The Golden State Warriors picked up an impressive NBA opening night victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. They won the game 121-114 after a strong second-half performance which saw the team score 68 points.
It was a total team effort, as the Warriors had six players score at least 12 points in the game. It was an encouraging performance by the team as they didn’t have to rely on Stephen Curry solely to carry the load.
Curry was essentially a one-man wrecking crew last season, helping drag the Warriors into the NBA Play-In Tournament. Golden State is hoping to get him more help this season, especially with the return of Klay Thompson.
But, even without Thompson in Game 1, the Golden State Warriors were able to get production from elsewhere on a night Curry recorded a triple-double but was not his normal self shooting the ball. He scored 21 points but on an ugly 5-for-21 from the field and 2-for-8 from the 3-point line. A perfect 9-for-9 from the foul line is what buoyed his scoring output.
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Draymond Green, who finished the game with six points, eight rebounds, and six assists, spoke about how winning a game without Curry at his best was great for the team.
“It’s a huge lift,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “We’ve relied on him so much, and we’re still going to rely on him a lot. When he can have a night like he did tonight, not get it going, we still come out with a win, that’s great. He still continued to do everything else. Still continued to draw the double, rebounded the ball, he did everything he needed to do to help us win except what we’re accustomed to, which is making shots. But I don’t know, that will happen.”
It was only one game, but it will be a huge confidence boost for the team. Going into STAPLES Center and winning against the Los Angeles Lakers in the fashion they did will be something the team can use to build off of.
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The second unit was huge. Each player who played at least 12 minutes had a positive plus/minus ratio. Nemanja Bjelica and Damion Lee led the way off the bench with 15 points each. Bjelica had a great debut, adding 11 rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
