The Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 134-120 on Tuesday evening in Southern California. With the win, the Dubs improved to 44-35 on the season, and are now just a half-game back of the Lakers for the ninth-seed in the Western Conference. They also now own the tie-break between the two clubs. While the Lakers and Warriors will very likely face off in the first game of the play-in tournament, the higher seed will get to host the game on their home floor.

Despite the high stakes for both squads, the Dubs did get an easier path to victory when Lakers star big man Anthony Davis was ruled out prior to the game. After losing to a Mavericks team without Luka Dončić last week, they may have had some extra motivation to not waste another prime opportunity for a win.

Indeed, they did not wait to pounce. There still is no one on the Warriors roster who seems to smell blood in the water as quickly as Draymond Green. Green was on a tear in the first half, making all five of his three-point attempts, racking up 15 points in the half. He finished the game with 15 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds.

The rest of the Warriors did not let Green be the lone sharpshooter, though. In one of the most efficient games of his career, Steph Curry was 6-for-6 from three and 7-for-9 from the field with 23 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the field (5-for-10 from three). Brandin Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, and Gary Payton II all made at least 65% of their three-point attempts and were 8-for-11 from distance.

Golden State made more than 60% of their three-point attempts in the first half, and were leading 71-60 at the break. A comfortable lead for sure, but far from the blowout you would expect with that caliber of shooting. Had they regressed in the second things could have played out a lot differently.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 34 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds. Coming out of the half, the Lakers were able to make a couple of runs to cut their deficit to just five points. However, whenever things got close, the Warriors had another big shot to stop the bleeding.

In the end, the Warriors finished the game 26-for-41 (63.4%) from three-point range. It’s nearly impossible to lose an NBA game when any team shoots that well.

In control of the tie-breaker, the Warriors control their own destiny (at least with regards to usurping the Lakers for the nine-seed). With a postseason home game at their fingertips, the Warriors will have one day off before they face the Trail Blazers in Portland on Thursday.