Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers were without LeBron James for their game against the Golden State Warriors.
While Luka Dončić tried to pick up the slack on the offensive side of the ball, Marcus Smart did his best on the other end.
The 6-foot-3 former Defensive Player of the Year was matched up with Stephen Curry for most of the night, a tough assignment for anyone.
The Lakers acquired Smart this offseason to do his best at locking down the league's best point guards, something he was known for doing.
However, last night was different, and Curry’s IQ and skill clearly outmatched the tenacity of Smart’s defense.
Tuesday night, Curry poured in 23 points, which may not seem like much, but it was his foul-drawing ability that helped him play freely.
Curry was able to manipulate Smart into having four personal fouls by halftime, and playing only 23 minutes in his Lakers debut.
Without Smart as a defender on the court, the Lakers were forced to switch their game plan to trapping Curry off screens, which freed up the rest of the team.
Jimmy Butler was able to capitalize on this and scored 31 points, leading the Warriors to a 10-point victory.
It wasn’t as simple as Curry feeding him, knowing he made a subpar defender out of him, but Steve Kerr game-planning a masterclass offense.
Draymond Green led the Warriors in assists with nine, benefitting from 4-on-3s when two defenders were focused on Curry.
It is situations like these that Jonathan Kuminga, Al Horford, Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, and the rest of the roster can take advantage of.
The Lakers will be without James until mid-November, and Smart will need to improve on defense if they want to maintain a decent record during his absence.
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