Warriors cruise past Lakers in Vegas

Still undefeated.

We still haven’t seen the Golden State Warriors at full strength, but on Tuesday in Las Vegas, they looked like a team that’s putting it all together ahead of next week’s season opener. The Dubs were without Brandin Podziemski (who broke his nose during Sunday’s win over the Detroit Pistons) and De’Anthony Melton (who sat with back tightness), but welcomed back Steph Curry and Draymond Green (who both sat on Sunday), and saw Andrew Wiggins suit up for the first time this preseason. And that was more than enough to down a Lakers team that is not hurting for star power thanks to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

It started out with an interesting look from the Dubs. Steve Kerr has been open about his hesitancy to play Jonathan Kuminga at the three instead of keeping him as a small-ball four, yet he went fully the other way for this game. Not only did Kuminga start as the small forward next to the frontcourt of Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, but the usual small forward, Wiggins, slotted in as the two-guard next to Curry.

Such a massive lineup figures to only work if Kuminga and Wiggins can make their threes or get out in transition, and while they didn’t do the former, Kuminga emphatically did the latter. He led the offensive charge early, pushing the Warriors in transition while blowing past Davis on multiple halfcourt possessions, netting eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in the quarter.

It was a fun start to the game, with the teams going back and forth. The Warriors were making exciting things happen on offense, but their defense — with Jackson-Davis matched up against Davis, Green against James, Kuminga against Rui Hachimura, Wiggins against Austin Reaves, and Curry against D’Angelo Russell — couldn’t keep the Lakers from getting to the rim at will. But the Vegas crowd was delighted by the fast pace and frenetic — but controlled — action.

When the teams started to go to their benches (Kerr brought in Buddy Hield, Gary Payton II, and Kevon Looney to play alongside Curry and Green), the game started to slow down. But the bench impressed: even when new Lakers coach JJ Redick brought James and Davis back late in the quarter, Kerr went with an all-bench lineup of Payton, Hield, Looney, Moses Moody, and Kyle Anderson. They held their own, and a Moody three towards the end of the quarter made it a 31-28 Warriors lead after one.

They picked up where they left off in the second quarter, rattling off a 9-3 run to start the frame thanks to an ultra-active performance by Moody. Eventually the fast-paced game started to grind to a halt; neither team was sloppy, but both were over-reliant on threes, with no great success (Golden State shot just 14-for-45 from distance on the night, with Los Angeles an even worse 11-for-40).

But the Warriors found a competitive advantage: hustle. The Dubs simply played like they wanted it more, and it led to a 10-point lead with less than three minutes remaining. It was another three to end the frame — this time one from Curry — that set the halftime margin, as his triple splashed through the net with less than two seconds remaining, giving Golden State a 58-51 lead.

For the first time all preseason, the Warriors kept their starters in to start the second half. Back-to-back threes by their former teammate Russell pulled the Lakers to within three points early on, but the Warriors responded with a 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead just over four minutes in, forcing Redick to call timeout. The push-and-pull continued: after Golden State made it an 11-point lead, the Lakers scored six unanswered, but the Warriors called timeout and came out with a strong response.

After building the lead up near double-digits, the Dubs ended the third quarter with a perfectly run two-for-one: Anderson dropped in a floater on one end, they got a stop on the other end, and then a wonderfully-run two-man game with Moody and Looney resulted in a mid-range jumper for Moody. Golden State lead 83-70 as we went to the final quarter.

There would be no shenanigans in the fourth quarter like we grew accustomed to last year. The Warriors scored the first five points of the frame, pushing the lead up to 18 points, and it stayed near that margin for most of the quarter. Curry and Green played significant fourth-quarter minutes as they ramped up towards regular-season playing time, but with the lead secured, the only real notable part of the quarter came three minutes in, when Bronny James entered the game to a roar from a thrilled Vegas crowd.

Golden State held the lead out of reach for Los Angeles, and it would stay that way until the final buzzer, with the Warriors winning 111-97. They remain undefeated this preseason, with a perfect 5-0 record.

Moody once again paced the Warriors, as his phenomenal preseason continues. He had a team-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 5-for-7 from deep, while again providing hustle and strong defense, and having a +18 plus/minus, second only to Anderson’s +22. Curry splashed in 16 points (though he needed 18 shots to get there), to go with five rebounds and six assists, while Green had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Curry also provided one of the funniest moments of the night, on a very feeble dunk attempt.

Kuminga had a few defensive lapses, but his athleticism and transition offense were crucial, and he finished with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting, plus six rebounds and three assists.

Wiggins looked fairly rusty, which is to be expected, and struggled with his jumper … he scored 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting, but all of his made field goals were uncontested layups and dunks, while he missed all his jump shots. He did, however, get to the free throw line, where he made all five shots. Most importantly, he looked athletic and explosive, which is something that was strangely absent for much of last year.

Even though the Warriors shot just 31.1% from deep, they still had a fantastic 33 assists, while turning the ball over just 14 times, and they out-rebounded the Lakers.

The Dubs will look to finish off a perfect preseason on Friday, when they return home to host the Lakers in each team’s preseason finale. That game is at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.

And then it’s on to the regular season!