It’s time to renew one of the best rivalries in basketball. The Golden State Warriors are making a trip down the California coast to do battle with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. Both teams have delusions of grandeur heading into the season, hoping that a playoff berth gives them a puncher’s chance with their star talents. Steph Curry and Luka Doncic have proven they can lift a ship over a rising tide; will they do so this season? Opening night will give us a glimpse of the answer.
The Lakers enter as 6.5-point home favorites with -225 moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Warriors are +185 underdogs, with the game total set at 235.5 points.
Warriors vs. Lakers Preview
You can’t talk about the Warriors without addressing their injuries. Jimmy Butler, the Robin to Steph’s Batman, is down until the start of the new year with a torn ACL. Moses Moody, who tore his patellar tendon in March, is on a similar timeline. And Kristaps Porzingis, who the team handed a $40 million deal in the offseason, isn’t traveling with the team and is out indefinitely as he grapples with a mystery illness. Not great for a team that has such thin margins to begin with.
As usual, the Warriors are hoping Steph Curry can be a one-man offense and Draymond Green a one-man defense. Once upon a time, that was as good an anchor on either end of the floor as you could ask for. Because of their age, the returns on that bet are diminishing, to say the least. Butler’s presence as a second scoring option would have helped Steph a lot, and he’ll have to bring maximum effort until January. Green is without his best perimeter defender in Moody and his frontcourt partner in Porzingis, making an already difficult job nearly impossible.
There are some good things here. Brandin Podziemski, fresh off a big extension, looks poised to step into a bigger offensive role. Gui Santos projects to be a starter, and gave the Warriors a lot of good minutes off the bench last season – though he’s been ruled out of Wednesday’s opener with lower-back soreness. Perhaps most exciting is rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who might be their third most important player out of the gate. His athleticism translates in a big way on both ends of the floor, and he has the chops to be a versatile weapon in Steve Kerr’s offense.
Los Angeles’ offseason was marked by change. LeBron James exited, heading to a final chapter with the Sixers. With him went half of their rotation from last season, as GM Rob Pelinka looks to retool the team around Luka Doncic. Austin Reaves re-signed; Walker Kessler arrived in a major trade with the Jazz, along with new names like Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton. Regime change is often a catalyst for reform, and now that Luka has officially taken the crown, big changes are underway.
The offense is going to be a movie. Now that Doncic has full control of the team, plus a seven-foot lob threat, everything is set up for his success. Austin Reaves is an excellent second fiddle given his ability to play on and off the ball. They have shooters, cutters, and rollers to play off their two stars. Sexton is the primary source of bench scoring, a role that fits him to a T. It wouldn’t surprise me if, at the end of the season, the Lakers have a top-five offense.
The problem here is the defense. Walker Kessler was brought in to raise the floor defensively, and he’ll practically have to do it all himself. Reaves is their only other rotation player guaranteed to be a positive on both ends of the floor, and he’ll spend most of his energy on offense. Matisse Thybulle and Jarred Vanderbilt are solid defenders in their own right, but are complete black holes on offense. It’s asking a lot of head coach JJ Redick to cobble together a passable defense from this group, and it may prove impossible.
Now that we know these two teams a bit better, who will take home the win?
Warriors vs. Lakers Pick, Best Bet
It’s all about identities here. The Warriors no longer have one: neither the offense nor the defense is good enough to set the tone. Even a one-way team like the Lakers can point and say, “Hey, double-team that Steph Curry guy.” I don’t think that Golden State’s aging team can keep up with a Lakers team that yearns to get out and run, and the Lakers will storm to an opening night victory.
