The Golden State Warriors beat the Lakers 101-89 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Oct. 13. They erased a 20-point deficit as the Lakers’ offense fell apart after the break. Los Angeles led 63-50 at halftime and stretched the margin to 20 early in the third quarter. The Lakers scored 26 points in the whole second half. They are now 2-2 in the preseason.
Austin Reaves had 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, 4-of-7 from three and 4-of-4 at the line, with seven assists in 25 minutes. He also had seven turnovers. Dončić did not play, and neither did Ziaire Williams, Collin Sexton, Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero. Walker Kessler made his Lakers debut after being sidelined by a jammed left pinky finger. He had 11 points and nine rebounds in 16 minutes.
The turnovers decided the game. The Lakers gave away 18 turnovers against 10 made field goals in the final 24 minutes. Golden State’s second-half comeback was driven by Yaxel Lendeborg, who scored 17 points, and De’Anthony Melton, who had six steals.
The Lakers Can’t Handle the Ball Without Their Main Ball-Handlers
This was not a one-game problem. The Lakers have committed at least 20 in all four of their preseason games and have averaged 25. JJ Redick said after the game that the minutes without Reaves, Dončić or Sexton on the floor have been the problem. He said “our other minutes were like at 93% organization rate. Those minutes were at 60%.” He added that “it’s too taxing with full-court pressure for AR and Luka to just do that solely.”
That is a roster problem. When the main ball-handlers sit, the offense loses its structure, and the Lakers ran out of handlers on Tuesday with Dončić and Sexton both out.
The roster has three players who can run the offense — Dončić, Reaves and Sexton — and Redick is counting Chris Manon as a fourth. The Lakers can absorb that in October.
In the regular season, any injury to a ball-handler will put more weight on Reaves and Dončić, the two players Redick says cannot carry it alone. Kessler’s debut was the one clear positive, but the biggest open question on this roster is who runs the offense when the starters sit.
Denver Closes the Preseason Friday
The Lakers host the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7:30 p.m. PT. It is their final exhibition game before Opening Night. The thing to watch is whether Dončić and Sexton return and whether the turnover count finally drops below 20.
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