LeBron James ends Warriors dynasty once and for all

After three long years and two NBA Finals defeats, LeBron James finally got his revenge on the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, as he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 120-94 win at Staples Center.

With Anthony Davis sidelined for Wednesday’s contest, James stepped up for the Lakers and dropped 23 points on the reigning Western Conference champions. He also dished out a game-high 12 assists.

It took longer than James would have liked, but he finally ended the Warriors’ dynasty. The Lakers are the new best team in California.

All jokes aside, it was a pretty comfortable win for the Lakers over the injury-plagued Warriors, as many expected it to be even with Davis watching from the sidelines. D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green are technically All-Stars, but not in the same way that James is, and that was the difference between the two teams on Wednesday.

Also, the Lakers are just better.

If you ranked the players on both teams from 1-22, Russell and Green would probably rank in the top-three, but it would be a while until another Warriors player made an appearance on the list. Suffice to say, this year’s Warriors are much different from the Warriors that made the NBA Finals in each of the last five seasons.

Speaking of Warriors that made NBA Finals appearances, JaVale McGee continues to look more comfortable with his new teammates, tallying 18 points, 17 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Dwight Howard was able to get his numbers up, too, posting 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Last but not least, Kyle Kuzma built on his strong performance against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, scoring 22 points on 7-12 shooting from the field, including 3-6 shooting from behind the arc. Kuzma is shooting 47.3% from 3-point range over the last three games (16 attempts). That’s good, I think.

The Lakers will host Luke Walton and the Sacramento Kings for their third game in four days on Friday. The Kings have an exciting collection of young talent, but they’re coached by Walton, so it balances out.

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