Lakers lose preseason opener to Warriors without LeBron James

Lakers drop preseason opener to Warriors without LeBron James and Austin Reaves

Lakers forward Anthony Davis shoots in the lane between Golden State's Kevon Looney, left, and Andrew Wiggins.

Staff Writer

Oct. 7, 2023 8:12 PM PT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Lakers opened their preseason against one of the last teams they saw, facing Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors.

Without LeBron James and Austin Reaves in uniform for precautionary reasons, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell combined for 30 points in the first half of a 125-108 loss.

Both teams played their starters in the first half before ceding minutes to the reserves in the second half.

With their key rotation players on the court, the Lakers were largely uneven. Like in the postseason, Davis attacked Warriors center Kevon Looney in the post and at the rim before stepping back and hitting a pair of three-pointers. Davis finished with 15 points and five rebounds in less than 13 minutes.

Before the game, coach Darvin Ham advocated for Davis to play freely on offense, looking for him to be more aggressive from deep should the shots present themselves.

“It’s just a matter of him taking different opportunities and making quick decisions. It’s not like, ‘OK, I need you to go out here and every time you pop, make a three,’”Ham said. “Just do what makes sense within the realm of what we’re trying to do on the offensive end. If it calls for a post-up, if it calls for a short roll, if it calls for a pick-and-pop three, then do that.”

Russell also attacked the Golden State defense, showing his scoring ability at the rim, in the mid-range and from three-point range.

Yet without James and Reaves, two of the Lakers’ primary playmakers, the ball stopped on offense far too frequently for the team to find any sustained rhythm.

Thompson scored 10, Curry had eight and new point guard Chris Paul had six points and five assists for the Warriors.

Max Christie scored 15 — 13 in the second half — and Rui Hachimura added 12 for the Lakers. Newcomers Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood had seven and five points, respectively.

Lakers forward Cam Reddish left the game in the fourth quarter because of sprained right ankle.

Before the game, Golden State coach Steve Kerr continued his praise for Reaves, whom he coached this summer in the FIBA World Cup with Team USA.

“Way better to coach him than to coach against him, for sure,” Kerr said. “I loved coaching him. Austin’s a fantastic guy, talented. I think a lot more talented than people give him credit for. I mean he’s really skilled, he’s athletic, he’s smart, tough, he’s got all that. There’s a reason he gave us a lot of trouble and gave everybody a lot of trouble last year.”

Reaves is expected to play Monday in Las Vegas against Brooklyn. James said this week he intends to play half of the Lakers’ six preseason games.