The Golden State Warriors started their season in style on Tuesday night. We’ll need a sample size of more than one game, and an opponent better than the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers before we can determine how good the new(ish)-look Dubs are, but they sure aced the first test, and carried over the good vibes of the preseason into the opening night of the year, beating the Lakers 119-109.
It was a frustrating start, but not because of anything the Warriors did. Opening Night featured the return of the NBA on NBC, but the first game of the doubleheader — the Houston Rockets at the Oklahoma City Thunder — went to double overtime, keep fans from being able to watch the first quarter of Golden State’s game on TV. It was available to stream for Peacock subscribers, but plenty of folks were unable to get even that to work.
The product on the court was far less glitchy. The controversial starting lineup — featuring the often troublesome trio of Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler III, and Jonathan Kuminga — was rolling early, and the offense, led by Butler, was flowing. Interestingly, Steve Kerr opted for a small lineup even after the first subs came in, as Buddy Hield and Gary Payton II were the first two names off the bench.
But it was the defense that drove the first quarter. They were so active, led by three steals from Steph Curry, and forced nine first quarter turnovers by the Lakers. But after Butler went to the bench the offense started to fall apart, and the Lakers made a run late in the quarter. Golden State answered with what proved to be a critical play: Butler was fouled by Marcus Smart while shooting a three with a few seconds remaining. JJ Redick challenged the call and lost, meaning the Lakers couldn’t challenge again for the rest of the game. Butler made all three free throws, and the Dubs led 28-22 after one quarter.
Golden State came out in the second quarter with a lot of energy, but not a lot of finesse. With Curry on the bench — it appears his substitution pattern this year is to play an extended stretch to start and close each half, with a lengthy rest in between — the Dubs were getting sloppy, and committing a lot of turnovers. It turned into an intense, grind-it-out affair for both squads and, despite being just the second game of the young NBA season, had a playoff vibe. There were hard fouls, trash talk, and a few extra elbows thrown. Smart received a flagrant foul for hooking and throwing Curry to the floor, while Jarred Vanderbilt received a technical foul while trying to bait Green into one (Draymond, who already had one technical and thus would have been ejected with another, kept his cool).
Finally the Warriors started to find a groove, and pushed the lead to double digits just past the halfway mark of the quarter. They were playing much prettier offense than LA, but Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves were putting on a show, and keeping the Lakers in it. They used a late 7-0 lead to nearly catch up to the Warriors, which set up an absolutely wild end to the half. Rui Hachimura made a three inside the final minute which gave Los Angeles the lead, and then, on the other end, Kuminga missed an emphatic put-back dunk. The Warriors got the offensive rebound and Kuminga, rather than forcing a shot out of frustration, broke down the defense and found an open Brandin Podziemski for a three. Dončić responded with a highlight step-back three on the other end, and when Curry tried — but failed — to answer with one of his own, Butler was there to grab the offensive rebound and get fouled with a second remaining. After Butler made both free throws — which gave him 10 attempts in the half alone — the Warriors led 55-54 as the teams went to the break.
Halftime always makes us ask if the third quarter Warriors will show up, and show up they did. It was a truly beautiful start to the second half, and one that allowed us to briefly wonder why we were concerned about the spacing of the lineup. It turns out that when Kuminga is shooting and passing like a guard, those spacing concerns disappear.
That’s exactly what happened. Kuminga dropped in eight points in the blink of an eye (he had 13 in the quarter, including a trio of threes), and the offense was flowing and pushing in transition. Golden State opened the frame on an 18-4 run, and looked poised to run away with the contest as they pushed the lead up to 15 points. Meanwhile, Deandre Ayton was struggling mightily in his Lakers debut, while Los Angeles couldn’t find any offense outside of Luka.
The Warriors were fully in control of the game, and even as the Lakers made pushes, the Warriors had answers: including some huge minutes from rookie Will Richard, and a pair of clutch, late threes by Buddy Hield. It was a 90-79 lead after the third quarter.
For a while in the fourth it looked like the Dubs would run away with it. Hield had another three early in the quarter, and Green rumbled down the lane for a tough and-one moments later, though he would miss the free throw. But Dončić, who finished with 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists, put on his hero’s cape and wouldn’t let the Lakers go away. Finally, aided by a barrage of turnovers from the Warriors, the Lakers started to get back into. Los Angeles burst out with a 9-0 run to pull within six points with only four minutes left. That prompted Kerr to call a timeout and get his original starting five back in (though he replaced Podziemski with Gary Payton II a few plays later).
The pause and substitutions worked. Green nailed a corner three on the first possession out of the timeout, and a majestic sequence — Curry blocked a three on one end, and Butler played bully-ball on the other — pushed the lead back to double digits with about 2:30 remaining. The final dagger came as the clock broke one minute, with Kuminga flying high for an offensive rebound to keep a possession alive and, a few seconds later, Curry hitting the deepest three of the night to effectively end the game. A few plays later and the buzzer would sound, with the Warriors 119-109 victors.
As the game neared an end, the NBC broadcast team remarked that when the Warriors traded for Butler midseason, they didn’t have time to build an offensive system to highlight his strengths. It was noted that Kerr felt like a full offseason and training camp to implement the right systems should unleash an even better version of Butler, and goodness does that appear to be the case. Curry, who finished with 24 points on 6-for-14 shooting, including 3-for-9 from deep and 10-for-10 from the charity stripe, had a nice game, but Butler was the star of the offense. He repeatedly put the team on his shoulders when a bucket was needed, and finished with a team-high 31 points on 7-for-14 shooting, while making all 16 of his free throws, and adding five rebounds and four assists.
Kuminga, who fit in with what the team wants to do on both ends of the court flawlessly, netted 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while snagging nine rebounds and dishing six assists. Hield was a spark plug every time Golden State needed it and, like Kuminga, had 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Richard impressed mightily in 14 minutes in his NBA debut, and even with Moses Moody and De’Anthony Melton sidelined (and Seth Curry temporarily waived), the Warriors went 11 players deep in their opener (though Gui Santos played just three minutes).
Game one in the books, and it was not just a success, but highly encouraging. The Dubs will be back at it on Thursday, when they host the Denver Nuggets at 7:00 p.m. PT on ESPN.
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