In an exciting season opener where forwards Anthony Davis and LeBron James shone, point guards Russell Westbrook and Steph Curry struggled.
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There’s no doubt that LeBron James will himself be peeved a bit by the result of last night’s opener. The Lakers had the game fully within the grasp. They grabbed hold of a first-half lead and looked like good value for it for much of the period.
However, the Warriors were able to piece together a number of runs that the Lakers eventually couldn’t answer. The scoreline shifted decisively in the Warriors’ favor midway through the 4th quarter.
It was sealed by the final minute and a half when the Lakers were 3 possessions behind. LeBron James had himself a night with 34/11/5 on good shooting splits. Anthony Davis looked irresistible for the most part as well.
However, the depth of the Warriors ultimately proved to be their biggest strength on an off night for Steph. They dug deep and their role players shone through whenever they needed team offense.
The two teams present a stark contrast to each other in their performances thus far. While the Warriors are 6-0 dating back to preseason, the Lakers are winless and 0-7 in the same timeframe.
“I told Russell Westbrook to go home and watch a comedy”: LeBron James
Steph acknowledged his own bad game in the courtside postgame presser. It fell to LeBron James, on the other hand, to handle a few tough questions fielded Russell Westbrook’s way.
James gave a mature answer to the situation with the kind of self-assuredness that only he can display:
“I told Russ to go home & watch a comedy. Something to put a smile on his face. I told him don’t be so hard on yourself, it’s one game. We are all competitors & feel like s**t when we don’t play well & to our abilities.”
Ardent basketball fans know that nobody has higher standards for himself than one Russell Westbrook. But the Brody knows that it is just one L in their win column. They will move on to the next one with minimum fuss.
