If the 2019 NBA preseason has proven anything, it seems as if the Los Angeles Lakers have the Golden State Warriors’ number.
For the third time this preseason, the Lakers defeated the Warriors by a score of 126-93 making two of their wins over the defending Western Conference champions by 20 points or more. As has been the case, it was the All-Star duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the way.
Starting at point guard once again, James showed off his full playmaking arsenal with 18 points and 11 assists in 25 minutes. James shot 6-of-9 from the field and maybe more importantly, he knocked down 5-of-6 free throws on the night. As was the case in the team’s first preseason contest, the James-Davis pick-and-roll was practically unstoppable.
Early in the first quarter, James fed Davis with a prefect pocket pass, leading to a Davis lob to JaVale McGee. Later on, James would feed Davis once again for an easy dunk as the Lakers jumped out to a 33-20 first quarter advantage.
For his part, Davis finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists to show off his all-around game. Davis’ playmaking stood out most and the team’s role players were a beneficiary of the vision of both he and James.
The Lakers had their best shooting night of the preseason from the three-point line, hitting 15 of them overall.
Avery Bradley tied James for the team lead with 18 points (4-of-5 from the three-point line) while Quinn Cook (making his first appearance in a Lakers uniform) matched his teammate with four of his own and 16 points total. Jared Dudley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Danny Green all added a pair of three-pointers themselves.
Meanwhile, the team’s bigs continued to look like a force as McGee and Dwight Howard combined for 25 points and 13 rebounds on 11-of-15 shooting from the field. Once again, the size of the Lakers with McGee, Davis, and Howard gave the undersized Warriors fits as Golden State shot just 36.5% from the field, albeit without Stephen Curry.
The result was never in doubt as the Lakers had a 26-point advantage at halftime. They would continue to push things in the third quarter with James capping his impressive performance with an unreal no-look, over-the-shoulder pass to Danny Green for a corner three.
These teams will meet one more time in the preseason finale on Oct. 18 before the regular season begins on Oct. 22 against the Los Angeles Clippers.