The Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers handily in their first preseason contest, 125 to 108. The star of the show was none other than 3rd-year forward Jonathan Kuminga, who led Golden State in points (24), rebounds (8), and threes (4) while also tallying up 4 assists to tie with rookie Brandin Podziemski for 2nd behind Chris Paul’s 5.

The Warriors face the Lakers again today, this time in Los Angeles at the not-Staples Center, and much of the same offense allowed is expected after LA gave up 126 points to the Brooklyn Nets and over 100 to the Sacramento Kings two days later. The driving force behind the Lakers’ preseason success has been D’Angelo Russell, who had some great efficiency against the Warriors in the preseason opener but could draw more minutes with Gary Payton II as his primary defender as the Dubs ramp up.

There’s plenty of variables to consider, and the Lakers in the preseason probably aren’t the ideal barometer to judge where they’re at, but here are the four things to look out for as Golden State goes for two against the team that stole the honor of getting swept by the Nuggets:

1) The (Temporary?) Starters
The Warriors will once again deploy a starting lineup of Curry, Paul, Thompson, Wiggins, and Looney to start out. Almost across the board, each of them were a +6 in their 13 minutes from the first half. That’s pretty solid for a group that has not only played no games together with Paul’s inclusion, but also gave up 15 points to Anthony Davis in about that same timeframe. There are two major questions which still need to be answered with this group, and the first is what kind of wrinkles CP3 adds to their typical actions. Golden State has become renowned from their split actions, representative of Steve Kerr’s coaching reputation which has always been about layering complex off-ball movements with simple on-ball ones. With a passer of Paul’s acumen being a focal point of decision-making, the off-ball skills this lineup brings can truly be unlocked when they get into their signature “controlled chaos” style of hoops.
The second question is about size. Klay Thompson has played the shooting guard position for most of his career, although he’s shown capability to guard bigger. Andrew Wiggins can play the 4 in a small-ball lineup as we’ve seen before, with his strength and athleticism. The real question really boils down to Curry and Paul: Teams typically like to go at Curry to tire him out, but with an older and slower Paul on the court, can that tandem hold their own against a strong scoring backcourt? The narratives about Steph’s defense have always been flawed to a degree, but CP3’s presence may force him to play more point-of-attack where applicable, which has its own slew of concerns when it comes to him having to do so much on both ends.

2) Brandin Podziemski’s Consistency
In the Summer League, Podz started off with some flashes of the play connection Golden State needed, but didn’t have last season. Unfortunately, his production fell off a bit, and because that first game set a tone about critics who thought they could’ve gone a different direction with the draft, it put the microscope on him and pointed out a lot of flaws. Podziemski posted 11 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists in his preseason debut while also giving some quotes about how important he knows role-players are to winning championships.
The problem is that the Warriors have seen this story of the dedicated role-player going south before. While he had some good moments in the playoffs, Donte DiVincenzo brought guard depth while being a weaker point through last year’s series against both the Kings and Lakers. Podz seems to have some similar skills, but doesn’t have the track record DDV had prior to his venture with the team.
On the other hand, the rookie out of Santa Clara recognized the role that a guy like Gary Payton II plays for the team, and idolized Manu Ginobili as a hooper growing up. Those point to the right mentality, and now the question is whether he can contribute consistently and earn himself a role as a backup ball-handler and play-connector. The expectation shouldn’t be so high, but the dynasty was built on expectations (and role-players) that delivered: Podziemski could be key to a deep run again this year if he rises to meet those.

3) Dario Šarić’s Fit
This one’s a little more on the obvious side. Šarić has played for playoff teams essentially his whole career, and was a key piece to the Phoenix Suns teams prior to Kevin Durant. He brings floor spacing, pick-and-roll passing, solid defense, and offensive rebounding - all things which the Warriors need. What’s most interesting about how Dario fits into the Warriors is, of course, as a stretch 5: Golden State hasn’t deployed a center that has a skillset reaching so far out to the arc in the dynasty days. In theory, the fit is ideal and he could make some seriously strong impact.
This is one thing we likely won’t know more about until the season actually starts, but in lineups where the Lakers will play drop coverage (namely with Anthony Davis on the floor), it’ll be intriguing to see the looks that they can generate by opening up the lane and forcing commitments from weak-side help that has a longer ways to go.

(Photo credit: Rocky Widner / Getty Images)