1 stud and 1 dud from Los Angeles Lakers opening night loss to Warriors
The good news? There’s 81 games left. The bad news? The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their first regular season game on Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors, 121-114. After going 0-6 in the preseason and now 0-1 in the regular season, the Lakers have yet to win a game.
It’s obviously not the result that Los Angeles was hoping for, but it wasn’t an awful start to the season. What went wrong during the preseason also went wrong during opening night at Staples Center. As we all know, the Lakers are going to have to improve their performance on defense. Frank Vogel is a defensive-minded head coach, so that should come.
Kent Bazemore was able to contain sharpshooter Steph Curry for three quarters of play and even knock down a few three-pointers of his own, finishing with eight points. Carmelo Anthony shot 3-for-9 from the field, but he came in and hit a couple of shots from behind the arc. Let’s disregard his pump-fake from the free throw line, though.
Avery Bradley, who the Lakers claimed off of waivers from the Warriors on Monday, knocked down two big three-pointers in the fourth quarter. That’s not bad for a player who had only been with Los Angeles (again) for one night. With Trevor Ariza, Talen Horton-Tucker, Wayne Ellington and Kendrick Nunn out, last night’s game was promising. If the Lakers didn’t collapse in the final quarter, things would’ve ended much differently.
There was one stud and one dud for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Golden State Warriors.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost by seven points after leading by as many as ten points late in the third quarter. The defense went cold in the fourth quarter and that’s something that can’t happen against any team, but especially against a team with Curry in the lineup. He finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double.
This loss actually counts, yes, but it’s far too early to sign off on the Lakers. LeBron James and Anthony Davis looked superhuman. If it wasn’t for that duo, the game would’ve had a far worse outcome. The Big Three played more like a Big Two with Russell Westbrook struggling, but it was his first game in purple and gold. His time will come.
Los Angeles is off on Wednesday and Thursday before hosting the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, so there’s plenty of time to make small adjustments. Here’s one stud and one dud from Los Angeles’ opening night loss to Golden State.