Warriors beat Lakers to stay undefeated
LOS ANGELES >> The Warriors are still perfect in the preseason, and on Tuesday night, they did it without Stephen Curry or Draymond Green.
Golden State earned its fourth win of the preseason behind a star-less lineup that held its own against the Lakers’ trio of superstars making their debut together. Six Warriors scored in double figures but Golden State had its worst shooting night from 3-point range of the preseason en route to a 111-99 win at Staples Center.
“If you don’t shoot well and you still score 111 points and you win the game, that’s a good sign,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward.
More importantly, Kerr and staff got an extended looks at players fighting for rotation minutes and roster spots.
Roster battle
Avery Bradley was honored as a member of the 2020 NBA champion Lakers before Tuesday’s game. But it was just about everyone else battling for the backup spot in Golden State’s backcourt that benefitted from Curry and
Green’s absence.
Damion Lee started in Curry’s place and was one of the most active players all night. He dropped 16 points and grabbed nine boards.
“I like rewarding Damion. He’s had a great camp,” Kerr said before Tuesday’s game. “He’s a guy on our team who we kind of take for granted. He’s such a pro. Such a rock solid player. He’s ready every night whether I play him 20 minutes or I don’t play him at all.”
Everyone in the arena felt Gary Payton II’s presence after his third singlehanded slam dunk of the first half.
Kerr said Payton brought “great energy,” exemplified not only on his dunk attempts.
“Good cutting around the rim, picked off some easy baskets for us, and he plays with a lot of spirit and a lot of energy,” Kerr said. “He did a really good job.”
Payton is known for his defense, like Bradley, but he showed impressive off-ball movement that resulted in one of his three slams on a bounce feed from Bjelica after cutting through the paint. He finished with 12 points in his first playing time of the preseason after returning from surgery on his hernia.
“Just find the opening and take it, then my teammates find me,” Payton said. “It was the first time, actually, that I was above the rim (since hernia surgery), so it felt good to get back out there and jump like I usually do.”
Jordan Poole led all scorers for the third time in four preseason games with 18 points. Otto Porter Jr. joined Lee with 16 points, and Andrew Wiggins joined Payton with 12. Bjelica also scored 10 points and collected five rebounds.
Moses Moody’s spotlight
Teammates describe first-round pick Moses Moody as a quiet guy. But he’s quickly learning what the spotlight feels like.
Under the bright lights of Staples Center, Moody saw his most playing time of the preseason — and his most intimidating matchups. Moody matched up against Russell Westbrook on defense and even bodied up Anthony Davis, turning a gimme basket into foul shots. On offense, Moody missed all six attempts from the field; his best moment came when he fed a bounce pass to Nemanja Bjelica out of a corner trap, and Bjelica put it home for 2.