Scheduled
Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic
2026-27 · Regular season
Warriors trailed the Lakers 38-15 after one quarter and won by 17: no team down 20 after the first quarter had won by that much since at least 2002-03
Teams trailing by 20 or more after the first quarter are 31-391 since 2002-03, and none had won by more than 13. Golden State beat the Lakers by 17 after trailing 38-15, and is the only team down 23 after one to be tied at halftime.
In this article
The Los Angeles Lakers led the Golden State Warriors 38-15 after one quarter on Friday night in San Francisco. Luka Dončić had 21 of those points, and Austin Reaves’ free throws early in the second quarter pushed the lead to 25 at 40-15. The Warriors won the second quarter 38-15, tied the game 53-53 on Brandin Podziemski’s three with 6.4 seconds left in the half, and won 112-95 in both teams’ first NBA Cup group game.
Comebacks from 25 points happen a few times a season. What made this one different was the finish. We went through the quarter-by-quarter scores of every regular-season game since 2002-03, nearly 29,000 in all, to see how teams have done after falling 20 or more points behind in the first quarter. Twelve games with no quarter scores on record were left out.
The numbers that stand out
- Since 2002-03, teams that trailed by 20 or more after the first quarter have gone 31-391, a winning percentage of .073. On average they lost by 20 points
- No team in that group had won by more than 13 points. Golden State won by 17. The previous high was Minnesota’s 131-118 win over Indiana in December 2007, after trailing 40-20
- Teams that trailed by 23 or more after the first quarter are 8-130. Golden State is the only one of the 138 that was tied or ahead at halftime
- Only three teams have trailed by 20 or more after the first quarter and then won the second by 23 or more: the Warriors on Friday, the 2007 Timberwolves and Indiana against the LA Clippers in February 2025
- From 40-15 down, the Warriors outscored the Lakers 97-55. Los Angeles scored 15 points in the second quarter and 15 in the fourth
- It was only the second time since 2002-03 that the Lakers lost after leading by 20 or more after the first quarter. The other was at Oklahoma City in October 2021, when they led 41-19 and lost 123-115
Every team that won after trailing by 23 or more after one quarter
| Date | Winner | Opponent | Score after first quarter | Score at halftime | Final score | Winning margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 4, 2024 | LA Clippers | San Antonio (home) | 14-40 | Down 8 | 113-104 | 9 |
| Nov. 14, 2008 | Philadelphia | at Indiana | 13-38 | Down 8 | 94-92 | 2 |
| Nov. 10, 2006 | Portland | New Orleans/Oklahoma City (home) | 13-38 | Down 9 | 92-91 | 1 |
| Feb. 3, 2024 | Milwaukee | at Dallas | 20-44 | Down 5 | 129-117 | 12 |
| Feb. 15, 2023 | Indiana | Chicago (home) | 15-39 | Down 16 | 117-113 | 4 |
| Oct. 30, 2026 | Golden State | LA Lakers (home) | 15-38 | Tied | 112-95 | 17 |
| Feb. 9, 2019 | LA Clippers | at Boston | 20-43 | Down 21 | 123-112 | 11 |
| April 30, 2021 | Boston | San Antonio (home) | 16-39 | Down 29 | 143-140 | 3 |
Regular season, 2002-03 through Friday’s games. Dates are U.S. dates. Sorted by first-quarter deficit.
How rare the 17-point finish is
Of the 31 teams that won after trailing by 20 or more after the first quarter, 17 won by five points or fewer, and 11 won by one or two. Most comebacks of that size need the whole game. The 2019 Clippers were still down 21 at halftime in Boston, and the 2021 Celtics were down 29 at halftime against San Antonio before winning 143-140 in overtime.
Golden State did the hard part in 12 minutes. De’Anthony Melton scored seven points in a row early in the second quarter, Georges Niang and Stephen Curry added threes in a 13-0 run, and Podziemski’s shot tied it before halftime. The Lakers led 80-78 late in the third quarter, and the Warriors then outscored them 20-1. Curry finished with 31 points and eight threes, and passed Dominique Wilkins for 18th on the NBA’s career scoring list. The Warriors played without Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porziņģis and Moses Moody.
| Teams trailing after the first quarter, 2002-03 to now | Teams | Won | Lost | Winning percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By 15 or more | 1,968 | 254 | 1,714 | .129 |
| By 18 or more | 826 | 79 | 747 | .096 |
| By 20 or more | 422 | 31 | 391 | .073 |
| By 23 or more | 138 | 8 | 130 | .058 |
Regular season only. Calculated from quarter-by-quarter scores.
A first for these Warriors, too
Golden State had been 1-16 since 2002-03 when trailing by 20 or more after the first quarter. The one win before Friday came in Brooklyn in March 2025, 121-119, after trailing 35-15. Seven of the 16 losses were by 30 or more, including a 144-93 defeat in Memphis in December 2024, when the Warriors trailed 37-15 after one.
For the Lakers, the loss dropped them to 4-2. Dončić shot 12 of 27 and 6 of 16 from three, and after his 21-point first quarter he scored 16 points the rest of the night. Reaves scored 21 but had eight turnovers, and the Lakers made 11 of 39 threes and turned the ball over 22 times.
What’s next
Golden State, now 3-3, hosts the LA Clippers on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET, 3:30 a.m. Monday in Cairo. The Lakers host Toronto on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, 4 a.m. Monday in Cairo. Both teams are in West Group C of the NBA Cup.
Join the discussion
0 commentsTalk basketball. Keep it respectful. You can use a name or stay Anonymous. Comments publish immediately.
Be the first to start the conversation.