The Golden State Warriors have a tough early schedule in most people’s eyes, highlighted by four of the first five games on the road and nine of their first 15 games against teams that made the playoffs last season.
But two matchups against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first six games is actually the perfect time to play the divisional rival, giving the Warriors a potentially early edge over the Luka Doncic-led Lakers who will have yet to build much chemistry after completing retooling their roster this summer.
Warriors can expose Lakers' lack of chemistry in early games
The Lakers will be a completely different-looking team early next season after the departure of LeBron James, and having revamped the roster around Doncic which was highlighted by the sign-and-trade acquisition of former Utah Jazz big man Walker Kessler.
Along with Kessler, Los Angeles also signed Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Matisse Thybulle, Kevon Looney and Ziaire Williams, while they contine to be a leading suitor for former Warrior forward Jonathan Kuminga.
There's a strong chance the Lakers are a playoff team again next season, at least they'll hope to be after the summer splash and with the franchise on the clock to keep Doncic content. There's also a likelihood they're better than the Warriors who might be a Play-In team at best given their age and injury concerns.
But facing the Lakers twice in the first six games may actually be a blessing for Golden State. Sure they may enter with less talent given Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody will be sidelined by injury, but significantly more chemistry could make up the difference as the Lakers' new players acclimatize to different roles and sitautions.
Warriors must lean on chemistry early next season
One of the positives of bringing back the same roster is that the Warriors should have an edge in chemistry and familiarity with each other compared to most other teams. They're going to have to lean heavily on that through a tough early schedule, just as they have over the past two years.
Golden State began the 2024-25 season 12-3 before a mid-season collapse prior to the Butler trade in February. They started out 9-6 last season and that really should have been 11-4 if not for a pair of horror defeats to the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers who were both incredibly short-handed.
That leaves some optimism for the Warriors starting out stronger than expected this upcoming season, with two early matchups against the Lakers sure to say plenty about their ability to navigate the early period before Butler returns from injury.
Add us as a preferred source on Google