If I were a hot-take artist, this morning I would say, “The Warriors are legit, and the Lakers are not.”
That is a wild overreaction to Game 1s of their series, but someone might as well say it. Guile meant nothing for the Lakers on Saturday, when the Timberwolves ran them out of the gym, and it meant everything to the Warriors on Sunday, when they beat the Rockets at their own hard-nosed game.
The Lakers had no answer for 23-year-old rising superstar Anthony Edwards, who collected 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in 35 minutes of work. He could have had a lot more. His teammates had a ton of open looks, too, and knocked them down, combining to shoot 17 of 33 from deep (51.5 3P%).
Minnesota’s starting five — Edwards, Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert — scored 28 points in 12 minutes, assisting on eight of their 11 field goals and outscoring the Lakers by seven, despite committing a handful of turnovers. Clean those up, and it could have been a bloodbath.
What is worse for the Lakers: Minnesota’s smaller-ball lineups, featuring Naz Reid at center in place of Gobert, also walloped Los Angeles. In total the Timberwolves’ reserves — boasting Donte DiVincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker — outscored that shallow pool they call the Lakers’ bench by a 43-13 margin.
Luka Dončić and LeBron James shared the floor for 32 minutes of Game 1. They were outscored by 11. That vaunted trio of James, Dončić and Austin Reaves was -13 in 24 minutes. They could not score against the quicker, hungrier Wolves, netting 100 points per 100 possessions (a mark that would rank the worst since the 10-win Philadelphia 76ers of 2015-16). They could not stop anyone, either, allowing 122 points per 100 possessions (a mark that would rank second only to the highest net rating in NBA history).
Maybe it is just coincidence that the Lakers happened to be that bad on both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, everything the Lakers wished they were — the cunning of experience — was what the Warriors were against the young Rockets. Stephen Curry was as electric as ever, converting a trio of majestic 3s, each as impressive as the next, all back-breaking in the biggest moments of the game. The 37-year-old finished with 31 points (12-19 FG, 5-9 3P), six rebounds and three assists in 40 minutes.
At Curry’s side was Jimmy Butler, who introduced Houston to what it had missed by passing on him at the trade deadline. Instead Golden State got Playoff Jimmy, who produced 25 points (10-19 FG), seven rebounds, six assists and five steals, committing a single turnover in 42 minutes. They were workhorses at advanced ages, even on defense — especially on defense — driving winning in ways James could not.
On the back end of a defensive effort that limited Houston to 85 points (39.1 FG%) was Draymond Green. He bullied everyone within arm’s length, and even if the Rockets did not fully take the bait, they got a taste of what is to come in this series: Veterans, who know how to win, doing just that at a prime level.
What is funny is that we could have said the same about the Warriors as we did the Lakers, if only Houston had completed its attempt to come back from a 23-point deficit. The Rockets got within a single possession midway through the fourth quarter, but there was Curry with those back-breaking 3s again.
Despite 56 points combined from Curry and Butler, the Warriors only produced 106.7 points per 100 possessions against Houston’s hard-charging defense, a rating equal to that of the Charlotte Hornets. That is not going to cut it against more formidable foes; it might not cut it much more against Houston.
But if I were going to take away anything from the opening weekend of the playoffs, other than the fact that the Milwaukee Bucks are cooked, it would be that Golden State has a legit chance to win the championship and L.A. does not.
Butler fits seamlessly into what the Warriors want to do, and they are a team that makes sense. They can strangle opponents on defense, and they feature Curry, the ultimate problem-solver, on offense. Not so for the Lakers, who may have the offensive weaponry to compete but lack the defensive assets to excel.
This could all change in Game 2s. Minnesota could go cold, Houston could get hot, and both could flip the script. And we will be waiting with more overreactions, because that is what a good hot-take artist does.
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