Los Angeles Lakers: Take the wins over the Warriors with a grain of salt

The Los Angeles Lakers have played the Golden State Warriors three times in the preseason and have dominated in all three showings.

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ preseason has been an interesting one, to say the least. The team was in China for two preseason games against the Brooklyn Nets during the Daryl Morey fiasco and lost both games to Brooklyn.

However, the Lakers still have a positive record in the preseason as they have played the Golden State Warriors in the other three games and have definitively beaten the reigning Western Conference Champions in all three games.

These games have not even been close. The closest game ended with a six-point margin and the Lakers are averaging just over 20 points per game more than the Warriors in these contests.

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This had definitely led to some optimism. After all, the Warriors have been the team to beat in the NBA for the last half-decade, so winning in such a definitive fashion every single time signals a turning of the tide for the Lakers.

However, there are fans that realize this is just a preseason game and not to get ahead of themselves. Wins and losses do not matter in the preseason, what matters is how they are winning and losing and the individual play of those involved.

That is where the excitement comes in. Anthony Davis and LeBron James have looked great together and there have been several standouts, including the two centers in JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard.

That is where we must be cautious in how we are evaluating the Lakers heading into the regular season. Yes, Howard and McGee have been great for LA, but you have to realize who the Lakers are playing and what they have to offer in the preseason.

The Lakers have been so dominant in this regard because of the massive size difference. The Warriors have been one of the smallest teams in the league for the last few years but always got away with it because of the threesome of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson.

Durant is gone and Thompson is hurt. They will pose more of a threat once Thompson returns, but it still does not fix the size issue for the team.

Heck, the team’s starting center is 6’9″ Kevon Looney, although they do have Willie Cauley-Stein off the bench. Neither has played in the preseason because of injury.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are a team that is going to look to use its size to its advantage. They have two big, freakishly athletic superstars that present a duo unlike any other in the NBA while having two anchors by the rim at center that can play off that dynamic.

Their size is probably their biggest strength and that is why there have been lopsided advantages around the rim for the Lakers. On Wednesday night the Lakers out-rebounded the Warriors 46-34 and scored 66 points in the paint.

There are other things the Los Angeles Lakers have done good at that are not a product of the size-less Warriors. Them shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc is the perfect example.

However, when it comes to these lopsided margins, these lopsided margins are happening because of the massive mismatch in size near the rim. The Lakers are not going to have that luxury against every single team and that is when we will see the true talent of the team.

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The Los Angeles Lakers still look great and it is easy to get excited about the year ahead. However, we must keep in mind that they have had the most favorable preseason matchups they could have asked for against the Golden State Warriors.

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