The scoreline was comfortable, the opponent was short-handed, and the stakes were only preseason. But GSW still did what good teams are supposed to do: handle business. The Golden State Warriors rolled past the Los Angeles Lakers 124-98 at Chase Center on Tuesday night, and while nobody is ripping up a playoff board over a preseason win, there was enough here to make the early signs worth watching.
This was also the Warriors’ first preseason win, which matters more than the result itself. Steph Curry had already made the point on Sunday that preseason results do not matter much. Fair enough. The problem is that teams still have to look like teams, and on this night Golden State did. Their first-quarter burst was the kind of thing that calls to mind older Warrior teams — the sort of fast, fluid, fully awake basketball that used to make opponents look like they had arrived late to their own game.
Steph Curry and Draymond Green set the tone
Steph Curry and Draymond Green played limited minutes, but they still helped establish the tone. Curry scored 16 points in 14 minutes, going 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-6 from deep, while adding five assists and committing zero turnovers. That is clean, efficient work. No drama, no wasted possessions, no sloppy preseason nonsense. Just Curry doing Curry things.
Green was just as tidy in his own way: one shot, eight assists, and 15 minutes of control. That is the point with a veteran core like this. You do not need speeches, and you do not need extended auditions. You need organization, authority and a sense that the game is moving in the direction you want. Golden State got that.
Yaxel Lendeborg kept making his case
The most interesting individual performance belonged to Yaxel Lendeborg. The rookie scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and he kept looking like a player who belongs in the conversation rather than on the edge of it. In 19 minutes, that is real production. It is one thing to survive preseason minutes; it is another to stand out in them. Lendeborg is doing the second part.
Brandin Podziemski also had a sharp night, finishing with 14 points and a plus-26 in 14 minutes. The numbers fit the eye test: Golden State was on the front foot when he was out there. Gui Santos also did his job, finishing with 16 points. None of this was accidental. It was a roster performance, not just a star turn.
A preseason win, yes — but an instructive one
There is no need to overcook it. The Lakers were short-handed, and preseason is preseason. Still, Golden State did not just win; it won with enough rhythm and balance to make the evening worthwhile. The Warriors are scheduled to play the Portland Trail Blazers in Oregon on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. PT, so this was also a useful step, not an endpoint.
At this stage, that is exactly the point. Get the win. Get the timing right. Get the rookies involved. And above all, do not look like a team waiting for the season to happen to it. On Tuesday night, GSW at least looked like a team trying to get ahead of the calendar.
