Lakers drop second game of California Classic to the Warriors

The Lakers could not find any consistent offense and were blown out by the Golden State Warriors.

On Sunday afternoon, the Lakers were blown out in their second game of the California C Classic, losing 92-68 to the Golden State Warriors.

With Bronny James Jr. out, all eyes were on Dalton Knecht, who scored 12 points and grabbed two rebounds, two steals and an assist. Armel Traoré had seven rebounds along with 11 points. Sean East II pitched in with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Blake Hinson again came off the bench and scored eight points with five rebounds, two steaks and an assist. Colin Castleton messed around and got a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors were off to a better start than the Lakers who struggled to connect on their shots early. Castleton got the ball rolling for LA with two free throws. Jason Rowe and Ethan Thompson were leading the offensive charge for the Warriors.

After having a slow start in the last game, Castleton looked more comfortable and nailed his first midrange shot. Hinson continued his sharpshooting, drilling two threes for Los Angeles.

The Lakers, however, struggled defensively and their shooting quickly cooled, going 5-22 from the field in the opening quarter. After one quarter of play, they were down by 14 after one frame of play.

Mantas Rubštavičius looked like a multiverse version of Steph Curry, shooting the lights out for Golden State. The Lakers could not find any rhythm in the first half as Knecht and company struggled.

Much of this quarter was spent with the Warriors getting whatever they wanted from both sides of the floor.

There were some glimpses of life from the Lakers. Knecht had a nice 3-pointer midway through the second quarter and Traoré was a rebounding machine for LA with six in the first half.

Unfortunately, the Lakers found themselves down 15 at the break.

The second half began with a bad foul and turnover for Los Angeles and Golden State extended their lead to 20.

Knecht drove down the lane for a monster dunk that gave everyone a jolt. He then made a layup and was fouled, making the free throw for a 3-point play. He was the only Laker, at that point in the game, in double digits, as nobody else could get themselves going offensively.

Knecht continued to find great shots and attack the paint, but he couldn’t knock down many of them. An assist by Knecht to Vincent Valerio-Bodan for a dunk in transition was another jolt of fun. At the end of the third, the Warriors were up 73-50.

The Warriors would not fold in the fourth and kept piling on. They led by 29 with five minutes left and coasted to victory the rest of the way.

Key Takeaways:

The shots struggled to fall, but Knecht is getting more comfortable and confident.

One aspect the team needs to work on is the 3-point shooting. Hinson showed a lot of promise in the first game as a potential sharpshooter from behind the arc but missed eight of his 10 attempts in this game.

The Lakers have a lot of work to do defensively, as well. They were crushed inside the paint on Sunday, getting outscored in the paint 50-28.

Catch the final California Classic game on Wednesday against the Miami Heat at 4:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.