Las Vegas, NV— LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers (2-3) nabbed their second win of the preseason as they defeated Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors (1-3), 123-113.
This was the matchup that everyone had been waiting for, salivating over since James chose to play in Los Angeles. In addition, even though this is the preseason and these games don’t count towards either team’s record come next week, it possibly gave us a glimpse into what to expect come regular season and potentially the playoffs.
Both teams would play their main guys more minutes than usual understanding the excitement that came with this preseason game. When the starters where in the game you could sense the playoff atmosphere on the court.
In the first quarter, the Lakers would get off to an early start as they were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who would finish the quarter with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting. However, Golden State would have an early response as always. Stephen Curry would come alive with 14 points of his own and Durant would begin to feel it himself with 12 points and five rebounds.
The second period would get a little bit more competitive between the two ball clubs. Durant and Curry were on fire combing for 36 points on 61 percent shooting from the field. In addition, the Warriors would do an outstanding job of moving the ball around and finding one another for open looks on the floor.
But, as he has done in the past, James found his rhythm in the second and scored 11 of his 15 first-half points in the second quarter which was capped off by a 34-foot three-pointer that was looked to be shot from the Las Vegas strip. As a team, LA turned the game into a track meet as they scored 22 fast break points in the first half.
The exhibition game would almost mark the first action that we would be seeing from second-year man, Lonzo Ball. Ball came in off the bench and unfortunately air-balled his first shot of the game. However, he bounced would back nicely and finished the game with seven points, four boards, two assists, and four steals in 23 minutes of action.
Although it wasn’t a huge sample size that we got to see from Ball, mainly because you want to bring him back on slowly, it was good to see him out there on the floor. Moreover, something that you’ll have to keep an eye on is whether Ball will be coming off the bench for the duration of the season even if he’s healthy.
One of the major keys for this new look Lakers roster is the play of their young pieces as well as veteran leaders, who will be looked at to contribute in a big way this season. In addition, you had to enjoy what you saw in the second period from the young guns.
In the second half, Brandon Ingram would begin to get in his bag. He would score 18 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter alone and did a great job getting to the foul line going 15-of-17. Ingram did a wonderful job of getting to the line and getting to his spots to drill shots. This is a great sign for Laker fans because you’re hoping that he’s going to be Los Angeles’ second scorer to take the some of the scoring load off James.
Kyle Kuzma also had a nice night for the Los Angeles as well scoring 22 points on 43 percent shooting. Lance Stephenson would contribute with 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
The Lakers held on to the lead and secured the victory winning by 10-points in Las Vegas. Another take away was being able to enjoy the pace the Lakers played with as they finished the game with 38 fast break points.
Now you don’t want to dig in too deep with what you see preseason games. Durant fouled out in the third quarter, no star player played deep into the fourth to avoid injury, and both teams are looking to next week as the season begins. Yet, you do want to see what you have going into the regular season.
Golden State is going to be who they are, period. The only question that you’ll have is how will the dynamic play out once DeMarcus Cousins is implemented in the rotation and how he meshes in what is already an all-star lineup.
For Los Angeles, not only are you looking for the young talent to evolve this season, but you’re still going to want to see if you’re going to be able to hit the outside shot. Caldwell-Pope did a good job in that area hitting 50 percent of his three-point attempts, however, the Lakers as a team shot 30 percent from distance.
Unfortunately, that kind of outside shooting percentage is not beating Golden State in the regular season, nor in the playoff should the two teams face off against one another. Los Angeles does not have to outshoot Golden State to win because you won’t beat the Warriors trying to outshoot them. However, you will have to keep their defense honest by being able to hit from beyond-the-arc.
The Warriors will have their shot at revenge on Oct. 12 as both teams will have another exhibition matchup against each other before beginning the regular season.
Tonight belonged to the Lakers, though.
