The new Los Angeles Lakers’ Big 3 of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook finally saw their first action together on Tuesday night and as to be expected, there were some great highlights and some growing pains.
Davis led the Lakers with 20 points, James added 17 and Westbrook posted a double-double, but the Lakers dropped their fifth straight game in the preseason and second to the Golden State Warriors, 111-99. In addition to Trevor Ariza and Talen Horton-Tucker, who are out due to injury, the Lakers were also without Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk and DeAndre Jordan.
Davis looked to be in midseason form on both ends of the floor as he hit 7-of-12 from the field and also added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. James added six rebounds, four assists and three steals in addition to his 17 points while Westbrook finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but both had serious issues taking care of the ball.
The pair combined for 11 of the Lakers’ 20 turnovers with six coming from James and Westbrook adding five of his own. The Lakers have had at least 16 turnovers in every preseason game so far with at least 20 in the last three. The team has many issues to fix before the start of the regular season, but the turnovers are arguably the biggest.
There were other positives on the night as well. Carmelo Anthony had another solid outing with 13 points and five rebounds while Austin Reaves continued to impress with 10 points, three assists and two steals. Rajon Rondo also kept up his solid preseason play, knocking down a pair of threes to go along with nine rebounds and five assists while Chaundee Brown continued to make his claim for a two-way contract with 10 points and two rebounds.
It was a game of runs overall as the Lakers held double-digit leads on multiple occasions, but the Warriors, behind Jordan Poole and Damion Lee, would get hot and close the gap immediately. Overall the Lakers shot just 41.4% from the field and 32.3% from deep, but Golden State didn’t fare much better at 42.4% and 22.4%, respectively.
The Lakers did edge out the rebounding battle 52-51 and had nine steals on the night, but only had 22 assists compared to the Warriors’ 29 and committed 22 fouls on the night.
Up next for the Lakers
The Lakers will close out their preseason schedule in hopes of getting their first victory on Thursday night when they travel to Sacramento to face the Kings. Following that will be the regular-season opener next Tuesday when they host these same Golden State Warriors.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
