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LOS ANGELES — During a 12½-minute pregame media availability that touched on a wide variety of subjects ahead of his team’s regular-season opener against the Golden State Warriors, one word Coach JJ Redick uttered stood out among the rest: discipline.
Redick mentioned discipline in response to a question about the Warriors’ offensive system, saying defenses need to play within the rules they establish, especially against Golden State’s signature post-split actions that create overreactions, leading to easy scoring opportunities.
But Redick’s mention of discipline could have applied to several areas of Tuesday night’s game for the Lakers – because their lack of it played a significant part in them dropping the opener, 119-109, despite Luka Doncic (43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists) turning in a stellar offensive performance.
Despite saying he felt his team’s discipline was “pretty good” postgame, Redick pointed to the areas the Lakers weren’t dialed in like they needed to be.
“It’s like the times…you make your own thing up,” Redick said. “Steph Curry gets a back cut for a layup. Gary Payton [II] slips and gets a dunk. We don’t [switch] a small-small pick and roll, and Jimmy [Butler] turns the corner, they get a layup.
“There’s gonna be growing pains with that early in the season and hopefully it’s not long.”
The Lakers’ lack of ball security (20 turnovers – 15 in the first half) hurt them and helped create easier opportunities for the Warriors, who scored 22 points off the giveaways. They didn’t stay attached enough to one of Golden State’s best shooters, and Buddy Hield (17 points) found his rhythm behind the arc as a difference-maker off the bench.
The Lakers’ defense was stretched thin by the Warriors’ speed and quickness during the third quarter, which Golden State opened with a 19-4 run on its way to a 35-25 advantage in the period. The Lakers’ struggles coming out of halftime date to last season, and it ultimately undid them.
“We’ve just been bad at third quarters the last couple of years, for sure,” Austin Reaves said. “Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve had a problem with third quarters. So just got to figure out a way to come out with a little more energy. It was the first thing JJ talked about afterwards, just figuring out a way to be better in the third quarter.
“That’s on us players, that’s not on the coaches. They come and give us what we need, give us the answers to the test. And we just didn’t find an execute, so that’s on us. We have to be better.”
A late 13-3 run helped make the game competitive, with the Lakers trimming their deficit to six (105-99) after a layup from Reaves (26 points, nine assists and five rebounds) with 3:59 left. Reaves scored half of his points in the fourth.
But that was the closest the Lakers got after being down by as many as 17 earlier in the fourth, with the visitors making the Lakers pay for any opening they left open.
Curry sealed the victory with a 31-foot 3-pointer that gave the Warriors a 117-107 lead with 51 seconds left. The two-time league MVP made a pair of free throws 12 seconds later, finishing with 23 points and four assists.
Butler led the Warriors with 31 points and made all 16 of his free throw attempts to go with five rebounds and four assists.
Deandre Ayton was the lone Laker outside of Doncic and Reaves to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points (5-of-7 shooting) and six rebounds. Marcus Smart had nine points in his Lakers debut.
Jonathan Kuminga added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors, who shot 17 for 40 from 3-point range and 26 for 29 from the foul line. The Lakers were 8 for 32 from long range and 17 for 28 from the free-throw line.
Lakers star LeBron James missed a season opener for the first time in his 23 years in the NBA, watching from the bench due to sciatica that is expected to sideline him until mid-November.
“It’s hard to forget about LeBron,” Redick said. “The reality is when you’re focused on the group that you have, you gotta make that group work. Sometimes you can just be like, ‘oh my God, we’re gonna get LeBron back at some point.’ Like it’s awesome, but, you are focused.”
The Lakers will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
Originally Published:
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Khobi Price
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