The Lakers played their sixth preseason game of the season and their second in China. Again, the Lakers have a decent showing on the offensive end, but seemed to take a step back on the other end as the Warriors started connecting from deep. Andre Iguodala didn’t do much scoring, but chipped in 14 assists with five steals, showing exactly why the Warriors went after him this off-season.
1st Half
Nick Young and Pau Gasol had great showings for the Lakers in the first half. With Shawne Williams starting in place of Chris Kaman, Gasol was the lone big man in the paint and finished the half with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. He made a nice lefty hook in the lane and knocked down a few jump shots, including a three pointer. Kaman stepped in and played well, too, with eight points on three-for-four shooting.
Nick Young had a nice break away dunk and caught a pretty alley-oop from Steve Blake toward the end of the half. Young had nine points on 50 percent shooting with a rebound, assist, and steal in the first half.
We finally got a chance to see Jordan Farmar and Wes Johnson on the floor after both missed a few games with injuries. Farmar was recovering from a calf injury while Johnson was recovering from a foot injury. Neither guy played exceptionally well, but it was good to see those two back on the floor as they’ll be key rotation players.
2nd Half
The Lakers continued to play well to start the third, but at about the 5:30 mark trailing by three points, Mike D’Antoni substituted Jordan Farmar and Jordan Hill for Pau Gasol and Wes Johnson and saw Marcus Landry come in for Nick Young and watched the deficit balloon. The Warriors would extend their lead by 11 in the final five minutes of the game and led by 14 at the end of the third quarter. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green both played extremely well and knocked down a plethora of jumpers.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter with both teams playing reserves. The Warriors would win in blowout fashion 115-98.
