The Lakers delight the Hollywood crowd but the Warriors have seen this show before

This is a carousel. Use the Next and Previous buttons to navigate

LOS ANGELES As Game 3 approached, there was a buzz around this city. A city that’s generally too cool to get excited about anything.

But it’s not just anything. It’s about the Lakers, Hollywood’s favorite form of entertainment, back in the playoffs.

And on Saturday night, the Lakers performed in front of the crowd, giving Kim Kardashian and Adele, Michael B. Jordan and Dustin Hoffman an action-packed disaster flick. They were the iceberg and the Golden State Warriors were the Titanic. The Lakers demolished the Warriors 127-97 in Game 3 and now have a two-to-one series lead.

You find yourself in a lot of different scenarios, said Stephen Curry, noting that this is the 29th playoff series he, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have played in over the past decade.

You can shoot anything and this is one of the scenarios we faced and responded to. That’s why I’m sitting here with a lot of confidence that we can do what we need to do to win Game 4. Throw this one in the trash and move on.

The Warriors were in that exact scenario last June, down 2-1 to Boston with Game 4 on the road. You’ll remember how this one turned out.

The Warriors have a wealth of experience, much of it recent. The iconic Lakers don’t have as much recent history to draw on, which is why this series seems so important.

The Lakers are so giddy with how far they’ve come in the playoffs that their free Saturday t-shirts read Lakers: California State Championship. With the Kings and Clippers eliminated, if the Lakers beat the Warriors, they would be the California champions. But it’s kind of like when Jerry Glanville created a California championship trophy to commemorate his Falcons sweeping the 49ers, Rams, Raiders and Chargers in 1991. It’s amateur time, not what you expect of one of the greatest franchises in sports history.

But the Lakers didn’t have much to do for a while. They haven’t entered the second round of the playoffs without bubbles since 2012. That’s so long ago that it would be another four years before Kobe Bryant retired. Mike Brown has been the coach for so long. A lifetime for a proud franchise like the Lakers. They won a title in 2020 but it wasn’t show time: it was in a Florida bubble, no fans allowed.

So celebrities packed the fancy seats and clubs (and avoided those tacky T-shirts). Although there were plenty of vocal Warriors fans in attendance, the Laker faithful were excited. Before the match, Steve Kerr warned of the possibility of matching strength in this fan building.

The Warriors haven’t come close to matching him. After a solid first quarter where it looked like they could dictate the pace and find shots at will, the Warriors crumbled.

We lost our temper, Kerr said. It’s a tough environment. You are on the road in a playoff game.

The game turned into a jerky, whistle-filled slog, just the way the Lakers like it.

We were getting where we wanted to be and then the game stopped, Green said.

By arrested, he meant that the officials arrested him. Again and again. The game was a lot like Game 1, in terms of fouls called. There was a huge free throw disparity: the Lakers went to the line 37 times while the Warriors fired just 17 free throws. The Warriors were whistled for four technical fouls including a flagrant one on Moses Moody while the Lakers received a tech.

The Warriors let their frustration show on defense. And that irritation seemed to spill over into their offense, where they were rushed and sloppy. They turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 27 Lakers points. Klay Thompson, who might have been too fired up to play in the arena he watched games in his youth, against the team he loved growing up, had six playoff turnovers.

I’ll enjoy it even more on Monday, Thompson said, playing in front of family and friends because I can’t wait to bounce back from myself and the whole team.

It was a kick-starting series. Each game was dominated by one team. Momentum does not carry between games. In Games 1 and 3, the Lakers were able to play whatever game they wanted. In Game 2, the Warriors dictated the pace and played their style.

It’s kind of the nature of a playoff series, Curry said. Mainly because of how radically different we play.

We understand the things we have to do. It’s quite simple. It’s just a matter of doing it.

Anthony Davis stuck to his alternate day pattern, showing strong on Saturday. At first, LeBron James looked like he was having a night off, which was a big day for him. His son Bronny committed to USC earlier today and was one of the big-screen celebrities.

Although ABC cameras caught James taking a shot at Crypto.com Arena nearly four hours before tipping, he didn’t take a hit in the first quarter, for the first time since his rookie season.

But any thought that James was going to have a quiet night was quickly dismissed. He finished with 21 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds. He was pushing. In the third quarter, he came back on defense, chasing down Andrew Wiggins so quickly he went through both rows of base seats and jumped seven rows, landing almost in my row of media seats, before coming to a stop.

The highest numbers in the box score could have been 32 and 33. These are the number of minutes James and Davis have played respectively. This means the Warriors have failed to wear down key Lakers players. But, by the same token, Curry and Thompson only played 32 minutes each and Green, again in early foul trouble, only played 23. So all key players will be rested for a critical Game 4.

The last series proved we could relate, Curry said of the Kings series, when the Warriors also trailed 2-1, but with Game 4 at home. Unfortunately, we have to do it again.

It’s not ideal, but it’s not the end of the world for us.

Contact AnnKillion: [email protected]; Twitter: @annkillion