Preseason 2019: Golden State Warriors fall to short-handed Los Angeles Lakers
By Tom Macasaet
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 16 Oct 2019
Staples Center, Los Angeles, (Oct 14th) - In the land of glitz, glamour and Porto’s Guava & Cheese Strudels, the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers faced each other for their second of four matchups this 2019 preseason.
There was hope for the Warriors to redeem themselves after the pounding they received from Anthony Davis and the Lakers in their inaugural game back home at the Chase Center.
The news of the Lakers resting both Lebron James AND Anthony Davis opened the doors for the Warriors to come into the Staples Center and exact their revenge on the short-handed Lakers. And they would enter through those doors with a revived confidence after handily beating Karl Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The problem?
The Warriors would also be short-handed, resting two key players of their own.
Which team would struggle more without their key players? The answer was clear as day...the Warriors.
It’s one thing to miss your star players who thrive with the ball in their hands taking advantage of mismatches and isolation like the case for the Lakers, but it’s an entirely different thing to not have the very backbone of your offense present as with the Warriors.
Draymond Green is just that for the Warriors. His presence is critical to the success of the Warrior offense. His vision allows the ball to get to the right man at the right time against any defense. His high basketball IQ and impeccable timing positions him in the correct spots to make key stops in clutch moments.
The flow of the Warrior offense hinges on his skills as the floor general, directing players to the correct spots and finding the open man for the high percentage shot. He sacrifices his body to set screens to help get his man an open look at the basket. So his absence is felt by the Warriors every game, no matter if it falls in the preseason or regular season.
And that was proven at the Staples Center against the Lakers. Curry had a horrendous night shooting 6-17 from the field and 3-8 from the arc. The Warriors struggled to get into rhythm all night, and Curry didn’t get the open looks he’s accustomed to when the offense is clicking.
They were forced to play, what looked more like, “pick up” ball as there was no floor general to distribute the ball to the open man.
The Lakers had the help of their newly acquired backup center, Dwight Howard, to clog up the paint and swallow up the rebounds. The Lakers didn’t play exceptional basketball, just basketball good enough to keep the Warriors at arms’ length the entire game.
Every Warrior run was answered by the young and persistent Lakers led by Zach Norvell Jr.’s 22-point stellar performance.
Curry, who you would expect to lead the team in scoring, was outdone by 1 point by Damion Lee who topped the team stat with 18 points in 7-11 shooting. Steph ended his night with a miserable 17 points. We can, at least, take comfort in the fact he came out without injury.
The continued storyline of the Warriors was the vacancy of the big man slot due to injury. Marquese Chriss had what could be his best game in a Warrior uniform yet to bolster his case for a roster spot. He battled hard and scored 14 points on his way to a double-double evening(11 rebounds).
The Warriors hung on and gave a valiant push to get within 3 points with 3:00 left in regulation, but it was to no avail. The Lakers never wavered and successfully finished the game with a 104-98 win over the young Warrior team.
This puts the preseason head-to-head at 0-2 to the Lakers with the penultimate matchup on Wednesday back at the Staples Center.
Maybe the Warriors can partake in some fun around the City of Angels, reset and steal a win before returning home to San Francisco for their final preseason game against the now familiar Los Angeles Lakers.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Tom Macasaet.
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