Warriors beat Lakers to stay undefeated in preseason, Lakers Suffer Fifth Loss
The Lakers’ “Big 3” of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook made their long-awaited debut on the floor on Tuesday night. Despite their valiant attempts, the Lakers were defeated 111-99 by the visiting Warriors in their sixth preseason game, despite the absence of Steph Curry and Draymond Green.
Davis scored 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting, including 6 of 9 at the free-throw line, in 30 minutes, to go along with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals. In 26 minutes, James went 7 of 16 for 17 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals, but he also led the team with six turnovers. In 28 minutes of action, Westbrook had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with his six assists.
Despite the loss, Frank Vogel said the Lakers three had an “overall nice first outing,” adding that the club is “gathering sample sizes to examine on the film” and that a heavy workload isn’t needed to help Westbrook.
“That’ll be the case with all of our new guys,” Vogel added. “It’s not only Russ,” says the narrator. Our system and each other are both familiar to them. In a lot of scenarios, I didn’t like our spacing, but I like how it’s going to be [with AD at the five].”
In 25 minutes, Carmelo Anthony won a starting slot and finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
Early in the second quarter, the Lakers led by a game-high 10 points before Golden State embarked on a 15-4 run to grab the lead with three minutes left in the half. Despite being outscored 29-23 in the first quarter, L.A. went into halftime with a two-point lead. In the second half, the Warriors outscored the Lakers 58-44 and never looked back.
GSW’s Jordan Poole led the team with 18 points on 50 percent shooting, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal in 19 minutes. Damian Lee and Otto Porter Jr. each score 16 points, while Andrew Wiggins scores 12 points in 22 minutes to keep Golden State unbeaten in preseason.
Prior to the game, the team reported that Talen Horton-Tucker underwent successful surgery to repair his right thumb’s ulnar collateral ligament and is anticipated to make a full recovery. THT will be reevaluated by team doctors in four weeks, and any additional information will be released then.
In the loss, Davis scored 20 points, James had 17 points and six turnovers, and Westbrook had ten points, ten rebounds, six assists, and five turnovers. After a great first quarter by the Lakers, the Warriors outscored them by 20 points.
Lee established his status as a rotation player in the NBA last year, averaging 6.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game, largely as a power forward for the small Warriors, after bouncing around the G League as an undrafted prospect out of Drexel.
On Tuesday, Lee did what he seems to do all the time, demonstrating that the Lakers are still finding out who they want to be. After an 0-4 start to the preseason, it was the first time LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis played together.
James and Westbrook combined for a 10-for-25 shooting percentage and 11 turnovers. Davis finished with a double-double of 20 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots, and two steals.
Los Angeles will play one final warm-up game in Sacramento on Thursday before facing the same Warriors club on opening night at Staples Center on Oct. 19.