Young’s late 3-pointer pushes Lakers past Thunder, 111-109

Walton spent the first 43 games last season as Golden State interim coach while eventual Coach of the Year Kerr took a prolonged leave of absence dealing with complications following two back surgeries.

The Warriors will take a 12-2 record into the doubleheader, having won eight in a row since a shocking 117-97 drubbing at the hands of the Lakers at the Staples Center on November 7. This will be the second time this season that these two teams will square off, this time in Oakland.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson, left, drives toward the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Andre Roberson during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Los Angeles.

Despite Russell staying sidelined again with persisting soreness in his left knee, Young made the Lakers temporarily forget about Russell’s health. Timofey Mozgov posted 16 points, three rebounds and two blocks.

“We fought back, but it just wasn’t good enough”, said Westbrook, who led the Thunder with 34 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds. Lou Williams added 13 points and five assists. 148 points, 47 assists, and even a plus-11 rebounding margin later, it was easily the Warriors’ best offensive performance of the young season. In the contest’s waning moments, the Los Angeles Lakers received a timely Nick Young three to prevail 111-109. Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook posted a triple-double only three weeks ago, prompting Lakers coach Luke Walton to ask jokingly to reporters if they had any solutions for stopping him.

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After a timeout, Westbrook attempted his own winning shot, but it was off the mark, ending the Lakers’ nine-game losing streak to the Thunder.

The Lakers will somehow try to figure out how to grow their young core without one of their signature players for at least the next two weeks. In the second half, Warriors reserve Ian Clark scored 17 of his 21 points to maintain the double-digit lead.

The defense held the Thunder as they tried to get off one more play and the Lakers won the game.

Create floor space for shooters. He followed through on Lakers forward Tarik Black telling him he should “get his hand in the cookie jar”. He has now become a stable veteran presence for a young roster, something that was hard to fathom.

With Kevin Durant joining Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors knew that they needed an adjustment period before they could find the chemistry that the team needs to get back to the NBA Finals.

This is an effective starting five for the Golden State Warriors, which has brought them eight consecutive wins so far. What Los Angeles might find Wednesday is that the Warriors are much improved in the interior. If they can manage to win 5 of those 9 games they will not lose any ground in the standings.