Lakers vs. Warriors: Prediction, Preview for Game 4 of 2023 NBA Playoff Series

In this heavyweight playoff bout between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, both squads have landed heavy blows over the first few games with a pair of routs following the thriller in Game 1.

The most recent round went to the Lakers, who defended their home court at Crypto.Com Arena with a 127-97 win in Game 3 on Saturday night.

But even with that huge victory, it certainly isn't enough to be a knockout shot for the Warriors as the Lakers series lead is only 2-1.

And Los Angeles has certainly been a bit of a roller coaster throughout its playoff run. So, there are sure to be plenty of more twists and turns before this one is over.

One huge positive sign for Lakers' nation is that their three stars all had big-time performances on Saturday as Anthony Davis (25), LeBron James (21) and D'Angelo Russell (21) combined for 67 points in the win.

It was perhaps the most complete performance by the trio thus far in a single playoff game.

Perhaps, even more impressive was the Lakers defense as they completely contained an explosive Warriors team and their superstar Stephen Curry, who's been having one of the best postseasons of his career.

After a red-hot performance in Game 2, Golden State shot just 39.6 percent from the field, 29.5 percent from three point range and turned the ball over 19 times.

And a typically efficient Curry finished on a very rough 9-of-21 shooting for 23 points. His backcourt mate Klay Thompson wasn't any better at 5-of-14 for 15.

But it shouldn't be expected that the reigning champions will have a repeat performance in Game 4 on Monday night, especially Curry.

Here is a look at the key details for the next matchup.

Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers Game 3

Date: Monday, May 8

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Channel: TNT

Stream: TNT

Prediction

While it shouldn't be expected that the Warriors will play as badly as they did in Game 3, the inverse can be said about the Lakers.

They just haven't been able to string together a lot of consistent performances throughout the postseason. And that's mostly due to the play of Davis, who's been a roller coaster all to himself over the last couple of weeks.

Davis is the catalyst of everything Los Angeles does on both ends of the floor as he's constantly terrorizing Golden State's frontcourt when he's at his best.

But when he's not, you get what happened in Game 2, when he put up just 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, not nearly up to his excellent standard.

From what he's shown so far, there's no reason to believe that Davis can replicate the 25 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks on Saturday night for a second straight game.

He's varied between looking like prime Shaquille O'Neal to having people forget he's on the floor, throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs.

So, it looks like he's due for a bit of a regression in Game 4.

Even as poor as the Warriors were on the road in the regular season, going 11-30 when away from the Chase Center, they showed a propensity to come up big in those spots against the Kings in round one when they needed it most.

Expect them to respond accordingly Monday night and tie this series back up.

Prediction: Warriors 115, Lakers 104