Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers

The Golden State Warriors aim to maintain their second-to-last position above first-round playoff entry seeking a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

On Monday the Rockets fell to the Lakers 104-98 which allowed the Lakers to narrow down their distance from third-place Nuggets while the Warriors maintained an exact lead over the Grizzlies by winning 134-125 on Tuesday.

Monday's game displayed excellent collective performance from the Lakers as they approached the leading positions in their conference.

The Lakers defeated the Rockets with only two missed free throws among their twenty attempts for the game which produced five players reaching double-digit scores when none of them exceeded 20 points.

The Lakers hold a 2.5-game deficit behind Houston for second place in the regular season after winning their two latest matches while playing one game fewer than their competition.

The home wins by team JJ Redick reached 29 during the regular season but they suffered two recent defeats in their last three Crypto.com Arena matches.

During the entire season the Lakers have consistently had the fifth-fewest number of rebounds per game at 42.6.

The Warriors lost the third encounter with the Lakers during the 2024-25 season after the team won all their previous matchups at Crypto.com Arena through a 120-112 scoreline in early February.

The former seven-time world champions arose from their blowout loss to Miami Heat with a three-game winning streak because of a month-old 112-86 defeat in late November.

 Steve Kerr's side have rediscovered their scoring touch since that aforementioned defeat, putting up nearly 300 points combined (282) in their last two contests. Golden State have created their share of turnovers, currently fifth in the league regarding steals per game (9.2), though they are still near the bottom in terms of field goal percentage, shooting 45% in that department as a team, good for 26th in the NBA. Their margin for error to avoid the play-in round is still razor-thin, with the Minnesota Timberwolves just a half-game behind them for that final automatic first-round berth.

On Thursday, Golden State can extend their winning run away from home to four games, outscoring their last three opponents in the fourth quarter by a combined 28 points (96-68). Throughout the campaign, they have done a great job on the glass, currently fourth in the NBA for offensive rebounds per game (12.6).