Lakers earn 1st preseason victory with win over Warriors
LOS ANGELES — With Sunday marking a full week since their last preseason game, Lakers coach JJ Redick hoped the progress he saw from his team during their four practices over the previous five days would translate onto the game floor against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.
Better execution with their offensive sets. Creating more scoring chances in transition after playing in the halfcourt too frequently. Being more locked in defensively, especially off the ball.
The improvements from last week were evident, helping the Lakers beat the Warriors 126-116 to pick up their first preseason win.
“Biggest thing offensively, we did a great job of just getting to the next action,” Redick said. “Shared the basketball. There wasn’t a player that really dominated in terms of assists or time on the ball.”
The Lakers’ offense hummed in a way it didn’t in its previous two exhibitions, racking up 28 assists.
Austin Reaves led the team with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes to go with three assists and three rebounds.
Rui Hachimura (6-of-10 shooting) and Dalton Knecht (4-of-9 shooting, six made free throws) both scored 16 points.
Knecht, who Redick said has been the best offensive player on the team during camp and has scored 42 more points than any of his Lakers teammates during live play in practices, started after coming off the bench in the previous two preseason games.
“His sort of ceiling is going to be based on his improvement this season as a defender,” Redick said of Knecht. “He’s a big-time threat and a big-time player, and he’s made improvements. That’s ultimately going to be what the ceiling is for him.
“He’s earned the opportunity to [get] a look with him in the starting lineup. And our conversations all summer, all preseason, this is a year of player development for him, of growth and what that looks like, it’s got to be incremental. He’s bought into that, which is great.”
Deandre Ayton had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes, being more involved in the offense than he previously was as the Lakers shot 53.8% from the field (43 of 80), including 44.4% from beyond the 3-point arc (12 of 27).
“Just how much skill he has,” Reaves responded when asked what’s stood out about Ayton. “People forget about when he was in Phoenix and how dominant he was there and how he was one of the biggest reasons that team made it to the Finals that year. Talent is high. Can play in the pick-and-roll. Can protect the rim. We need that. We need him to flourish in that role.”
The Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford and Moses Moody, were led by Brandin Podziemski’s 23 points and eight assists.
Reaves left the game midway through the third quarter after a collision with Podziemski during Podziemski’s drive to the basket for a layup. He stayed in the game for a couple more plays before being subbed out, staying on the Lakers’ bench for the remainder of the night after being checked out by team trainers. Reaves said postgame that he was “good”.
Who wasn’t available for the Lakers on Sunday garnered a significant amount of attention.
Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart were once again sidelined, with Redick saying pregame that he misspoke about the status for Smart, who’s been dealing with Achilles tendinopathy, when he said on Saturday that the 31-year-old guard would be available against the Warriors.
Redick said the Lakers will “try” to have Smart available for two of their three remaining preseason games: Tuesday at the Phoenix Suns; Wednesday vs. the Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas; Friday against the Sacramento Kings to close out their exhibition slate.
LeBron James, Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero remained sidelined.
Redick pushed back when asked pregame if there have been feelings of missed opportunities since camp started because of players being sidelined or being modified participants in practices.
“You guys have been really harping on this,” Redick said. “And I’m not being combative right now. I want to acknowledge that you guys have, like, last like four days, like it’s becoming a little bit obsessive with all these questions about opportunities lost. So I will answer it again: these are the cards we were dealt. I surely would like everybody to be healthy.”
When it was mentioned that the Lakers are playing the maximum six preseason games, with the league not having a minimum number of exhibitions that need to be played but most playing fewer than the Lakers, Redick said the team’s preseason slate is something “to be discussed” in conjunction with having more practice time during training camp.
“It’s awesome that we get to play in Palm Springs; it’s awesome we get to play in Vegas,” Redick said. “I recognize there’s Laker fans all over the world that maybe don’t get the chance to see us play. You hope that we can find some sort of balance in the future to get more practice time, less travel time. And I’m sure at some point we’ll be one of the teams going overseas. So then that adds another scenario. So, yeah, you’re just trying to find that balance.”