Golden State Warriors Vs Los Angeles Lakers Full Game Oct 5, 2025 NBA Preseason TODAY

Golden State Warriors Vs Los Angeles Lakers Full Game Oct 5, 2025 NBA Preseason TODAY

This is the first preseason game for Golden State. The second one for the Lakers Friday night in Phoenix against the Suns. I suppose I’m required to give who won or lost. Not that it matters, but the Suns did win that. So, Gabe Vincent, who did not play Friday, gets the Eightton Gon a new addition, knocks down his first shot. He’s already made more field goals than the other night, but he wasn’t looking to score. A different level threat at that position. That’s what he can do. 15t jump shot. He’s an offensive machine. 16 points a game for his career. Another weapon for the Lakers up front. There’s a defensive weapon and Vanderbilt with the steal. Vincent lines it up and knocks down a three. So, a nice quick start for the Lakers. And a jump ball. So, good defense. And that is going to be critical for this Laker team to turn around and and become a top defensive team. Well, and that’s what Vanderbilt does. You look at him, he shoots the gap against Steph starting on him and then even on the inbounds right there, he is back full in defensive mode. That’s what the Lakers love what he brings and how he does it. So Vanderville forcing the jump ball has the clear height advantage here. He’s healthy and that’s that is always the key for him and everyone else. And DeAndre Eaton has knocked down his first two shots. Here’s Moody. Moody on the drive and finish. Impressive move from Moody who had a really fine season last year. looking to build on that. And they want to see him be more aggressive and assertive on plays like that. He saw there was a big on the close out. He could swing through, beat him to the rim. Ball deflected out. He’ll stay down this end. Lakers have it. 13 on the shot clock. Yeah, look, Moses Moody in this in this system is going to be primarily spending a lot of time catching and shooting threes, but they know he can do more of that with his quickness, his length. If you can attack the closeout defender and get an easy one, take it. Here’s Morabia. Fouled by Jimmy Butler. Morabia, of course, spent most of his early career with the Grizzlies. Then got traded meant the stars. Well, and that’s the thing. You look around this league. There are so many players that once you learn how to play around the stars, everybody wants you. And they think he’s one of those young players. Couldn’t quite get the timing right on that lop. Golden State comes the other way. Last year they won 48 games regular season. got to the second round as Vajki can’t get it to go. Hatimora the rebound. [Music] [Applause] Gave Vincent. Another role player where they just hope to be healthy. There’s Draymond. Draymond Green. Nice save. Finds Curry. Advance. Pensky. Goes right at Vincent. Butler gathers. Shot. Blocked with a foul. Got a piece of it. by Butler, one of the best at drawing fouls, will go to the line. And the heat of a few guys would have caught that ball right there and not taken it directly up. But if he does that, he’s going to get contested and probably miss a very difficult layup. Instead, all that balance, the two-foot jump stop, he waits, lets the traffic clear, knows he can get to the other side of the rim and do what he does best. And what this team desperately needs, someone that can get easy points at the line. Well, and and if you look at the start this game, you look at what Moody has done, Pajimsky, uh, you know, the young players on this team, that’s when we talked about in the open, they’re going to dictate the elevation. If they start to make the reads and the plays that they’re supposed to, that’s going to open up thing for the Sars. Well, Kajki has a chance to be a starter for both these teams. Really, the spots on the roster are pretty much set. Now, where you stand in the rotation or perhaps a starting job, that also could could change according to how things go. This for Golden State, there’s a good chance this could be their starting lineup. Draymond Green at the center. He had excellent numbers when he played the five last year. Pass deflected by Moody. Butler with a save, but Hachima picks it up. Some pretty good defensive intensity early on. Arabia can’t hit that. Vanderbilt grabs it. one of the best offensive rebounding small forwards in this league. Vanderbilt is is exactly right there. His activity level creates the extra possession and then he ends up being the recipient of that. But that’s just his work on the first part of that possession to come up with the extra shot. Great cut, body control and gets it to go. He has not been healthy the last couple of years. Heel injury, foot injury. This is now here with the Lakers. JJ Reic said he was one of the bright spots Friday night. Working on his shooting. He’s done a lot of work in the off season. That has never been a strength, but he is a defensive disruptor. As you see right now, Curry gets by him though easily floats it up and good. And those are the things that you’re okay with Steph. You want to pressure him so he doesn’t get off a three. You want to limit his attempts, not necessarily how many he makes. If he attempts, he’s going to make, but right there forcing him to drive. You’re okay with that. You’re okay with that type of defensive intensity. Steph Curry’s handling the ball in that tight window right in front of him. Never worried, never bothered. Knows he can get wherever he needs to with that creative handle. Vincent, not sure if that was a pass or a shot. Either way, it didn’t go down. Butler had it, held on to it despite the intentions of Vinsler. Moody walks into a three-pointer. [Music] There’s some some actual real intensity right now for a preseason start. The worst thing that could happen in a preseason game is you don’t show the effort and then film and practice dictate that. Vincent with the foul reached in. Well, JJ Reick was talking about for tonight about conditioning Reggie, which he was talking about changing into the floor. You saw stories where the Lakers are doing this conditioning drill, the sprint work that you don’t see a lot in NBA training camp practices anymore because he wanted to show more mental and physical toughness. And here’s a nice ovation for the new warrior. Alford, one of the most respected players of his generation by coaches, by teammates, by opponents, by fans. In his first year, he signed a two-year free agent deal. He’s going to be 40 in June. He hopes he turns 40 when the Warriors are playing in the NBA finals. Of course, that the question for Golden State. They’ve got some great players, but they’re all 35 plus the four top guys we’re talking about. Curry Green. A little miscommunication there. Butler and Horford. So, the key for them is is since probably like the early 2000s. And so when you’re going to have to keep guys healthy and Jimmy Butler with the and one opportunity. Excellent pass from the ball in this system. Thunder completes the three-point play. By the way, we talked about Al Horford. He’s wearing number 20. He was 42 in Boston. Can’t wear 42 here in the Bay Area. The great Nate Thurman, the Hall of Famer. His number retired. Loravia chasing. Loravia can’t get it. Payton hauls in the offensive board and then a tough low pass to catch. Draymond Green the runner and the tip off the miss. Good second effort. Probably won’t see these starters play in the second half so they can go all out here in the first half. [Music] Butler chasing Loravian a little too aggressive. So Jimmy Butler picks up his first number. More substitution. Brian James. Dalton connect. Bonnie James in his second year. Got some great numbers in the GLeague as tries to continue to get his game to grow and also obviously played 27 games for the Lakers last year. didn’t shoot the ball well, but they see progress. Oh, nice catch. Not an easy play there as Larabia made made the pass. Well, and that’s what they want to see, especially with Luca, with LeBron and that pick and roll and Steph gets free. But that’s what DeAndre A brings. If he can stretch the floor and knock down jumper, he is in a tremendous roll threat. Much more aggressive looking for a shot. You know JJ Reic last year they were talking about you know he didn’t want to play bigs like he had almost like a disdain for big steps some early James who obviously is going to be 41 in December what they did last year both made all NBA second team after this many years at this age was remarkable it is but it also is a testament to their cont their conditioning their approach to the game their consistency and how they work out that’s what you see as they get older [Music] Shot clock down to three. Lorabia nice spin moveky. Excellent defense there. Not going to get it off in time. 24 second violation. That’s some good Warrior defense. Mike, I want to go back to that play where Steph got the layup off the Al Horford. It reminds me of when they had Andrew Bogen. You wouldn’t call him a playmaker, but you can run the offense through him. He knows how to hit a back cut. He knows how to make the reads. There is another facilitator, especially as a big that the Warriors have. Draymond Green off the bounce. Ronnie James trying to guard him up top. Curry catch, fire, connects. [Music] Oh, he looks like certainly it’s not the first preseason game for Steph Curry. The way that his his stroke looks right now, that was an inverted twoman game. He set the screen and was rewarded in a non-g guaranteed contract. So, he’s going to be here preseason, but because all these crazy salary cap rules, they’re going to have to wave him and then resign him again in November. But, he’s going to have a real role on this team with his brother. I think he has some job security. Him and him and Thanasses have some job security. I just got to put it out there. Rightfully so. Well, look, this guy led the league in three-point percentage last year. So, it’s not like they’re doing a a step of favor here. Steph Curry in this system is going to have a lot of success. And he gives Steve Kerr another veteran option that’s smart, that can shoot it, and gives it more depth. Nate can’t get it to go. Harford quick outlet. You although obviously not playing tonight. Curry has it. Quick catch, quick fire. Boy, he is in he isn’t even I can’t even say preseason early form. A spectacular start. Looks in great rhythm. [Music] Bonnie James turns it over. Good defense. Curry too fancy takes full responsibility. [Applause] Look what he just hit two deep threes without touching the bottom of the net. He probably like to have this one back in on that layup, that turnover. But look at him right there. How quickly he gets it out of his hand. And Rich, I think also he’s probably thinking what we said. He’s not going to be out there that long. So he is hunting even more aggressively probably than he normally would at the start, but he didn’t get there in time. So he comes out. He got a nice ovation. Of course, it was kind of the drama of the off season for Golden State about him resigning. It was a restricted free agent, but signed a two-year deal. Be very fascinating to see his role and how it all plays out. Here’s RJ Davis, the rookie from North Carolina, who’s committed to the game. Buddy Heel comes up with a steal. Took it away from Nate Williams. Five turnovers for the Lakers. Butler kicks it out. Heel wide open. [Applause] He in his second year with Golden State. I don’t know if you guys saw Jimmy Butler wave off Buddy Heled after he missed it, but that’ll be a good one in the replay. Well, those two have a fun relationship. Butler always teasing heel. Shot slotted by Mford. Davis shot attempt. Four on the shot clock. Connect way off and Butler to rebound. Tell you what, the Warriors defense has been tenacious. You don’t say that in preseason very often. Butler looking to post up the rookie. Draymond Green. Blocked by Eightton and a couple of blocks the other night. Green gets it back from Horford but can’t complete it. [Music] Connect. Ronnie James. Butler throws it inside. Heel this time finishes it off. [Applause] [Music] Jimmy Davis who had an excellent career in North Carolina. Gets it off to Bronny James. Floats it up and draws the foul. A very active DeAndre Aton. All right. Legs. But you look at Aton has he’s averaged a double double in each of his first seven years, but he got a buyout from Portland to sign here. What What went arry? Well, I’m not going to say that there’s not some curiosity into his approach. Um I I would say that for DeAndre Aiden, it was very similar. He wanted to be on a team where he could be the focal point. He got there, it wasn’t a great mix, and now he has an opportunity to be a contributor similar to he was in his Phoenix days. He says it’s the biggest opportunity of his career. He’s aware of the talk out there and knows that he’s got a lot to prove this year. Gary Payton is in the game. Pat Spencer’s in the game. Payton right away. First touch. The veteran knocks it down. They resign him again. Pton such a a wonderful and tangible player. Here’s Nate Williams. Former Rocket drives on Spencer. Goes in hard. Corinford right there with a help defense. Williams gets it back. deflected by Payton. Jonathan Kaminga now in the game along you forget that he’s an elite backline defender. He can either play above the rim for a block or positionally get his body in the way to create traffic and draw a charge. He’s just so smart as your anchor on the baseline. Foul called, but healed a snack day. Archbishop Stephanac High School. Terrific college career see to part of the our broadcast family with the NBA. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Nine-point Golden State lead. [Music] Spencer. Good help there from Vanderbilt. Kaminga has the height advantage. Gets past Davis inside. Good help from Jackson Hayes, but a foul. And Kaminga will shoot. Injuries to their team, but then also why you struggled to make him as a part of the rotation as you would like. So, this is his fifth year. It’s hard to believe it’s already 5 years. He’s only 23 years old, the seventh pick back in 2021. And they still need him to play a role. Now, he wants to start. He wants to finish. He wants to be a focal point. So, it’s it’s him finding some kind of niche here right now for this team because they they’ve got a lot of depth. I will say Go ahead. Go ahead, Tim. I was just going to say it puts him in a conundrum and we talked to Steve Kerr about this before the game because of the tenantizing talent and the athletic ability that he represents that they don’t really have on this roster. He can make plays against elite defenders that other guys on their team can’t make just because he’s so explosive. So, if he can button up the details and polish his game and add maturity to his game, Richard, I think there’s an absolute need for him in this rotation if they really want to compete and contend. Spencer draws the foul. So, some more free throws coming up with 226 remaining here in this first quarter. Legs, you know, one one thing that can also affect a player’s mentality. You win that championship early in your career. You win that championship. So the things left for you are can you get paid and how many times you could be an all-star, how can you be an allNBA. So when you get that championship, you know, under your belt pretty early, now all of a sudden your focal point might tweak into what can I be? What can I accomplish individually? And I think that’s something that I think we saw a little bit with Jordan Pool. We’ve seen it with players over the course of being with a championship team younger and then wanting, you know, bigger things for themselves. If you saw the difference in the playoffs last year, first round Houston, he was basically out of the rotation, but then Steph Curry gets hurt game one of the second round. He winds up averaging 21 a game in the fivegame series against the Timberwolves with a 30-point game. And I give him a lot of credit for for mentally staying with it in that situation for a young player. I mean, when he stood up in the game when Steph Curry went down, I saw a cloud of dust fly up down there. He had been sitting there so long and he’s still so young even though he’s got 5 years in. 23 years old. Going to cough and travel there. Vincent inside, poked away by Kaminga. That’s what they love to see defense from him. This is all tied up. Decides to shoot it. Can’t get it to fall. Jackson Hayes. Lakers last year won 50 games. Number three in the Western Conference. Vanderbilt knocks down the three. And boy, what a difference that will make if he can knock down threes. Well, Rich and I had a side our first side glance of the year right there because listen, if if that shot’s going in, that’s house money right there for Vanderbilt because of all the other things he does to help you win. He can knock down one of those once in a while, man, does his value go up. And there’s the Horford pass. Beautiful look. Spencer finishes. 30-point first quarter for Golden State. Here’s Gabe Vincent. Vincent, nice feet inside and Hayes lays it up and in. Lakers have had a couple of really good possessions. Some nice ball movement. Barford always a good three-point shooter. Didn’t shoot hardly at all the first seven or eight years of his career. And then the game changed. And then we saw nothing but big men in sevenfooters shooting all the threes. Six to shoot. Vincent makes his move off balance and Spencer does not like the call. Vincent will walk to the free throw line. I like the combination of Hayes and DeAndre Able to get it done and now they I think they found their big man in a Vincent connects on the first stream like your courts high within. Sign up on the NBA app or NBA.com to start streaming today. Dave Vincson, of course, big part of that Miami Heat team that went to the finals in 2023. Was hurt much of his first year with the Lakers, but he is a good, tough, smart, hard-nosed player. This his third year now with the Lakers and completely turned his season around a year ago. I mean, he could not make a shot the first two months of the season. He ended up being a guy who was playing 20 plus minutes regularly for them over the last couple of months. [Music] Buddy Heel falling away. Gets it a go. Buddy. Four points off the bench for Buddy Heel. He had that amazing game seven against the Rockets in the first round for Golden State. Shot clock turned off. No fouls to give here. Trying to harass Vincent. Does a nice job. Vincent though does a better job and knocks down the shot. Rather coming his way again. That’s why the preseason it’s it’s just you really can’t make any definitive judgments or evaluations because different guys aren’t playing together and an offensive foul called. Offensive foul. Hayes picks up his first. Yeah, that’s a great point, Mike, about like not making you some sort of picture conclusion about guys, but the one thing you can see clearly immediately, they did not have that level of talent at that position in the past uh since well AD left. So now look at the looking at the team a year ago that Luke inherited when he got here. This is a different look with having a guy that big that can finish plays the way DeAndre Aiden can. Vincent aggressive looking for a shot. Knocks down another. He’s got 13 points and shooting the ball well. Curry Butler fakes and Hayes went for the fake. Butler fakes it home and gets to the free throw line. Hayes was put in a tough spot there cuz you want to you want to come at Steph, but you but Steph is doing what you want him to do. You want to make Steph drive, but here you got to be bound. You got to know who Jimmy Butler is. You got to stay down. And then once he gets that shut up, wrap him up. Once he gets that shot up, wrap him up. Those are the plays that Look, it’s preseason for everyone, not just us. Butler last year after the trade claim violation on Draymond Green. He just left before before the and his response was, “When’d you guys start calling that?” Not that the referee was wrong. He was like, “You’re not wrong, but when did you start calling that? We have to as Vanderville hands it off. Morabia back in with Hachimura. [Applause] Tough shot, but Vanderville showing his athleticism. And JJ Reick was talking about this. You just you just see the bounce that he has right now that he’s helping. Kaminga lines up his three-pointer. I got [Music] Lakers finished the first quarter strong, starting this one nicely. Vincent fires and knocks down another. Gabe Vincent red hot. Remember he had those two great games in the finals, games one and game two. I think he had 19 or 20 in game one, 23. So he can score. And Curry knocks it down. Vanderbelt and Draymond Green get into a scuffle. Musadager quickly gets in between them. [Music] I didn’t see what initiated it. They obviously had contact and both fell to the floor as Curry knocked down a three-pointer. Yeah, Draymond set the screen. I was a shooter. I needed that. Like I needed that screen set. But usually that’s called well the officials have talked about Monty McCutchen who does such a such a fantastic job in charge of the referee said that they need to do a better job of of calling screens as that shot won’t go. Pumpsky trying to get it. Vanderville great hustle lines it up. Can’t get it at the fall. Eighton takes it away. Loose ball foul on Kaminga. There are about the average 300 screens set per game. And the running joke is because you can see guys where it’s outside your shoulders. Are you are you, you know, sticking parts of your body out? They’re they’re trying to manage it. But again, there’s 300 screens per game. And we’ll get into this at some point tonight. There not really any rule changes. There are a couple of tweaks to a few things, but one of the things they want to make sure is be consistent in calling illegal screens. Vanderbilt, good drive. Aabia didn’t expect it. Still able to get it to go. Vanderbilt looks terrific. He does. He’s been impressive. Can I give one observation? If we’re talking about the referees, I feel like they all have new earpieces in. That’s correct. They’re trying to make all the reviews a little quicker. Okay. and more be able to communicate with each other during the course. A lot of that’s a work in progress. Butler, good defense from Aton. Shot clock at four. Curry has some room. Can’t get that to go. [Applause] You know, Rich, I consider myself a pretty observant person. I did not notice the earpieces on the officials. That one slipped right by me. It’s my ADD. I pick up everything at all times. Are they earpieces you up for? I did. I decided it’s preseason. You know, we’re going to miss some logs. But off the bounce, create some space. Can’t get it to fall. Steve Ker says, “I know it’s only first week of training camp, but he says Pajetski has been fabulous.” Vincson goes help up after knocking down Green. Size is just a really elite level. always in the right place defensively. He’s a ball mover offensively. A very important piece of this Warriors team. Green ahead to Kaminga. Back up top. Draymond Green looking finds Curry inside. Kaminga leans in. Scoop layup. Gets it a go. Little razledazzle from Jonathan Kaminga. [Applause] Larabia lost it. Good defense from Curry. Pajki gets inside off balance. Drew some contact. Warriors wanted a goalender. It looked like the ball may have been touched. Officials will discuss it. He got something better by using his athleticism, which interrupt you too, but it’s very hard to throw it off the backboard from the side angle. You got to come to the front. I’ll kind of give you guys a little heads up on that. I didn’t have a lot of experience. It did look like that play, but if he was doing it from the free throw line, that could lead to the dunk. You’re doing it from the angles, the ball’s going to shoot off the other way. But I got you guys. I’ll cover the dunks. You cover the three. See goes inside. Nice spin. Nice layup. Jake Larabia with the bucket. He’s got four points. [Music] Draymond Green, Arabia and Aton converge and force a turnover. Connects. Kaminga does a good job tipping it away from Jimmy Butler will bring it up. [Music] Butler count it and a foul. Aimoro didn’t think there was a lot of contact, butler gets knocked down. Chance for when you’re Jimmy and you throw it to Steph. If you’re guarding Jimmy, you have to jump to the ball. You have to give help on Steph Curry. So when Steph throws that back to Jimmy, Jimmy’s got nobody guarding him and he gets to go downhill. So that’s the movement that Steph creates and opens up things for other players. Excellent defense. The double team, they force a jump ball. Pajki and Kam. That is what I think they see sometimes that Kaminga lacks a little bit. Um, and the quick decision making. They want to see more of that. That’s a great find right there. Draymond Green along the baseline. He’s done some things exactly what Steve Pier’s hoping to see. That was a beautiful pass that just couldn’t finish. By the way, Kaminga changed his number. It was double zero this year. One. No big reason. They just want to try something new. Connect. Good hesitation move and draws the foul. Secondyear player connect will shoot a couple of free throws. Fouls on Steph Curry. Connects numbers as a rookie. Started 16 games had a 37point game with nine threes as first one is good. Next Sunday double header on ESPN, the all new ESPN app as well. Celtics and Cavs at 7 Eastern. Then the Nuggets and the Clippers from Los Angeles. Moody comes back in the game, but he handled it like a pro. Came back and still, you know, it’s you got to have a job. This is about, as you get older in this league, you understand it’s about having a job and how you react to a lot of these things. He’s a talented player. The Lakers needed a big man. I think he’s got more job security now than he has. Ronnie James call for a foul. Lakers are puzzled for that call. RJ Davis going to come back in. Labia will sit down. Pat Spencer returns. Pajky sits down. As we approach the midway point of the second. I wonder about Dalton Connect’s second year because that was a very strange year for all the reasons we said. Traded, brought back. All in all, for a rookie, 19 minutes a game, 70 plus games, nine points. That’s a pretty solid rookie year. I worry about his minutes a little bit this year because of the other options they have now. A healthy Vanderbilt, Jake Larabia now in the mix. I think Don Connect’s going to be judged a lot by how quickly he can heat up in games. It’ll determine how long he stays on the floor. Spencer goes right at Davis. Bank shot won’t go. Eighton grabs another rebound. Got seven points, six boards. [Music] They had a wild pass into the third row and that’s turnover number 11. [Music] Kavon Looney no longer here. So an opportunity for post Jackson Davis. Butler shot blocked by Aton. His second rejection if he could have that kind of presence. Portland situation that was a bit of a of a unique situation up there. Uh, I think you could judge him for how he handled it, but not really the team success because they didn’t have a lot of a team around him. Hashimora can’t get it. Spencer got a foul by connect rule changes, but there’s a big point of emphasis with the officials this year, and it’s the close out on jump shots, specifically the high five rule for the defenders who are contesting the shots. Now, according to to the league, the players were exploiting the rule where a defender could make contact with the shooter’s hand after the ball was released. It was called the high five rule, but the refs say that they’re not going to tolerate as much this year. They’re going to call a defensive foul on what they call targeted hits or a section. Well, the league must have seen me outside with a placard around my neck, marching up and down outside their offices to get this roof put in. Rich, it’s bothered me for a long time when people would say, “Oh, hands part of the ball on the closeout.” And I’m trying to say as a shooter, if you don’t have the ability to finish off your shot properly, it absolutely affects your ability to finish and shoot a high percentage. No. And and Tim, I I would agree on you. I was just thinking, how could we get more three-point shooting and improve it in our league? [Laughter] I’ll give you guys a beat. You want to see higher? Yeah. I was like, yeah, how can we improve? How can we improve the three-point shooting in our league? I was just thinking that should be a point of emphasis, but it’s going to be called a lot more. A lot of the coaches are in favor of that as Davis draws the foul going to the basket. So, he’ll go to the line. The Warrior foul number 61. That mean that you do it too many times in a game? Does that mean you have a reputation? It still becomes a discretionary call based off of reps. It’s not very calculated and tacular. It’s it’s a a lot of it they they use the term secondary act. So guys, you winding up and swatting and it really makes you think twice as a shooter. And I I think it’s the right way and they call an offensive foul and come the other way [Music] of the rules. We mentioned the screens. They want to get better at more consistent at calling screens. Connect fires Jared Vanderville. Horford stays with him and blocks the shot. Three blocks for Horford. Touch pass. Great ball movement. Post traveled before he lost it. Well, that’s a great effect right there. It shows you DeAndre Aton when he’s playing that hard. This is a really hard close out by Eight. But here you see Al Horford. That’s his third play he’s made now at the rim. And that wasn’t your garden variety kind. That was a close out against Vanderbilt and then staying with him laterally all the way to the rim. You saw Rich, you saw Aiden. That’s the reason Post didn’t shoot that. Aiden was closing at him hard and he’s thinking he’s going to tip this. So, he ends up traveling before he gets the shot off. Spencer healed. Horford Quinton post and Moody. Moody catch and shoot. Gets that to go. That’s beautiful basketball. Throw it in the post, hit a cutter, defensive collapse, get a corner three for an open shot. That’s what every coach that’s going to be on the film tomorrow. Davis connects and knocks that one down. They’ll connect off the bench with eight points. [Music] Horford Bonnie James on him trying to take advantage. Jackson Hazel here in his first year in LA. Heel fires and connects. His first three-pointer. [Music] Warriors shooting extremely well from three-point range. Jared Vandervelt post using his height. Vanderbelt. Nice move. Vanderbilt’s got four assists, three steals, six points. Ronnie James keeps getting caught down in a mismatch down low. Warriors trying to get me used to. They probably still they’re probably congregating as we speak. Well, they just want to make sure the checks keep coming now. That’s the difference when I was a little kid. That’s a good point. It started at a very young age. Very young age. post knocking it down. And Bos had an excellent rookie season. Played 42 games, started 14 of them. Led all NBA rookies in three-point percentage. Became a fan favorite here as well. A second round pick out of Boston College. Couple years at Mississippi State, then played for BC. Warriors in the zone. They’ve run a lot of this in this first half. [Music] Pat Spencer, good defense. Venavville poked it away. A turnover. 12 turnovers will no doubt be something JJ Reick will talk about at halftime. Golden State equally sloppy. They’ve got 11 turnovers. Turnovers usually high in preseason as Horford knocks down the three. And that’s the one he likes right there when it’s the pick and then the relocate immediately 5 10 feet either direction and then release it right away. You’ve seen him already had a couple where he hesitated because the close out was so strong. When he shoots it that quick, he’s pretty accurate. Jackson Hayes couldn’t finish. Good contest at the rim. Hayes just couldn’t quite get there in time and Moody makes him play. One thing I like about this warrior zone as look, it’s extended up. A lot of zones you see back. That’s because you have a shot blocker back there now. Horford. Look at the zone is up. It’s not just a we’re going to force you to shoot threes. No, they’re still applying pressure. Loravia gets loose. Vanderbilt corner three hits the side of the rim. Spencer as usual very active in his minutes on the floor. Morford no hesitation can’t get to the four. Vanderelt down the lane finds Hayes. Hayes can’t finish. Quinton post. Good help defense there and Vanderbilt was out of bounds. Ball touching the ball. So Golden gets push for the Lakers. Got a contract extension. That’s an early contract extension. Yeah. No kidding. Yeah, they just getting to know the guy. Moody launches that one. A’s the rebound. What’s his name? Well, we you know we are objective about this, but JJ Ready can just watch this. He was born to do this to be a head coach and I encouraged him the entire time he was broadcasting the finals. I’m like, you’re going to be a great coach one day. Vanderville misses that. Post the rebound. Shot clock turned off. Nice pass. Moody stops and scores despite the efforts of Vanderbilt. 1.8 remaining. Dangerous pass. Heel catches. Fires and that. And again, the older players on the Warriors team, they got a lot of miles. There’s a lot of finals. There’s a lot of championships there. And it’s same for the Warriors when you talk or the Lakers when you talk about LeBron. Quinn Post. That’s what he does best on the offensive end. knocks down a three. He’s even got one of those little uh yeah signs as he goes down the floor. That’s important now. It’s part of a player’s profile. Well, that’s one of the things as a three-point shooter now. We got to make sure the guys are able to do that. Yeah, obviously this is a new thing. I never did epic. Yeah, we we were we were just too late. We were we were just before those three started becoming a celebratory thing. I think it’s very difficult to do anything epic right now because everybody’s got their own different thing. They do something epic. No, I thought about maybe legitimately like shooting off a firework or something. Like a back flip. Yeah, like take it to the next level. If you’re going to do it, have them talking about it for a long time. Majki draws the out. Our officials tonight, Mitchell Irvin, Musa Dagger, and it’s great to see Leon Wood back. Leon Wood has pretty much been out the last couple who’s currently an NBA official as Moody drills another three-pointer. There’s Leon, also a former Olympian. [Music] I knew he was a player. I didn’t know he was an Olympian. Also, was that the 84 team? I believe the 84 Olympic team. Hachimura. Nice fake. Hima knocks it down. There’s a guy that in many ways is underrated in terms of where his game has grown on a to be a consistent player. Well, he does so many things for the Lakers. Rebound, defend, shoot, has an in between game, can post up. nails that three-pointer. His first field goal. Warriors have been 12 of 24 from three-point range. They lead up to 14 now. [Music] Kaminga getting the start here in the second half. You’re probably not going to see Curry, Butler, Draymond Green. Vincent had a hot first half. Misses that one. Moody checks, fires, and connects again. Moody’s got 19. So those battles become more personal. No question about it. Especially Lakers Warriors, for sure. Now, when you signed with the Lakers, you and I had a conversation that day when you signed. We talked about some of the conversations you had specifically with Luca Donuch. Can you relay those conversations you had with Luca prior to signing with the Lakers? Um, yeah. just you know uh my ability to to to guard the ball and uh you know one of the better defenders in this league and uh you know my ability and what I was able to accomplish while guarding Luca over the years and uh you know one of the best players in the game cause you know you ain’t got a choice you know so for me it was a clear-cut you know choice to go and I’m glad he made the call. I’m sure he’s happy to have you on his side as opposed to competing against you. You did such a good job as good as one could do against someone like Luke. Most definitely. And and that’s the thing about it. You know, he’s such a good offensive player that it only helps me to hone my game when guarding him. And now that we’re playing with each other, now I get a little bit of break. Well, Marcus, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. And best of luck. Thank you. All right, Mike, back to you. All right, George. He’s going to be 32 years old in March. Last couple years didn’t play a heck of a lot with Memphis and then Washington as Gabe Vincent lines up that one. Can’t get it. Kept alive by Vanderbilt. And it goes out of bounds to stay at this end of the floor. with smart a former defensive team the last two seasons he’s had so many injuries but not only his ability to guard the ball defensively what he does I think this situation is tailor made for him because he won’t have as much of the decision making with the ball offensively that falls on the plate of their top three guys so you’re going to see the tangible benefit of Marcus Smart immediately when he’s on the court there’s the benefit of running the floor and that’s the largest lead 18-point advantage for Golden K Vincson getting a lot of minutes here. Nice pass. Vanderbilt just couldn’t quite finish. He thought there was some contact. Vajimky extines it up. Can’t get it. [Music] [Music] Ojimki is one of those in-your-face defenders. Arabia trying to draw contact and banks it home. He was looking for the foul. More than a successful field goal there. Kaminga lines up his three-pointer. That’s a pure looking jumper. His first three. Second field goal. And there’s some communication. And that’s what you see. And you know there’s a lot of pointing and talking. Hey, is this your guy? That’s when the practices, the reps, you know, even these preseason games, it helps to formulate what you’re going to do during the regular season. Vanderbilt dribbling in traffic, lost the ball. Buddy Heel, nice move, left hand. Heels in double figures. And again, as we said earlier, you can’t get crazy about anything that happens in a preseason game. as as indicated by the fact that JJ Reic sat down early when this half started and he hasn’t stood up since. I think that tells you a lot about kind of where they’re at at this point. You know, you think this should get through the game, everybody’s healthy that was participating tonight and you just want to tighten things up game to game to get ready for that opener. He stood up there. Yeah, said he fits anywhere with with any group you put him in there. He fits perfectly. Who do we have? We got right now coming off the bench again. Locks to be determined, but that appears to be a good spot for him. Ronnie James back in the Oh, Jackson Hayes as Jackson Davis met him at the rim and Hayes able to throw it down. Really well-designed play right there coming out of that timeout. This is what they were looking for all along. And Bronny just had a lot of trust factor right there cuz he threw this really before Jackson Hayes even got onto the launch pad. He just trusted if he threw it high enough no one else was going to be able to go to that floor on the elevator. And Jackson Hayes finishes. And that’s why you know Luca loves playing with him. Jackson Davis seeing his first minutes again with no Cavan Looney. Trace Jackson Davis and quick post get some time at the five as he finds Pajki. Little ball fake tried to jam it inside instead turned it over. G Santos seeing his first action as well. Santos a player that Steve Kerr absolutely loves terms of fits with the stars. [Music] connect goes at heel. Well defended. Shot clock down to six. Brownie James tried to get it into Williams. Poked out out of bounds. Still Laker ball. 2.3 on the clock. Well, and Bonnie, but he’s got to use that burst and his strength to put himself in a position to make some of those passes. Santos called for a foul. Knocks good look the other night. getting a good look tonight. [Music] JJ Reic, some of the new faces. [Music] Ali and Jackson Hayes. He can do that so well. Perfect pass from Connect. Yeah, same type of action. He just just taking that slot with your live dribble down the right side of the lane. Jackson Hayes spinning out and then just going up to that top of the square area. Foul before the shot. Ronnie James. Yeah, this is nice. And this again, this is something else that’s going to help Dton Connect stay on the floor. Your ability to do something offensively more than just spot up, shoot threes, or score in transition. If you can make some plays sometimes when you’re jammed up. A rookie for Golden State, second round pick out of Florida, national champion last year, getting his first action. Comes in, touches, quickly shoots. Jackson Davis fouled on the follow. And Jackson Davis is a good young. He can continue to have an impact and continue to grow. He’s a he’s a different look than both Post and Horford and that’ll certainly help him. Upcoming national TVs. Then ESPN Wednesday WNBA finals game three presented by YouTube TV. The Aces and the Mercury. Las Vegas up 20 trying to win another WNBA title. Connect double team. Good harassment. Shot clock at five. Ronnie James three-pointer is good. Shot hadn’t been falling in the first preseason game, but that one perfect. That has to feel good after 1 for12 opener in the preseason. You know he’s going to get some looks and some run, particularly with the guys that aren’t playing. That had to feel good cuz that was probably one of the tougher shots he’s had so far through two preseason games. those shots. Now they have to get up on them. Now those drives and those passes become so much easier. Five on the 24. Spencer little fake drive off balance. Blocked by connect timed it well and a 24second violation. So you watch guys like RJ Davis and Nate Williams as they try and make an impact. You guys played a lot of preseason games, different guys you all of a sudden come out of nowhere and make something happen in the preseason. I would imagine you’ve seen that over the course of time. I might have seen the greatest example of that of all time. Mike, when Ben Wallace walked in the gym in Washington, paid his own way to come up from Richmond to Virginia Union and and just scrimmage with us, paid for his own hotel room. And after about three scrimmage games, we’re over on the sideline and remember some of the front court players we had at that time, you know, Chris Weber, Jawan Howard, George Meraw, those guys ring a bell and this guy’s getting every rebound in the gym in pickup games. proceeded to then go on and lead the NBA in rebounding in the preseason and then when the season started didn’t get a lot of run because the guys I just mentioned the rest obviously history what Ben Wallace went on to do with his career and nobody really knew about him back then when he came out wasn’t drafted and then a hall of fame multiple defensive player of the year that just hard work effort grit and consistent approach connect fouled. So he will go to the line. Santos picks up his second. Forgot to mention Rasheed Wallace also on that team. Such pretty loaded front court that we had in Washington and Ben Wallace was the guy that ends up, you know, Hall of Famer, fourtime defensive player of the year, credible career. [Applause] We always forget that. We’ll see it throughout this preseason. You know, a game will be out of hand. it’s basically over. But for some players, that four minutes in the fourth quarter of a blowout preseason game can make such an enormous difference. And somebody seeing that they’ve got something that maybe they want from the field and we’re like, when are you going to retire, big guy? Well, he’s so he’s 41 in his 23rd year. He’s been an NBA player more than half of his life. That’s That sounds like him. Nobody’s played more minutes and he’s got what 50 games he’s going to catch Robert Paris for most games ever played. And the thing Richard to your point you talk about no discernable drop off like in just in terms of his level of production. What what I find mindboggling is there are nights we still watch him and you go he might be the best athlete on the floor right now. That’s what’s really crazy when you start talking about a guy north of 40 in his 23rd year in the NBA. Well, that shows you how much more athletic he was than everybody else when he was 25 as Jackson A showing his athleticism again. How about that play just before at the other end? Some beautiful passing. Spencer, tell you what, Spencer, he makes his presence felt every time he steps on the floor. His mustache is really piling to me. It’s it’s it belies, right? A guy with this kind of ability, it’s the mustache. It throws me off. He’s such a smart heady player and so tough. Steve Kerr again, another guy that he just really glowingly talks about inside. Throws it down. JJ Reic save the push. Did you use the word beguiling? I did. Wow. I did. Yeah, I broke out the thesaurus. The what? Theorus. That’s a Well, if you look up in the thesaurus, you’ll see the is another word for thesaurus. Richard. Oh, beautiful pass from the rookie. Jackson Davis throws it down and they’re hooning and hollering here at the Chase Center. JJ Rican trying to figure out how many timeouts he can use here. [Music] Connect gets it back. He’s got such a beautiful shooting stroke. Santos, Jackson Davis, Spencer, Payton, and Will Richard, the rookie out there for Golden State. Santos can’t get it to go, but he will go to the free throw line. A lot of terrific passing. How about this one, and it’s the continuity. A lot of players from this Warrior team are back. They have a few new additions, but all of these guys know how to play together, what their roles are. Even here, you get a guy like Richard making that nice little drop off pass. This team has a ton of continuity and they added a couple of key pieces and legs. Guys like Geese Santos, he he played 14 minutes a game last year. Steve Ker was telling he had the highest plus minus on the team because he just makes the right play. Yeah. And I don’t think there’s a single guy on their roster that we talked to Steve Kerr about who Steve eyes lit up more than talking about G Santos and because of his impact on the game in limited minutes. And the other thing about him is he never knows from night to night what his minutes are going to be. That’s even more impressive for a guy to be able to produce at that level when you really don’t know when you’re driving to the arena what exactly your role or impact minutes wise could be on that given night. Approaching one minute left here on the third. Jackson Hayes off to Smith. Sanos played him well as Smith good looking shot. Nick Smith Jr. signed a two-way contract first couple of years with the Hornets. JJ Re wants to get a look at him. Santos skips inside and gets the layup. There’s no resistance by the Lakers. I understand that this group is playing extended minutes, not a lot of practice, but you can see the difference in continuity between the team. Warriors are running through all of their offense very smoothly. Lakers their defenses isn’t what it will be, but right now there’s not a lot of resistance. Watson also out there right now for the Lakers. Smith fakes, gets inside, stripped by Richard. Hayes just kind of throws it up there. Quinton Post the rebound. Post walks in the three-pointer and connect as the shot clock is turned off. [Music] These last several minutes has resembled a preseason game. Mhm. Could have been the start of the game. We’re lucky with what we got. And a foul called on Payton. Smith sold it well. Gary Payton seems to enjoy playing basketball. So Smith knocks down the first. Smith was a first round pick of Charlotte back in 2023 after one year playing at Arkansas. Played two years with the Hornets. last year averaged just under 10 a game. [Applause] Shot 43% from three as a rookie. He’s got some scoring ability. Santos drives on Watson. Kicks it out. Shot just off in time by Richard, but it won’t go down. And that will follow up from George cuz that was it’s an interesting this you could tell Booty as though he has as George pointed out has really gained the trust of Steve Kerr as Smith Jr. can’t get that to fall. But you got to remember like Kuminga and Moody they come to Golden State and a team that’s competing for a championship. It’s hard for young players to get that opportunity sometimes when a team is responsibility of IQ that you have to learn probably more than even your physical ability when you’re a young player. Can you prove that you can play at an elite level compete and you’re competing against the best players in the league on your own team that can be difficult at times. How did you overcome being so emotionally immature at that time? You know what that was? Unless Oh, we got Don Rickles over here cracking jokes. Don Rickles. That’s a comedian from my That’s a good pull on your part. Don Rickles. That’s a good reference right there. Oh, Spencer, one of the greatest lacrosse players in college history has made an impact here in the NBA. He’s only 6’2, played his college basketball at Northwestern. Reason he wears 61 because when he played lacrosse he wore number seven and 6 + 1 equals seven. That’s how figured that out. That’s your math lesson for the night. No, that’s what that’s that’s how he explain that’s how he explained it. But he just he makes an impact out there. You got guys like Spencer and Gary Payton that just plays so hard. And you know, Mike, you you just count them up. Look at the roster. They’ve got 12 guys on this roster that absolutely have a reasonable right to expect to play. And that’s before you get to Trey Jackson Davis and Spencer and Santa. It’s before you get to those guys. You’ve got 12 guys listed that all really have a reasonable expectation to get minutes. Depth is great, but depth can be a dilemma for a coach. Well, yeah, they played deep to start last year. where they play. Christian Felco has come into the game for the Lakers. [Music] Spence gets off the right-handed shot. Santos battling. Koko knocks it loose. Williams right there. Had it blocked. Dives on it. Jackson Davis. Great hustle play. Good hustle from everybody in that sequence. Sanos thought about a three. Good ball movement. Wide open three-pointer. Won’t go for row. And Smith comes the other way. [Music] Nate Williams lets it fly and gets the bounce. [Music] We talked about the Warriors depth a year ago. I think the depth was great in theory at the start of the year. I think the quality of depth of this team is significantly better because you add Al Horford to the mix. You’re going to get the Anthony Melton back who barely played a year ago before he went down with the ACL. Seth Curry now in the mix. I think the quality of the guys he can go to better this year for Steve Curry. He seemed excited about it. Melton who who tore his ACL last year still working his way back but he will have a big traveling violation call on Santos. he and then resign him again this summer. [Music] RJ Davis, [Music] that’s Will Richard fighting through a screen force of that turnover. You’re not auditioning for the team you’re playing for. You’re auditioning for teams that are looking for players to fill out their roster. If someone gets hurt, you can make an impact on a GM or a president in a preseason game. Good defense there from Koko. Puts that one away. [Music] Smith. Watson fires and connects. And a timeout call by Steve Kerrat. They cut the lead. So I think we if we stay healthy, uh, we can do another run like that. Now Jimmy held in formal camp basically down in San Diego. What was that like for the group? Oh, it was good. uh to get get away from the bay for a little bit uh and you know to get the young fellas out there and get them acclimated and you know just have a little camaraderie with the team uh at Jimmy’s house which is beautiful by the way. Um it was good you know just to get away get outside um you know and just have a little team bonding was great. Now I know Jimmy’s a big dominoes guy who won the domino game. You got to that’s between uh Jimmy and Dre. I think they was on teams that day. So I think uh you know you know who won that one. All right Gary, thank you for the time. Appreciate it. Good luck. San Diego during the summer is a beautiful place. It was a good plug for the crib, man. He really liked the crib, huh? Yeah. Must be nice. Yeah. Sign those extensions. We We missed those extensions of 30 $40 million extensions. A guy like Gary Pink is Nick Smith’s next move banks at home. Talk about the grind just to make it. He got 10day contracts cut frequently. a lot of G-League early on and then became an integral part of an NBA champion. Jackson throws it in the back court. There’ll be a back court violation. And I liked what he was saying about the impact numbers, but it you just can’t mistake it. What they did defensively alone become the number one defensive rated team in the league after his acquisition. They were dead last in the league in free throw percentage. they were third the rest of the way after he got there. Same with free throw attempts. Basically 27 to fourth or something like that. The impact was incredible. Even though there were nights where you’re like, “Okay, he’s not like filling up this stat sheet.” And you ask Steve Carr about it. He said it’s just the way the guy controls the game and on both ends of the floor. Um that’s what great players do. And man, did he have an impact for this team a year ago? Provides stability night in and night out. Rohane’s off Spencer. Shot clock winding down. He’s going to hoist it up. Just gets it off in time, but doesn’t hit the rim. A little heave. Speaking of heaves, that’s the other change. The end of quarter halfcourt heaves. Now, of course, players for years hesitating until after the buzzer to protect their shooting percentage. But now the field goal attempt will be considered a team field goal attempt on those heaves. happened. They did a NBA stats on everything. 500 times a season, guys would wait for the buzzer sound and then he used to drive me crazy. Us us, Mike. It drives us crazy. And I think it’s cowardly that people want the positive without any of the negative. And they’re like, “Well, what about the players that might only get you? This our job is to be a professional.” And how many of those hundreds were players that are, “Oh, you got a three-year contract. You’re worried about your percentage going from 39 to 37. Go shoot that shot. Right. I I I’m going to love the result cuz we’ll see a lot more of those heaps take team gets the point. You don’t. Right. It doesn’t make sense that you take a shot and it doesn’t. But I I get it. It’s It’s an exciting play. It’s a fun play. Last year, right? So last season of all the heavs that were taken and it’s considered in the final 3 seconds of a quarter, only 4% of the shots went in. And also what are the parameters around that as far as the distance of the shot? Is it like 40 feet or something and beyond? I believe 36 feet as a guy that got paid a large extent like by percentage on three-pointers. I’m kind of a little bit little part of me. I was like, okay, there you go. For those type of guys, but to your point, the guys are the star players to release it like that nancond after the horn goes off so you know you won’t be penalized. I agree, man. You got that kind of job security, just let it fly. I wasn’t really affected one way or another when I heard it. Well, J.R. Smith, Jamal Crawford, there, you know, Payton Pritchard, the impact he made making those type of shots. You got to give credit to some of those guys because they’re willing to put on the line and you take that credit away. Pritchard loves to take those shots. By the way, who do you think led in most of those shots made? Quinton Post can’t get it to go. Jokic. Joic was second with three. Curry. Curry. Steph Curry with four. Nate Williams misses. Koko good offensive rebound and fouled on the putback. It felt like first maybe 10 years of Steph’s career. It didn’t it feel like once a week he was hitting like a half court shot or like a 60footer. It was non-stop. The the funniest thing for me is I heard Braun say that we were watching the games in like a like a steakhouse and Steph hits another shot and he was like, “Damn, Steph, how many you going to hit?” Like he was just having a moment like, “Hey, I know I’m great, but the things that this dude is doing is different.” And so to hear Braun give him credit in the middle of the season for shooting and making half court shots. Even he was impressed. Just relaxing now. Not playing again. Ton Kinsey who has come in the rookie from Marshall who has come in for the Warriors. You know, one one guy we haven’t mentioned I don’t think tonight enough maybe is is another really like top flight offensive player for the Lakers and Austin Reeves. He’s sitting over there cuz I looked over and I’m like where’s Austin’s Austin? I’m like oh he’s in the second row. He’s sitting in the second row behind the bench. Luca Lebron not playing. Of course on the front row you see Austin Reeves sitting back there. We’re forgetting that this is a guy that averaged 20 points a game and almost six assists and was really allowed JJ Reick to always have two elite playmakers on the floor at all times uh between Luca Lebron and Reeves. So he’s an incredible offensive player and uh we haven’t really mentioned him tonight. That’s another weapon sitting over there for the Lakers. He has turned himself into a borderline allstar. Yeah, they got 70 points sitting over there on that bench waiting to be unleashed. Quit post Kinsey LJ Crier. That’s him. First couple of minutes he launches up a three-pointer. That won’t go as run to the 5minute mark. Seven to shoot. post he might advantage against Nate Williams. [Music] Nate Williams now goes back and post the other end and draws a foul on a pass who are complaining about it. We played seven or eight and and it was torture. What when are you talking about? like when you went what in the ’60s first year and he used to be at we would do that. You still do that now. You do them in in places to kind of give those crowds an opportunity which I think is amazing by the league. You two were so spoiled. You go to Vegas now. Yeah. Can Oh, James. That’s a heck of an athletic play from Bronny James. Okay. I got to see that replay because did it not look like his forehead was on the rim stretch? Yeah. No, his bounce is is is that was easy bounce, too. Prior up top. Meanwhile, the Lakers are fighting to get back into this game. Largest lead was 24. They can cut it to single digits here with still 340 remaining. Davis fouled on that and now penalty. So, free throws. And here’s your play, Richard. It’s one or two things that he needs to continue to work on, whether that’s in GLeague, whether that’s in practice, whether that’s in his early minutes in the league. It’s the handling, it’s the making sure he can handle pressure, and then the consistency of knocking down shots. But the athleticism, the defensive intensity, and and really the passing to me are NBA level. The 24-point lead’s been cut to nine. these bench players for the Lakers out there fighting and scrapping. JJ Reick’s got to love that. And they force a turnover. Nick Smith comes back in and Davis takes a seat. Connect comes in. Koko out there. Nate Williams. Bronny James. [Music] Warriors have only scored four points here on this fourth quarter. Smith gets inside and draws a foul. He’s got some real offensive ability. He can flat out score and he he did what he did a year ago in Charlotte. 60 plus games almost for an entire month in an NBA season. That’s a guy that just flat out knows how to put the ball in the basket and you saw it right there. And that’s who JJ Reic wanted to have the ball on that possession. Mare Baldman comes in. Nick Smith was a great high school player, national high school player of the year, and again just one year at Arkansas, but he hurt his knee and only played 17 games. So, he’s still growing as a player. Crier gets inside. Well defended by Smith. Crier gets it back. Sandos down low. [Applause] Balding using his left hand. Nice floater just right off the bench. First time he touches it. Has some good touch. Smith misses that. Will Richard racing up the floor. Richard and Crier faced off against each other last year [Music] [Applause] in college bowl as Brown James misses that. [Music] Balden. Richard to Balden. Balden spins. Another left hand. This one doesn’t go. [Music] Smith spins up top. Koko’s going to try a three-pointer and banks it in. He’s got that little hand signal as well. It’s mandatory now, Mike. It’s mandatory. Eight-point game. Koko, just good to see him out there on the floor. I overcame a miss just the whole season with a blood clot and he had to have a procedure to fix and now back out playing. Showed some promise earlier in his career with Toronto. Take a final timeout with under two to play. [Music] It’s just going to be fascinating to see both these teams with two of the most iconic players to ever play the game looking to add another championship. Crier can’t get that to go. Who’s the who’s the top favorite to win in the West in what has been, as LeBron James says, is a gauntlet, the Western champions. And then the next team that I would go to would be the Denver Nuggets, who had them on the rope. Then the next team I would go to is Minnesota, who has been in the conference finals two years in a row. That’s who you’re starting with. Everybody else is looking to get in. Houston, Golden State, Lakers, everybody’s looking to get into that conversation. I think a lot of them will be. Listen, what Oklahoma City did last year to the Western Conference was the equivalent of lapping the field in a mile race. They won the conference by 16 games. Uh so clearly they’re the gold standard. They’re just you would assume them just to be better because they’re more mature. They’re champions now. Uh they’ve got guys now that’ll have an additional year in that system that they added a year ago. So clearly they’re the top. Now the question is who can be the last team standing against them? These two teams in front of us are on that short list. Clearly Houston and Denver have to be included in that. And then you’ve got a team like Minnesota that’s been to the last two conference finals. You’ve got the Clippers who a lot of people think may have gotten better with some of their acquisitions as well. So it’s deep at the top of the West. have our Kyrie Irving returns to Dallas and Anthony Davis and Cooper Flag. Yeah. So, the teams we all mentioned there are the teams that I’m putting in that category. I think Dallas is a team that has talent but needs to prove it. That that’s that’s where we’ll put Dallas in that space. All right, then. Well, Kyrie Irving coming back is going to be huge, but there’s still a good amount of distance before that time happens. I think they’ll surprise people. I think I saw somewhere like the the overunder on win total was basically having them as a 500 team. I do think they’ll be better than that. Oh, and nice block there from Bronny James. Crier looking. Will Richard launches, knocks it down. They like this kid, the second round pick. National champion last year with the Gator. Florida Gator. As we wind down here, the preseason opener for Golden State. Lakers are going to fall to 0 and2 on the preseason and the meaningless stat of the night as Smith drills a three. Three points. JJ Reic say he wanted to take a good look at Nick Smith tonight. He did. And now the Warriors would just dribble it out. The marathon underway. This long NBA

Los Angeles Lakers Vs Golden State Warriors Full Game Highlights Oct 5, 2025 NBA Preseason TODAY
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