Click here if you’re having trouble viewing the slideshow on your mobile device.
LOS ANGELES — The Warriors’ 126-93 preseason loss to the Lakers Wednesday at Staples Center showcased both a Warriors’ weakness and a Lakers’ strength.
With Stephen Curry taking a scheduled game off, the Warriors struggled to create offense for long stretches. Defensively, they didn’t have an answer for the Lakers’ size, especially when guarding the two-man game between forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The Warriors started D’Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans, Alfonzo McKinnie, Draymond Green and Marquese Chriss and played with a piecemeal rotation while the Lakers had nearly all of their rotation players available.
Performance of the game: D’Angelo Russell, but after the first quarter
D’Angelo Russell got off to a slow start, but finished with 23 points in 27 minutes in Curry’s absence. After missing four of his five shots in the first quarter, Russell went 7-of-12 for 19 points in his minutes after.
Russell showed off his pick-and-roll creativity when, in the second quarter, he delivered a pass to center Kavion Pippen that traveled between Dwight Howard’s legs and led Pippen to an open dunk.
D'Angelo just nutmegged Dwight and it led to a Kavion Pippen poster dunk 😳 pic.twitter.com/lsX237U7bc
— Will Gottlieb (@Will_Gottlieb) October 17, 2019
Stat of the game: Points in the paint, advantage Lakers
Still without Willie Cauley-Stein (foot), Kevon Looney (hamstring) and Alen Smailagic (ankle), the Warriors added Omari Spellman to the list of injuries Wednesday. Spellman was dealing with a back injury that isn’t initially expected to be serious.
The Warriors started Marquese Chriss at center and allotted the reserve minutes between rookie Eric Paschall and training camp invite Kavion Pippen.
Against the Lakers’ staggering frontline that includes Davis, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, and with James making it a point to get to the rim, the Warriors gave up 66 points in the paint.
“They’re one of the biggest teams in the league and they kind of overwhelmed us with their size in the front court. So for us to play them without Looney and Willie Cauley-Stein, it’s tough,” Kerr said. “There are times when we’re in the right position and then there’s a lot of times when we’re in the wrong position. So we’ve got to take care of the stuff we can take care of.”
Protecting the rim has been an issue in each of the team’s four preseason games against the Lakers, but the Lakers on Wednesday leaned into the pick-and-roll play between James and Davis. Warriors defenders seemed confused as to how to guard it, often doubling James and allowing Davis to roll to the rim freely.
https://twitter.com/viral_nba/status/1184664941636157440
Coach Steve Kerr had planned for Curry to miss the game, and played Green and Russell fewer than 30 minutes each. He expects the preseason finale against the Lakers at Chase Center Friday to act as “dress rehearsal.”
“The injuries obviously have not helped but we got to better for sure. We’re incorporating a lot of new players so there are some growing pains but it all starts for real next week,” Kerr said. “So we got to get a lot better.”
