The Warriors walked out of their preseason game against the Lakers with a 101-89 win, but Steve Kerr sounded far more concerned than relieved after Golden State erased a 20-point hole.
Kerr liked the energy. He didn’t like much else.
“I like our effort, our energy, but the execution was lacking. The second quarter was a lot of mindless turnovers, which completely allowed the game to get away from us.
Good first quarter, but then you can see we still need a lot of work on what we’re talking about. Winning the game on thin margins,” Steve Kerr said about what he saw from the Warriors tonight.
He pointed to the rebounding swing as one of the clearer signs that Golden State settled in later. “In the first half, we had two offensive boards; in the second half, we had 13.
So a much better second half overall, good energy and effort, but we’ve got to make the execution better. We’ve got to finish in transition, make the easy plays, and we’re not close yet.”
Kerr didn’t soften the bigger picture either.
“No, we’re not anywhere close to where we want to be right now. We’re working on the right things; we have our clear vision.
The players are great guys who are committed and want to do well. But our execution is just scattered at this point.
It’s not going to happen overnight, so we’ve got to keep working on it,” Steve Kerr further added.
He also said Golden State’s offense was out of sync after made baskets and never found the kind of rhythm the staff wants. “Tonight was a lack of flow and recognition of what we’re trying to do after making baskets. Offensively, we didn’t get to our spots, and that’s the whole thing we’re trying to teach the shooters.”
That led into another point he wants cleaned up fast: “Getting to consistent spots, making consistent cuts, getting away from the random stuff that we’ve done in the past, so we have to be more organized,” he said.
“We’ve been working as hard as we can. So I do think that it will come, but we’re not there yet,” Kerr concluded.
Golden State’s comeback got a lift once Austin Reaves was out of the game. Kerr admitted it was difficult to slow him down in the first half without Draymond Green on the floor. Reaves helped push the Lakers to that early 20-point advantage, which stretched into the early third quarter.
Reaves finished with 28 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds in 25 minutes, shooting 10-for-18 from the field and 4-for-7 from three. Once he checked out in the third, the Warriors took over enough to flip the result.
The win will go in Golden State’s preseason record, but Kerr’s postgame tone made it clear he saw plenty of warning signs. The Lakers also enter the next stage without having held onto that big lead.
Both teams now move on to their final preseason games on October 16 before meeting again in the regular season opener on October 21 at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena. The Warriors beat the Lakers twice in the preseason, and the next matchup will come with Draymond Green back in the mix and, the Lakers hope, a healthier roster.
In Other News...
Lakers Opener Suddenly Comes With A Major Warriors Frontcourt Twist
The Warriors are heading into the season with an unexpected frontcourt question hanging over them, and its one the Lakers will be watching closely when the opener arrives. Kristaps Porzingis has already missed training camp and the first five preseason games because of a health-related issue, and his absence has been one of the most notable developments around Golden State as it tries to settle its rotation and get organized before the games start to count.
Porzingis recently returned to the teams practice facility and met with officials, but the Warriors have said he will remain out indefinitely. For a Lakers team preparing for a matchup that could already demand careful attention to size and interior matchups, the uncertainty around his status matters even more because Golden State is offering no timetable yet, only the promise of updates when they become available. [Read more 🡒]
Walker Kessler Gave Lakers Fans An Early Reason To Be Excited
Walker Kessler finally got on the floor for the Lakers in preseason action after missing the first three exhibition games with a finger injury, and the early returns were enough to catch attention. In 16 minutes against the Warriors, he put up 11 points and nine rebounds while also making his presence felt on the defensive end, a reminder of the kind of interior help Los Angeles hoped to get when he returned.
JJ Redick came away impressed, pointing to Kesslers fit with the group and the impact he made in the first half. For a team still sorting out its preseason rotations, seeing a big man step in, rebound, defend and look comfortable right away offered a useful glimpse of how he can matter once the games count for real. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Roster Battle Just Got Tighter Before Opening Night
The Lakers kept trimming their roster picture this week, waiving forward Cole Swider while adding guard Jahmir Young as the club moves toward the 15-man limit for the 2026-27 NBA regular season. It is the kind of late-summer housekeeping that often goes unnoticed outside the building, but for a team trying to sharpen its opening-night group, every move now carries some weight.
Youngs path gives the transaction a little more texture. He was previously acquired by the Lakers G League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Lakers, after turning in a strong season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, and now he gets a closer look as Los Angeles sorts out the back end of the roster. More decisions are still expected before the preseason finale and the regular season opener, so this is hardly the last shuffle. [Read more 🡒]