Three Things the Warriors Learned from Opening Night Against the Lakers
The NBA season is back, and no one could’ve asked for a more entertaining kickoff than what happened last night. In the early game, Kevin Durant and the new-look Houston Rockets took the Oklahoma City Thunder to double overtime. In a back-and-forth game, the defending champs got the last laugh, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sunk two clutch free throws to give his team a 125-124 win. In the later game, the stars were out in Los Angeles as the Lakers faced off against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors had their hands full last night, despite the absence of LeBron James, but weathered the Laker storm until the buzzer sounded. Here are three things the Golden State learned about themselves last night in their 119-109 victory over LA.
Jonathan Kuminga will have a crucial role in Kerr’s system: Highlighted by his versatility, the former seventh overall pick had himself a game. He filled up the stat sheet, recording 17 points on six-of-11 shooting, to go along with nine rebounds and six assists. Yesterday, Kuminga displayed what makes him such a unique asset: his versatility. Kuminga knocked down timely buckets from beyond the arc and started a hot four-of-four from three. Most importantly, he took those shots with no hesitation, and he’ll need to continue that to improve on his 30.7% from deep last year. He also flowed well with Jimmy Butler when the two shared the court, a valid preseason concern that in part led to Kuminga starting only 10 games last season. Defensively, he was given the difficult task of guarding Luka Doncic, who went off for 43 points. It’s easy to pin the blame on JK as the primary defender, but the Warriors as a team struggled to swarm such a potent offensive weapon and make others beat them.
Turnovers, once again, proved to be an Achilles heel: This was a sloppy game from both teams, especially in the first half. The Warriors were the better team and could’ve easily pulled away numerous times. However, a foe that’s become all too familiar in recent years prevented them from doing exactly that. Golden State committed 18 turnovers last night, and a lot of them were either careless charges or lousy passes that led to steals. Where the team should get credit is limiting Los Angeles to just 11 points scored off turnovers, while they themselves scored 31 from 17 Laker mistakes. Going forward, a more offensively talented team will punish the Warriors if they fail to patch these continuous issues up.
Defense will once again anchor the team’s charge this season: Sure, Doncic put on a show last night, and Golden State had no real answers to slow him down. Sure, Austin Reaves had his way with defenders, finishing with 26 points. Yet, in a team sport like basketball, one or two men can rarely beat you by themselves. The “Dubs” mitigated all other forms of damage, and when the Lakers got close, the defense tightened up and led them to better offense. LA shot just 25% from three, and the Warriors also generated 10 steals. Those stats prove that, just like last season, the formula for success with this team starts with a strong defensive effort.
