Warriors crush Lakers' core squad, finish preseason undefeated – The Mercury News

SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors were supposed to make their preseason finale a dress rehearsal game, but their plans were derailed when Steph Curry sprained his right index finger and had to sit it out for precautionary reasons.

It wouldn't have been a real test anyway. The Lakers sat out just about every big-name player on the second night of a bizarre back-to-back preseason. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, Dalton Knecht, D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves all did not play, making the game more of a varsity vs. JV game than a contest.

Golden State won 132-74 against the Lakers' base team, capping a perfect 6-0 preseason. They are the only team in the NBA to go undefeated in the preseason.

To beat Los Angeles, the Warriors shot 58.3% and had a 21-5 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first half before completely blowing the Lakers out of Chase Center. Jonathan Kuminga scored a team-high 17 points and six Warriors recorded double-digit points. Bronny James, who started for the Lakers, scored 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting.

The Warriors conquered Los Angeles from the start. They started with the same huge lineup they had in Las Vegas against the Lakers, just with De'Anthony Melton in Curry's place. This group hit seven of their first nine shots, with almost everything going into the air.

Apart from a few defensive errors from Jonathan Kuminga, the unit dominated as they should. Then the bench came into the game after seven minutes and scored 13 unanswered points, picked up the pace and conceded two three-pointers.

Brandin Podziemski scored 10 points in the first six minutes in his first game since breaking his nose. He shot two three-pointers, one off an excellent extra pass from Buddy Hield, and was rewarded for well-timed backdoor cuts.

Podziemski has played with a protective mask before when he broke his nose in college at Santa Clara, so there wasn't much of an adjustment period for him with the clear mask. He would have played on Tuesday too, but the mask didn't arrive in time.

In the first quarter, in which Golden State won 36-18, Moses Moody did not come off the bench. Although the dress rehearsal was canceled, it is notable that he is the 11th Warrior to touch the field. The Warriors have 13 players for 10 rotation spots and Steve Kerr has some difficult conversations to have.

Moody, the team's leading scorer in the preseason, had a great offseason and earned some well-deserved playing time, but could still be pushed out of the crowded rotation.