The Golden State Warriors erased a 20-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 101-89, in the preseason. Head coach Steve Kerr was not celebrating. He pointed to the turnovers and the scattered offense after the win.
Warriors Fall Behind Early
Golden State committed nine turnovers in the second quarter. The Lakers turned those giveaways into 12 points. Los Angeles led 63-50 at halftime, then pushed the margin to 20 early in the third quarter.
Austin Reaves led the charge. He scored 28 points with seven assists and four rebounds in 25 minutes. He shot 10-for-18 from the field and 4-for-7 from three. The Warriors rested Draymond Green and Al Horford, and Los Angeles also played without Luka Doncic. Reaves attacked the rim at will.
Kerr did not hide his frustration. He called the second quarter “mindless turnovers” that let the game get away.
“I like our effort, our energy, but the execution was lacking,” Kerr said, per Joseph Dycus of the Mercury News. “The second quarter was a lot of mindless turnovers, which completely allowed the game to get away from us.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr after the win over the Lakers.
Kerr Sees Warriors Still Far From Ready
The timeout came early. Kerr stopped the game barely two minutes in after Brandin Podziemski threw a pass that the Lakers stole. The mistake came one day after Kerr had addressed turnovers with the team. He noted the Warriors had 84 through four preseason games, per NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole.
The message did not fully stick. Kerr was blunt about how far the Warriors still have to go.
“No, we’re not anywhere close to where we want to be right now,” Kerr said. “We’re working on the right things; we have our clear vision. The players are great guys who are committed and want to do well. But our execution is just scattered at this point. It’s not going to happen overnight, so we’ve got to keep working on it.”
He also pointed to the offense. The Warriors did not get to their spots after made baskets. Kerr wants more consistent cuts and fewer random actions.
“Getting to consistent spots, making consistent cuts, getting away from the random stuff that we’ve done in the past, so we have to be more organized,” he said.
Golden State Cleaned Up In Second Half
The second half looked much better. The Warriors grabbed 13 offensive rebounds after getting two in the first half. They also committed nine turnovers, and Los Angeles scored only four points off them. The Lakers gave away 18 turnovers against 10 made field goals in the final 24 minutes.
Kerr gave credit for the energy and effort. He still wants cleaner finishes in transition and fewer missed easy plays.
“Much better second half, overall, the energy and effort,” Kerr said. “But we’ve got to execute better. We have to finish in transition, make the easy plays and we’re not close yet.”
Lendeborg Rolls His Ankle
One more issue came up in the third quarter. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg rolled his left ankle. He left briefly, got checked out and returned.
The Warriors host the Portland Trail Blazers in their preseason finale on Oct. 16. They then open the regular season against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 21.
Warriors’ Steve Kerr Sends Blunt Message After Beating Lakers