When the Warriors defeat the Lakers, Stephen Curry is a showman.
In the Warriors’ 111-97 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Stephen Curry put on a display with 16 points, five rebounds, six assists, and two steals. During the team’s unbeaten preseason run, Draymond Green recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, playing in the second half for the first time.
CURRY SHINES AGAINST OLYMPIC TEAMMATES
Curry shared the court with Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the first time since teaming up for USA Basketball in their gold medal Olympic run this summer. Like he did in Paris, Curry again stole the show with several jaw-dropping highlights. Curry’s first splash of the game was a signature look-away from 25 feet. Towards the end of the first half, he executed a perfect 2-for-1, beating James off the dribble for a layup and raining in a deep contested three over Davis. After his final splash, he hit another one of his signatures — a shimmy shake.
MOODY AND KUMINGA SET STAGE FOR PROMISING YEAR FOUR
Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga have been extremely productive all preseason and made key contributions on Tuesday. After back-to-back starts, Moody scored a game-high 21 points off the bench in 19 minutes and hit five triples, which began with a smothered splash over James late in the first quarter. Kuminga scored 11 points with six rebounds in 20 minutes and was particularly effective in isolation against All-Defensive First Team forward Anthony Davis, beating him off the bounce for multiple layups.
WELCOME BACK, WIGGS
After missing all of training camp and the first four preseason games with an illness, Andrew Wiggins made his preseason debut on Tuesday. Due to missing so much time, Wiggins was on a minutes restriction scoring 11 points and hitting all five of his free throw attempts in 21 minutes. He started at shooting guard, in a bigger defensive lineup featuring Kuminga, Jackson-Davis, Green and Curry.
“He’s [Wiggins} going to have some catching up to do because we are doing some different things,” Head Coach Steve Kerr said before Wiggins’ debut. “Even though he’s been watching, it’s different when you have to feel it. He looks good and it’s great to have him back.”
KERR AND REDICK COACHING PARALLELS
The Lakers hired JJ Redick this offseason to be their new head coach and the former NBA sharpshooter has several striking similarities with Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr, when he took over the franchise a decade ago. Both Redick and Kerr played 15 years in the NBA but had zero years of coaching experience before taking the helm. They were among the top percentage 3-point shooters in NBA history and served as broadcasters before they joined California franchises (Lakers, Warriors) with an established star(s) to build around (Curry, James, Davis).
Kerr has since gone on to win four championships and led the Warriors to six NBA Finals appearances, including a year in which he won a historic 73 games in the 2015-16 season. He was named one of the NBA’s 15 greatest coaches ever during the NBA’s 75th anniversary season — setting a high bar and blueprint for the Lakers’ new leader.
“I know J.J. is going to do a great job,” Kerr said at media day. “He’s smart, has played in the league and knows what all these guys go through.”
