SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors had planned to use their last preseason game as a practice match, but Steph Curry hurt his right index finger and had to be taken out of the game out of safety.
The test wouldn’t have been very good anyway. Almost every important Lakers player sat out the second night of a strange preseason back-to-back. The absence of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, Dalton Knecht, D’Angelo Russell, and Austin Reaves made the game more like a senior vs. JV match than an exhibition.
Golden State skated to a 132–74 win over the Lakers’ bare-bones team to finish the preseason 6-0. In the NBA, they were the only team that didn’t lose in the playoffs.
To beat Los Angeles, the Warriors made 58.3% of their shots and had 21:5 assists to turnovers in the first half. They then pushed the Lakers out of Chase Center totally. Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 17 points, and six other players scored 10 or more. Bronny James scored 17 points for the Lakers while starting and making 7 of 17 shots.
From the start, the Warriors gave Los Angeles a lot of trouble. They started the same huge group against the Lakers as they did in Las Vegas, but De’Anthony Melton took Curry’s place. Seven of their first nine shots went in, and most of them were in the paint.
The unit controlled like they should have, with only a few defensive mistakes from Jonathan Kuminga. After seven minutes, the bench came in and scored 13 straight points, speeding up the game and making two 3s.
Before he broke his nose, Brandin Podziemski played his first game and scored 10 points in the first six minutes. Both of his threes went in, including one that was set up by a great extra pass from Buddy Hield. He also got points for making good backdoor cuts.
Because Podziemski had worn a safety mask before when he broke his nose in college at Santa Clara, he didn’t need much time to get used to the clear mask. He also planned to play on Tuesday, but the mask didn’t get there in time.
Moses Moody didn’t come off the bench during the first quarter, which Golden State won 36–18. Even though the dress practice didn’t happen, the fact that he was the 11th Warrior to step on the court is still interesting. For every 10 reserve spots, the Warriors have 13 players, and Steve Kerr needs to have a few tough talks.
Moody, who was the team’s top scorer before the season, had a great summer and has earned playing time, but he might not get to play because the roster is already full.
Both Kuminga and Moody are going into their fourth year, and Kuminga played more in the half court than in recent exhibition games. He made a face-up 15-footer on one play. Soon after, he set up his man near the 3-point line and backed up under the basket for a reverse layup.
The Warriors were ahead of the Lakers by more than ten points the whole night. They were ahead 66–40 at halftime and 42–42 at the end of the third quarter thanks to a string of 14 points from Hield and a fast-break dunk from Podziemski.
Moody came on in place of Draymond Green to start the second half. Green was only supposed to play in the first half. Green did a good job in his 16 minutes, setting up five goals and getting a charge. He worked hard to earn the right to sit back and watch his friends attack.
The fourth quarter turned into something that looked a lot like basketball. They walked during plays and threw 3s. Someone from the Laker team dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds. Pat Spencer scored a dunk and set up three other points, which pushed the lead over 50.
Friday’s game didn’t matter at all. The score didn’t mean anything. A summer with no losses probably doesn’t mean much either.
It can’t hurt to win, though.
It’s been good for me to win, Steve Kerr said before the game. “I like where we are now, but we still need to do a lot of work.”
