In the final act of the 2024 NBA preseason, the Los Angeles Lakers faced off against a familiar Western Conference foe. Unfortunately for the Purple and Gold, it was the Warriors who won in a lopsided blowout to complete an undefeated preseason run.
The Warriors made some significant changes this summer, but you’d never know it judging by their performance so far. Against the Lakers on Friday, they had their best performance yet after opening up an 18-point lead in the first quarter and never looking back. Stephen Curry got some much-needed rest in the contest, but Jonathan Kuminga and others stepped up to fill his shoes.
Meanwhile, for the Lakers, Quicky Olivari was the leading scorer with most of the starters sitting out. His 22 points were the most among all scorers but his play was overshadowed by the breakout performance from Bronny. His encouraging effort was just one of the key takeaways from this matchup and we learned a lot about both teams tonight in the final preseason showdown.
Bronny James Is Showing Signs Of Life
The 123-72 blowout was far from ideal for the Lake Show, but there was one silver lining in the game tonight: Bronny James. It was his best game as a Laker so far with 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, on 41.2% shooting.
With most of the rotation getting rest before opening night, JJ Redick gave Bronny the start and it seems to have done wonders for his confidence. He shot a solid 41% from the field and pulled up with confidence for every shot attempt. It’s different from the underwhelming performances we’ve been seeing from the young baller lately.
As the 55th pick, the Los Angeles Lakers were obviously not leaning on Bronny to produce for them this season and they likely have planned for his extended stay in the G-League. But if he can contribute even a little bit off the bench it will be an unexpected boost for a Lakers team that desperately needs it.
If he can hone his skills as a floor spacer and playmaker like he showed tonight, Bronny James will become much more effective on the court and he may finally start to live up to his family name. At the very least, his size and skillset could make him a solid backup point guard off the bench and make the Lakers a much harder team to beat.
The Warriors Have Shooters
Klay Thompson’s departure was one of the biggest moves of the summer but the Warriors haven’t missed his signature three-point shooting so far. In fact, over the Warriors’ last 6 games (all wins), they rank in the top three in the league for most three-pointers made.
Tonight, without any of the Splash Bros, the Warriors managed to go 13-36 from three with made shots from Buddy Hield (who had `4 points on 4-8 shooting from three), Brandin Podziemski, Kyle Anderson, and Quinten Post. Jonathan Kuminga led the team in scoring with 17 points and 4 rebounds, while Podziemski contributed 16 points off the bench. Draymond Green, meanwhile, finished with just 2 points in 15 minutes of play. The all-around contributions are a stark contrast to a season ago when the Warriors could hardy score from anyone outside Stephen Curry.
With Warriors coach Steve Kerr going 12 men deep into his rotation, it’s clear that he was using these games as a way to test some of his lineups and he is still figuring out which players he can trust from the ones outside his inner circle.
Besides Stephen Curry, we know that players like Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green will be major focal points to their gameplan and some of them will need to set up for the Warriors to have success this season.
Fortunately, these new additions appear to be everything that the Warriors offensively needed and it should be concerning news for the rest of the West.
No Depth For The Lakers
It’s hard to judge the Lakers too harshly considering they had no LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, or pretty much any of their top 7 players. It was JJ Redick’s decision to sit them out ahead of the season.
Of course, it did allow us to see more of the Lakers’ depth and things aren’t looking good in that department. Besides the positive game from Bronny, no Lakers player stepped up tonight and several of them continued a concerning trend from last season.
Jalen Hood-Schifino, Pelinka’s first-round pick last year, had 6 points on 30% shooting while Cam Reddish (signed last summer) dropped 6 points on 9% shooting. Young center Colin Castleton was a -45 in 27 minutes.
The truth is, outside of the top six guys (LeBron, Davis, Reaves, Russell, Rui, and Vanderbilt) the Lakers are surprisingly thin. While Dalton Knecht or Christian Wood might be good for stretches, they aren’t quite ready yet and will need more time before they can handle heavy minutes.
This lack of depth could be a major problem for the Lakers this season, especially considering their track record for injuries in the past. For his part, GM Rob Pelinka is looking around the league for ways to get better and fill out the rotation but it’s easier said than done to find the right players. All the Lakers can do now is work with what they have and make the most of what’s in front of them.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We appreciate your support.
