The Los Angeles Lakers are back in action this summer as they traveled to the Bay Area to participate in the annual California Classic. The Lakers are part of four teams, including the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat, to participate in the exhibition.
The Lakers faced the Warriors for their first game of the California Classic and exercised caution with some of their players as Bronny James, Adou Thiero and Eric Dixon were held out of the contest.
It was a nice start for the Lakers, but they collapsed in the second half and suffered an 89-84 loss.
Cole Swider returned to the Lakers for his second Summer League stint and promptly knocked down his first 3-point attempt to get the team on the board. DJ Steward followed up with a couple of crafty buckets to help give L.A. an early 9-2 lead.
With Dalton Knecht off to a slow start, Steward was the primary source of scoring and shotmaking for the Lakers and they maintained a seven-point lead. The bench group sparked L.A. defensively and they ended the first leading 19-11.
Julian Reese opened up the second with a strong finish near the rim, while Knecht finally scored off a drive to the cup. An offensive slump, though, allowed the Warriors to climb back within six midway through the quarter.
Steward checked back into the game, immediately hit a 3 and then got fouled on another 3-point attempt to push the lead back up to 10. However, Golden State made a run to close the half and L.A. went into the break ahead 43-39.
The Lakers saw their lead disappear at the top of the third quarter after a quick 7-0 Warriors run, forcing a timeout. Swider ended Golden State’s run with his third 3-pointer of the game, though L.A. still trailed by two.
Things started to slip away from the Lakers after another Warriors three put them down by double-digits. L.A. tried to catch up with their own run, but Golden State swiftly responded and they went into the fourth trailing 69-60.
Much like the third quarter, the Lakers got off to a slow start offensively in the fourth which allowed the Warriors to keep momentum on their side.
The Lakers needed to get Knecht going if they wanted to mount any sort of comeback. He sensed that and went into attack mode and Swider also continued firing away from deep. The Lakers got their deficit down to just three, but they never got over the jump with Golden State closing out the victory.
Knecht wound up finishing with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals on 3-of-13 shooting. Meanwhile. Swider led all scorers with 24 points and eight rebounds while shooting 6-of-8 from deep.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will take on the Miami Heat on Sunday and then conclude their California Classic schedule on Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs. They’ll then head to Nevada for the 2025 Las Vegas Summer League where they’ll kick off the festivities against Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
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