The offseason is over, and the Los Angeles Lakers are back to work after a very promising end to the 2022-23 season. Coming off an unexpected Western Conference Finals appearance, they believe they have what it takes to seriously contend for the NBA championship this year.
Their first step toward possibly winning it all came on Saturday when they faced the Golden State Warriors in their first preseason game. They ended up losing, 125-108, as they fell behind by double digits in the second quarter and never fully recovered.
Buy Lakers TicketsThere was some good and bad to take from this exhibition contest as L.A. prepares for its next game on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets in Las Vegas.
The Lakers' outside shooting still seems iffy
The Lakers have never been a very good 3-point shooting team since LeBron James arrived five years ago. They were 25th in 3-point shooting percentage last season, and it is something that absolutely needs to improve this year.
Los Angeles made 38.5 percent of its 3-point attempts on Saturday, but that number is misleading. It went through extended stretches where it seemingly couldn’t throw a marble into the San Francisco Bay, and in particular, Taurean Prince, Christian Wood and Cam Reddish combined to go 0-of-7 from that distance.
On the other hand, Anthony Davis was 2-of-3 from downtown, as was forward Jarred Vanderbilt. If both hit at least 35-36 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc throughout the season, it will open things up for the Lakers offensively.
Chemistry is a work in progress
While the Warriors’ rotational players have been together for at least a couple of years, the Lakers’ core has been together for just a few months. In addition, head coach Darvin Ham played his reserves and rookies quite a bit while employing some very interesting lineups and combinations.
As a team, the Lakers shot a chilly 41.0 percent from the field, committed 17 turnovers and got outscored 24-14 in fast-break points. Some of that could be attributed to the fact that it was their first preseason game, but it was also Golden State’s exhibition opener, and Stephen Curry’s crew looked a lot more cohesive than L.A. did.
Multiple Lakers players stood out
Davis played only 13 minutes, but he scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, in addition to his accurate outside shooting. He looks to be in good shape, and there have been multiple positive reports about his outside shooting and vocal leadership leading up to Saturday’s contest.
Starting guard D’Angelo Russell shot 6-of-10, including 2-of-3 from downtown, and scored 15 points to go along with five assists in 16 minutes. He also played meaningful minutes in some of Ham’s second units — is that an indication of what may take place during the regular season?
Off the bench, second-year man Max Christie shot 6-of-10 overall and scored 15 points while getting a team-high 25 minutes of playing time. He was outstanding during summer league play, and the Lakers have high hopes for him this year.
