The Warriors’ season opener quickly turned into a harsh reminder of what their summer looked like, and the Lakers were the ones doing the exposing on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Los Angeles rolled out the sharper, deeper-looking roster, while Golden State arrived still carrying the baggage of a messy offseason. That gap showed up everywhere, especially with the Lakers repeatedly feeding Walker Kessler for easy looks.
Kessler was unstoppable, finishing with 26 points, nine rebounds and two blocks on a flawless 12-for-12 shooting night. The Warriors had no real answer for him, and Kristaps Porzingis’ absence loomed large in a 127-105 loss that could point to a rough road ahead.
Golden State actually looked competitive early thanks to Stephen Curry, who poured in 16 first-quarter points to keep things respectable through the opening stretch. But the game slipped away late in the first half, then unraveled further in the third quarter as the Warriors’ turnovers piled up.
Luka Doncic was at the center of plenty of the night’s intrigue, including his back-and-forth with Yaxel Lendeborg. That matchup heated up late in the first half, when the rookie forward picked up a technical foul. Doncic had the last word, finishing with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while knocking down a wild half-court shot to end the second quarter.
Lendeborg, the 11th overall pick, didn’t have the same spark he showed in summer league and preseason, but he was far from the biggest issue for Golden State. In 29 minutes, he posted 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals while going 5-for-11 from the floor.
The bigger picture was hard to miss: almost every preseason concern for the Warriors showed up in real time. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are still a long way from returning, and Porzingis may never play professionally again, leaving Golden State short on answers.
Curry carried the offensive load once more, finishing with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Brandon Williams was next on the scoring list for the Warriors with 14 points, though he needed 12 shots to get there.
If the offense was uneven, the defense was even worse. Golden State was picked apart possession after possession, and while one game can always be cleaned up, there’s only so much repair work to do without a legitimate starting-caliber center.
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Will Richard, meanwhile, is suddenly in the conversation again after being out of the mix recently. With so many pieces in flux, the Warriors may need to lean on depth they have not had to trust much lately, and that makes the pregame decisions even more important against a Lakers team that can punish any shortage of available defenders or ball handlers. [Read more 🡒]