For their first week of the season, the Golden State Warriors largely looked like another data point to support the theory that new superteams need some time to gel—a blowout loss to the Spurs, followed by wins over the Pelicans and Suns that were far closer than they should have been. But the last few days made it look as if things might be starting to click, with an easy win over the Blazers and a statement victory to kick off the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook rivalry.
And then last night, the Warriors got their asses handed to them by the Lakers.
Steph Curry had nothing from beyond the arc for the first time in nearly two years, ending his NBA-record streak of games with at least one three-pointer at 157. But it was not, at least, for lack of trying—he went 0-for-10 on three-point shooting Friday, with a whole lot of bricks as part of an ugly night where he scored 13 points overall.
But it wasn’t just Curry who was off, as Golden State came out cold with just 15 points in the first quarter and never quite recovered. Durant led a chance at a comeback in the third quarter, bringing the Warriors within six after being down by 16 at halftime, but the Lakers pulled away from there. Lou Williams came off the bench for L.A. and added 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers ended the night with a 117-97 victory.
One takeaway is that it’s still very early in the year, and the Warriors have plenty of time to settle in and kick the ass they’re expected to. Another is that Luke Walton might be clairvoyant or at least able to will things into existence by saying them out loud to reporters: