Golden State Warriors: Lakers deliver harsh reality check

That didn’t go as planned… the Golden State Warriors were rocked on Sunday evening by a hobbling Los Angeles Lakers team that looked to make a statement to the rest of the league. While the Warriors were just collateral, this embarrassing loss was a harsh but much-needed reality check.

It was obvious when the Lakers took an early 10 point lead that they weren’t here to play games. The defending champs had fallen into a recent slump and had everyone in the league praying on their downfall with Anthony Davis out for the next few weeks.

It’s as simple as the Warriors falling into the path of a raging bull. The Lakers drilled 9-of-20 first half 3-point attempts to effectively put this one out of reach. Aside from facing an opponent who felt they had something to prove, what did the Warriors do wrong?

The Golden State Warriors felt they were ready to go streaking until the Los Angeles Lakers stomped them back into reality.

Fresh off their first three-game win streak of the season, the Warriors were trampled in one of their biggest losses of the season. For what it’s worth, this was only their second double-digit loss of the month as they looked vastly improved on both ends of the floor.

In fact, heading into this game, the Warriors held the top-ranked defense, 12th best offense and fourth-best Net Rating overall in the last 15 games. It’s safe to say this didn’t hold up in LA and there’s an easy explanation for why.

While the Warriors might have all of the talent needed to be competitive, they don’t have the championship cohesion that the Lakers have been building dating back to last season. Even with new additions like Marc Gasol and Dennis Schroeder, these players are weathered veterans who understand what it takes to win games.

In contrast, the Warriors are in their infancy of another dynasty. Kelly Oubre, Andrew Wiggins, Eric Paschall and James Wiseman are still developing. They struggled in this game and that shouldn’t be a surprise, these things happen from time to time.

What’s truly disturbing is how poorly the Warriors shot from the 3-point line. Aside from Stephen Curry, the Dubs’ starters combined for 0-for-6 shooting while the team finished 8-of-34 overall from deep. Curry didn’t do too hot himself, only scoring 16 points, his third-lowest mark of the season.

This was a wake-up call for Golden State, who felt they had overcome these types of losses after a strong stretch of games. The Warriors made some notable leaps over the last month but they’ll likely take a few more lumps before they officially click everything into place.