The first game of the NBA pre-season is officially in the books for the Los Angeles Lakers with two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash making his debut against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night in Fresno, California.
Even though the Lakers were ultimately blown out in the second half after a 35-0 run by the Warriors, the starters of the revamped roster looked good in the first two quarters with Nash, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace making an impression in limited minutes on the floor.
After the 110-83 loss to the Warriors, Nash talked about the chemistry with Kobe in during their first preseason game and had the following to say about the lethal backcourt combination via Twitter:
Nash on his chemistry w/ Kobe: “It felt pretty good. I only think its going to get better. I can’t complain about that part of the game.”
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 8, 2012
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Although Kobe and Nash only played a handful of minutes together in the first two quarters of the loss to the Warriors, the two veterans appeared to be on the same page without much of a transition in terms of adjusting to each other’s game. The immediate chemistry between them is a promising sign for the Lakers moving forward.
Nash finished with five points and three assists in his debut while Kobe struggled with his shot going 2-7 from the floor finishing with 10 points in 19 minutes and hitting a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe.
It’s hard to get a true feel for this new-look Lakers squad without Dwight Howard on the floor along with Kobe, Nash, World Peace and Pau Gasol. Thus far, the team looks solid in the starting lineup with Nash and company handling the Warriors’ starters without much of a problem. The bench on the other hand clearly needs some work.
Lakers coach Mike Brown will continue to experiment with different rotations for the second unit in order to find the right mix of players before the start of the regular season on Oct. 30. Of the bench players fighting for a roster that were able to log some minutes in the second half, only a few made their presence known with Earl Clark, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Greg Somogyi notable stand outs.
