The months-long wait for the start of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2025-26 regular season is nearly complete. In just over 24 hours, Los Angeles will usher in the new NBA campaign with a showdown against the formidable Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.
What do the Lakers need to do well to start their season off on the right foot? Let’s look at three keys to the iconic franchise picking up its first win of the season on Tuesday night.
1. Defend the 3-point line
The Warriors have operated with a 3-point-heavy style of play on offense long before it became trendy, and they remain one of the more dangerous 3-point shooting teams in the league.
Their lethality from deep starts with guard Stephen Curry, the greatest perimeter shooter basketball has ever seen. He led the NBA in 3s made and attempted last season, and Los Angeles should try putting former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart on Curry to make him uncomfortable.
Curry is a huge part of what makes the Warriors such a strong 3-point offense, but he’s far from the only sniper on the roster. Shooting guard Buddy Hield, a 3-point specialist, is a career 39.7 percent shooter from distance who can get hot in a hurry. Also, the newly acquired Al Horford converted 40.9 percent of his triples over his last three seasons with the Boston Celtics.
Los Angeles’ goal should be to hold Golden State to fewer than 15 made 3s, and strong closeouts and smart pick-and-roll defense would make that goal very attainable.
2. Get Austin Reaves heavily involved on offense
One thing the Warriors are lacking is strong defensive players at the guard positions. De’Anthony Melton is probably their strongest perimeter defender, but he’s ruled out for Tuesday’s game.
Regardless of whom Golden State starts at the shooting guard spot, whether it be Brandin Podziemski or Hield, Reaves will have a huge matchup advantage on offense, and the Lakers need to capitalize on that.
Golden State’s defense isn’t going to hone in on Reaves like it will on guard Luka Doncic, and trying to guard him in one-on-one situations with Hield or Podziemski is a good recipe for him to have a big scoring night.
It can be easy for opposing teams to overlook Reaves with all the star power Los Angeles has when James and Doncic are both healthy, but he’s nothing short of a gifted scorer, and he averaged 20-plus points per game for the first time last season.
With James out of the lineup, Reaves should assume a bigger role in the Lakers offense.
The guard should take at least 18 shots on Tuesday, and an aggressive and efficient Reaves would go a long way towards securing a home victory for the Lakers.
3. Get Draymond Green in early foul trouble
It’s a credit to Green’s longevity that after all these years in the league, he’s still a vaunted defender. He does a little bit of everything for Golden State on that end in the sense that he can protect the paint like a towering center and also switch onto smaller players and hold his own.
However, Green can’t be the defensive game-changer that he is if he picks up too many fouls to stay on the court. A quick two fouls on him early in the first quarter would likely have him sidelined for an extended period of time, and it’s important that whichever Laker Green is guarding starts the game out by attacking him.
Two fouls can quickly pile up into four or even six for Green, who’s lost his cool on the court countless times over his career. By taking Green — the glue that holds the Warriors’ defense together — out of the game with foul trouble, the Lakers would have to deal with far less resistance on offense, and a 120-plus-point showing would certainly be in the cards.
All in all, if the Lakers can check all three of these boxes, fans will be celebrating their 1-0 start very soon.