The Los Angeles Lakers completely revamped their team during the summer, highlighted by the sign-and-trade acquisition of Walker Kessler. The Golden State Warriors, on the other hand, kept a Play-In Tournament team together and signed Kristaps Porzingis to a two-year, $40 million deal when he may never play professional basketball again.
The painful summer was brutally exposed on the floor as the two team's faced off in the season opener at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night. Kessler was spoon fed by Luka Doncic and company all night, recording dunk after dunk on his way to 26 points, nine rebounds and two blocks on a perfect 12-of-12 shooting. The Warriors had no answer in part due to Porzingis' absence, having been mauled in a 127-105 loss that could be a scary sign of things to come.
Warriors' painful summer exposed by Lakers in season opener
You would think it might have been the Lakers who looked like a team playing together for the first time in a meaningful game, only it were the Warriors who were completely out of sync on both ends of the floor.
Stephen Curry's 16 first-quarter points meant Golden State were competitive through the first 18 minutes, but they were blown away late in the half and then in the third-quarter where their turnovers bordered on embarrassing.
Yaxel Lendeborg's battle with Doncic was perhaps the most intriguing element of the night, particularly at the end of the first half where the rookie forward picked up a technical foul. The Slovenian superstar had the last laugh though, going for 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while nailing an extraordinary half-court shot at the end of the second period.
Lendeborg struggled to deliver the same impact from summer league and preseason, but he was hardly the Warriors' worst in a team performance that brought few if any positives. The 11th overall pick had 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 29 minutes, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor in a tough opening game for the 24-year-old.
Warriors left with all kinds of issues after disastrous season opener
It was as if all the preseason concerns came to fruition for Golden State, and there doesn't appear to be much of an answer for any of it considering Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are a long way from resuming, while a line can essentially be put through Porzingis ever playing for the Warriors again.
The offensive burden on Curry was significant once again. The two-time MVP finished with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Brandon Williams was Golden State's second-leading scorer with 14 -- though he took 12 shots to get there.
The bigger concern might be on the defensive end where the Warriors were completely picked apart. While they can only improve on the performance they threw up on Wednesday night, there's only so much they can do without a legitimate starting calibre center available.
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