The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back with tremendous force on their home turf. The team defeated the Golden State Warriors in the third game of the playoff series, retaining the momentum going forward. Following the win, Lakers legend Magic Johnson took to his social media handle to express his thoughts on his former team’s recent and crucial postseason victory.?
After the Game 2 outcome, many would argue that Magic may have jumped on the Warriors bandwagon with the ?unsung hero? tweet. Nevertheless, the Lakers’ leading tally in the Conference Semifinals might have just put Magic on cloud nine.?
Magic Johnson was over the moon with the Lakers’ win
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The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors by a huge 20-point margin with a final score of 127-97. The Lakers did a lot of things right that did not go their way in the prior Game 2.
Consequently, Magic Johnson gave a brief run-down of the crucial points in the game as he celebrated the Lakers? win on Twitter. Magic?s first tweet was about the Lakers? defense and their ability to get to the free-throw line.?
The @Lakers team defense kept the Warriors off the 3-point line in tonight’s 127-97 Game 3 win! In Game 2 the starters only went to the free throw line twice. Every starter got to the free throw line tonight because the @Lakers attacked the basket and didn’t settle for the…
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 7, 2023
He also mentioned how the Lakers ?didn?t settle? for three-pointers and got their points the hard, gritty way instead.
Magic?s second tweet was a shout-out to the star tandem of the Los Angeles Lakers. He seemed awfully happy with the performance of both Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
Our two superstars were awesome tonight! LeBron finished with 21 points and AD had a big performance finishing with 25 points and 13 rebounds.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 7, 2023
The former 6?9 point guard also took notice of the current LA ball handler, D?Angelo Russell. Johnson wrote about how Russell went on an early shooting run that got the Lakers the upper hand in the game.
Let’s give D’Angelo Russell a lot of credit for starting us off strong in the first quarter with his hot shooting. He finished with 21 points.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 7, 2023
His final tweet was an appreciation post for head coach Darvin Ham who went with a smaller lineup to tackle the Warriors.
Coach Darvin Ham made some great adjustments. He Put Lonnie Walker into the rotation and he came up big with 12 points. Overall, the @Lakers played a much smaller lineup most of the game which helped them on defense!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 7, 2023
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The Hall of Famer also gave a shout-out to Lonnie Walker IV, who was recently added to the lineup.
LeBron James and the squad dismantle the Warriors
There was a huge disparity in the shots made by the Warriors and the Lakers. Not that the Warriors did not shoot well but when comparing their 39.6% shooting percentage to the Lakers? 52.5%, it does seem like a huge difference. Apart from that, the Lakers not only got their offense from different players but also locked down the Warriors on defense. The highest scorer from the Warriors was Stephen Curry with 23 points. On the other hand, AD led his team to victory by dropping a game-high 25 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists. Whereas, LeBron scored 21 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
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If the Lakers continue to perform like this, this series may end quicker than expected. Let?s see if Steve Kerr and the Warriors manage to make some new adjustments to tackle the Lakers going forward.