On October 16th, Beijing time, the NBA preseason competition continued, and the West ushered in a focus battle, the Lakers and the Warriors ushered in a head-to-head competition, as two giant teams that are on the decline, the Lakers changed the style of drastic adjustment of the lineup in the past, only through the draft to introduce Bronny and Knecht, on the other hand, the Warriors let go of Paul and Klay two veterans, and introduced a number of new signings in one go, among which Klay left the team was not happy, and the meritorious veteran refused the Warriors' bigger contract, chose to take a pay cut to join the Mavericks in an attempt to start a new journey.
At the beginning of the game, the Lakers took the lead in entering the state, but the Warriors quickly overtook after finding their rhythm, and then firmly controlled the situation, especially after the rotation lineup came on, the Warriors comprehensively suppressed the Lakers, and the point difference was stretched to double digits.
After the Lakers re-entered the game, they once narrowed the gap to single digits, but the overall lineup continuity was far less than that of the Warriors, and the difference was reopened.
Because it was only a preseason, the two teams began to practice in the final quarter, and in the end, the Warriors defeated the Lakers 111-97.
Unexpectedly stepped on the iron law of winning the championship
For the two teams aiming for the title, the victory or defeat in the pre-season is not important, and the run-in squad is the key to scouting new signings and young players.
In particular, the Warriors, who completed a roster overhaul in the offseason, need to make full use of the preseason to run in and determine the core rotation for the new season.
As a result, in the process of stumbling and running-in, the new Warriors have unwittingly won five in a row, which is the fourth time in the last 10 years that the Warriors have won five consecutive wins in the preseason, and the previous three wins have won the current season (2015, 2017 and 2022).
Goodbye Clay
正如追梦在季前赛开打后所说，如果将勇士与克莱之间的分手比作离婚，那么这也是一次幸福的离婚。 （It's a happy divorce, if there's a divorce）。
Because Klay, as a meritorious veteran of the Warriors, can't let go of his body at all, and joining the Mavericks with a salary cut is more likely to lower his profile and accept the fact that his personal condition and game influence have declined after suffering consecutive major injuries.
So far for the Mavericks, Klay has averaged 3.3 points per game on 3-of-28 shooting in three games, as well as two hanging eggs (0-of-9 and 0-of-10).
Warriors are reborn
The Warriors also maintained maximum decency in the breakup, offering Klay a bigger contract than the Mavericks, and after being rejected, they still sent Klay to the Mavericks of his choice, even if the latter was in the same division as them.
At the same time, in the process of sending Klay away, he completed a series of miraculous operations, and successively introduced three high-quality role players Hield, Melton and Lee Kyle.
After the three joined the Warriors, they quickly integrated into the team and played a brilliant performance, and the slowest Li Kaier is also getting better, in this game against the Lakers, Li Kaier scored 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 4 of 7, playing the role of the brain of the second team, and once again handed over the highest plus/minus +22 in the game.
In addition, compared to the decorated veteran Klay, the positioning of several new signings can be adjusted by Kerr, and all three have played a substitute role in the past few games.
This has given young players such as Moody, Podemski, TJD and Kuminga more opportunities to show themselves, and they haven't disappointed.
Especially Moody, who has been suppressed in the past few seasons, has completely exploded this season, scoring 21 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on 7-of-13 shooting (5-of-7 three-pointers) in 19 minutes, and successfully appeared on the Warriors' post-game poster (13-of-29 three-point shooting so far in the preseason, with a shooting rate of 44.8%).
Colming two-kill
In the face of such an excellent performance of the team, Cole couldn't help but be happy after the game.
Kerr bluntly said that Dream and Curry are key players in the team, and the depth of the roster is the strength of the team, and I haven't seen all the other teams in the league yet, but I can confirm that we are a team with a lot of depth.
Curry is undoubtedly a direct beneficiary of the Warriors' roster depth, and he can finally paddle in the game, even if his preseason form fluctuates greatly, and he still doesn't delay the team to win on 6-of-18 from the field, which is unimaginable in the past two seasons.
The relaxed Curry also completed a standard "dunk" in the game, and the Warriors official did not forget to post a video to ridicule: "Close enough".