The champions open the season in the West!
The second game of the new season in the NBA will be played by the reigning champions in the form of the Golden State Warriors against the record champion Los Angeles Lakers. A sporting delightful Californian derby, which represents a worthy opener in the Western Conference.
The home side are naturally keen to record their eighth title this season, while the LA franchise will be looking to return to better times after a poor last season.
In the following text, a current NBA tip is presented for the opening game in the West between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers.
Golden State Warriors – Statistics & current form
Head coach Steve Kerr experienced a somewhat turbulent preparation. The reason was an altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole. The former power forward is known to be no child of sadness and sometimes his moods also affect his teammates.
“Dray” did not receive a suspension for his fist bump against last regular season’s best free throw shooter, however, and will be in the squad for the season opener against LA.
“J-Wise” is back
Other than that, the seven-time champions can now draw from an even better pool than in the past championship season. The reason is the return of James Wiseman to the squad.
This means that “Frisco” has a very strong centre at its disposal again. In addition, the two top players Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are injury-free, which means that the legendary “Splash Duo” is also on the starting line.
Only behind “Game 6 Klay” there is still a small question mark, as he had a knee problem in the preparation, but the probability of an outage is rather low.
LA Lakers – Statistics & current form
The Lakers signed a new head coach in Darvin Harm during the off-season. Although the 49-year-old is taking on a head coaching job in the NBA for the first time, he does not lack experience. In fact, he has already worked in the league for more than ten years as an assistant coach with various franchises such as the Lakers, Hawks and Bucks.
As a player, he also won the NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and also celebrated this triumph as a co-coach in 2021 with Milwaukee alongside Mike Budenholzer.
Leaders of the team were retained
The squad was also kept together at the most important positions. Thus, the two top stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis continue to play in the “Grape State”.
New on board is, among others, Patrick Beverley from Utah, who came for guard Talen Horton-Tucker and forward Stanley Johnson, as well as Scotty Pippen Jr. The latter player is a newbie, but of course his name already precedes him. None other than six-time champion and Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is his father!
His debut in the NBA Summer League against the Miami Heat was already well worth seeing: 16 points, six boards and three assists were already a tangible reminder of the grandiose abilities of his famous father.
EM hero Schröder returns to the West Coast
From a German perspective, it is also particularly interesting that Dennis Schröder is back with the Lakers. After his previous contract in Houston expired, the Braunschweig native briefly remained without an employer before Los Angeles brought him back.
His great performances at the European Championships last month, when he led the German national team to a bronze medal, were certainly a reason for this move.
On top of that, the point guard knows the new coach very well, as he already played under Ham during his time in Atlanta. Against the Warriors, however, Schröder will now have to miss the game as the point guard suffered an injury in the preseason.
Golden State Warriors – LA Lakers Tip
Before tip-off, the home side will receive their championship rings, but after that, a tough task awaits the champions. The guests already recorded a win against the title holders in pre-season around a week ago and have their top players in LBJ and AD.
For the game between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, the tip still aims for a home win by at least six points. The visitors’ success against Kerr’s squad was the only one in six preparation games and the injury worries have increased lately.
Dennis Schröder is definitely out and Russell Westbrook is at risk due to an injury. Because of this, the guests are slowly but surely running out of point guards in the run-up to the encounter.
In addition, the home side will be very motivated. In their first game of the season as champions in front of their own fans, the Warriors naturally want to send out a signal to the competition in the form of a clear victory.
