trailed the Bulls 41-18 after one on March 4, 1976, and won 124-110.

The Lakers fall to 4-2 and 2-1 on the road. Both teams are home on Sunday night, the Lakers against Toronto and the Warriors against the Clippers.

Freaky Friday, Literally

It was literally a Freaky Friday: the first two quarters swapped bodies, right down to the score. Curry summed it up.

"To flip the score like we did at the half, in the second quarter, and to hold them under 95 after a 38-point first quarter is pretty impressive from everybody," he said.

For 12 minutes, Doncic looked unstoppable. For the other 36, the Warriors looked like the team that always knew the ending.

Stats from the official box score and play-by-play via ESPN. Quotes from NBA.com; historical notes as reported by the Associated Press, NBA.com and the Warriors.