LOS ANGELES — The Warriors made a bet that their shooting ability and ball movement could offset the size disadvantage that comes with their small-ball lineup. The strategy faced an immediate test against the Los Angeles Lakers but held up in a 121-114 win to open the regular season Tuesday night.
Golden State overcame 30-point performances from LeBron James and Anthony Davis to prevail in a season-opening matchup of two teams with fresh looks and higher hopes than last season. Stephen Curry turned in a triple-double despite a cold shooting night, while Jordan Poole led five other Warriors in double figures with 20 points.
“Once we settled down after the first half opening night jitters, we just started making the simple play, we were in great shape,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “(The) first half, I did not recognize the team I was watching. They were not the team that I’ve watched the last three weeks in camp. Second half, that’s who we are — floor spacing, ball movement, hitting singles, nothing crazy, solid defense.”
Here are some quick takeaways.
Star power
Stephen Curry’s season opener was bookended by a couple of tumbles.
He took a hard fall early in the first quarter driving against Anthony Davis, then appeared to slip on a spilled drink while running back on defense in the second half. He stayed in but was uncharacteristically off from the field.
Curry never heated up, but he made his presence felt in other ways with 10 assists and 10 rebounds, plus a trio of free throws after he drew a foul against two defenders that pulled the Warriors within two points to close the third quarter.
“He was not on his game, but he still impacts the game so dramatically,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward.
The triple-double was Curry’s first since his second MVP campaign of 2015-16 and the eighth of his career.
Curry made another big shot after re-entering the game with less than 6 minutes to go, pulling up from 3 to pad the Warriors lead, 103-98. He drew Avery Bradley’s attention on the following possession and dished it to Nemanja Bjelica, who drained the shot from distance to keep Los Angeles at bay.
Curry finished 5-of-21 from the field and turned the ball over four times, including a bad pass that cost Golden State two points on a fastbreak.
Draymond Green was equally ineffective, while Andrew Wiggins also had another quiet offensive showing as he continued to shake off the rust. He sank a key 3 to extend the Warriors’ lead into double digits — their largest of the game — with just under 3 minutes to play.
Green coughed the ball up three times while Golden State fell into a first-quarter hole. He scored six points, pulled in eight rebounds and dished out six assists.
Wiggins finished with 12 points in 25 minutes 5-of-10 shooting.
Meanwhile, James and Davis combined for 67 points (and, it often felt, at least that many lobs).
The Warriors’ bench more than made up the difference: Golden State’s reserves outscored the Lakers’ by a 55-29 margin.
“The fact that everybody on the floor contributed in a meaningful way speaks to our depth and how we want to play going forward,” Curry said.
JTA’s big draw
Just look at who Juan Toscano-Anderson bodied up as soon as he entered the game: Davis, then Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook. The Warriors turned to Toscano-Anderson when Green was called for his second foul.
“It’s a tough matchup. Obviously AD’s got a huge size advantage on him,” Kerr said. “There’s gonna be times where we have to make decisions on do we want to stay big and have less spacing and playmaking or do we want to go smaller and be able to spread the floor and make plays? Those are the decisions we’re going to have to make every game.”
Almost immediately, the Lakers began to exploit the size advantage.
Rondo lobbed an alley-oop to Davis, which he slammed home to make it 50-43.
The small-ball Warriors are going to be challenged by big teams like the Lakers until James Wiseman is able to return.
Toscano-Anderson will play a pivotal role if he’s able to hold his own despite losing a couple inches.
Kerr noted the Lakers only made it to the foul line 19 times, despite their size advantage. That’s an area the Warriors are focusing on this season after ranking near the bottom of the league in free throws allowed last season.
“That’s a huge goal of ours this year,” Kerr said. “And against a big, strong team like that, to keep them to 19 free throws is a big deal.”
Opening night surprises
A couple surprises from the first game: Nemanja Bjelica’s big role — and Moses Moody’s debut midway through the second quarter.
Teammates insist Bjelica is more than a spot-up shooter, and he showed as much Tuesday night. He entered with Andre Iguodala in the first rotation of subs off the bench and was on the floor to close the first half.
Some of Bjelica’s biggest contributions came on a couple of driving lay-ups in transition, one of which drew Curry off the bench and into a happy-feet celebration. He finished with a game-high plus-20 point differential with him on the floor.
“(Expletive), plus-20, man, that’s incredible,” Green said. “With his shooting ability, guys are really running him off the line. For him to have the ability to put the ball on the floor and kick out, that’s huge. He made a lot of plays tonight. He was a huge reason we pulled this game out tonight.”
Moody, the 14th overall pick in the past NBA draft, saw his first NBA action after entering with 8:21 to go in the second quarter. He got up a couple quick shots, maybe too quick, but got his first NBA bucket out of the way on a drive down the baseline that he finished at the rim.
And, hey, that Bradley guy sure looked familiar, right?
The veteran guard signed with the Lakers after the Warriors waived him last week and drew the assignment guarding Curry in the fourth quarter, despite coach Frank Vogel saying beforehand he didn’t expect Bradley to play in the opener.
