Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves put the team on their backs and gave it their all in their attempt to will L.A. to victory but the collective effort from Golden State was too much to handle.
The 2025-2026 season kicked off with the Lakers hosting the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. The Warriors went into tonight without Moses Moody and De’Anthony Melton. L.A. was without LeBron James, Adou Theiro and Maxi Kleber, who as of today was diagnosed with a strained oblique and will be out for 2 weeks.
Luka Doncic put on a spectacular show, scoring 43 points, 9 assists, 12 rebounds and 2 steals on 17-27 shooting. Austin Reaves, despite having some turnover trouble (5), poured in 26 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals on 9-16 shooting. The Lakers couldn’t find much else on offense outside of those two, with Deandre Ayton being the only other player in double digits with 10 points.
On the other hand, Golden State was led by Jimmy Butler’s 31 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds on 7-14 from the field and 16-16 from the line. Steph Curry had 23 points, 4 assists and 3 steals on 6-14 shooting. In addition to Butler and Curry’s performance, it was Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield’s scoring and three-point shooting that gave them a huge boost, combining for 9-16 from three.
What Went Wrong for the Lakers?
Going into the season, defense was a major concern for this squad and tonight the Lakers’ lack of defense on the perimeter was felt. They allowed easy blow bys, offered little resistance in transition and their defensive rotations had trouble staying on three-point shooters.
Despite their poor shooting from the arc (8-32), the Lakers were actually very efficient from the field overall, shooting 42-77 (54.5%). The Lakers also failed to take advantage of their 28 free throw attempts, only making 17 of them. But their troubles on the offensive side mostly came from their turnovers. They turned the ball over 20 times, 10 of those being Golden State steals and it resulted in 23 points converted.
The Warriors weren’t much better at taking care of the ball however as they themselves had 19 turnovers, 7 of them were Laker steals. The Lakers did an excellent job taking advantage of Golden State’s mishaps, converting their 19 turnovers into 22 points.
All in all, the more the Lakers emphasize taking care of the ball, the better their offense will flow, and it will make the lives of Luka and Austin a lot easier. Defensively, the Lakers are going to have to learn on the fly and put together at least a passable defensive system as they search for their identity on that end. L.A. hosts Minnesota on Friday at Crypto.Com Arena.
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