The Golden State Warriors were down 20 points to the Los Angeles Lakers in the third quarter Tuesday night in Las Vegas. They won by 12.
Normally, that kind of comeback would have me pretty excited, especially in a preseason game where we’re looking for signs of growth from the younger players, but something interesting happened during our Let’s Go Warriors livechat Watch Party. Or, perhaps more accurately, something didn’t happen.
Even as Yaxel Lendeborg helped spark the comeback, De’Anthony Melton piled up six steals and Will Richard suddenly couldn’t miss from three-point range, our live chat remained relatively quiet.
I can’t speak for everyone watching, but my own enthusiasm was somewhat tempered by what we had witnessed earlier. There wasn’t the kind of collective excitement I might have expected from a team that had just erased a 20-point deficit. Maybe we were still processing that second quarter debacle.
Because as encouraging as the comeback eventually became, the Warriors had spent a good portion of the game looking eerily familiar — and not in a good way. It reminded me of the GOAT-less 37-45 debacle from last season, when the 82-minus-43-game absence of one Wardell Stephen Curry II left us confronting just how ordinary this team could look without its organizing force. Of course, Draymond Green didn’t play due to what Steve Kerr pregame facetiously labeled as “experienced” (read: rest). I did not make that comparison to the 2025-26 campaign explicitly during the livestream, but the feeling was certainly familiar.
Tuesday’s second quarter, of course, featured Curry himself. And somehow, the Warriors still looked disorganized. Heck, Steph didn’t actually look all that normal and, real-time, even long-time Warriors beatwriter Nick Friedell of The Athletic agreed, after I saw Curry throw the ball way too high for a Charles Bassey alley oop, then not really try all that hard to run back on defense:
There were lazy passes, questionable decisions, players getting trapped after picking up their dribble and turnovers that led directly to easy Lakers baskets. At times, it looked like the Warriors were playing a completely different brand of basketball from the one Kerr has been trying to establish throughout training camp.
So when Steve spoke afterward and said his team wasn’t anywhere close to where it needed to be, I found myself agreeing. He wasn’t the only one frustrated.
🏀 The Game in Five Takeaways
The comeback: Warriors 101, Lakers 89. Golden State erased a 20-point deficit and outscored Los Angeles 51-26 in the second half.
The frustration: Another 20 turnovers — 104 through five preseason games (Kerr thought the total was 90 yesterday after practice, but it was actually 84) — and 10 missed free throws. Even the comeback couldn’t completely shake the uneasy feeling left by that dreadful second quarter.
The bright spots: Yax’s hustle and offensive rebounding helped spark the rally. Melt collected six steals, while Will hit three fourth-quarter triples.
Steve’s reality check: He praised the effort but said the execution remains scattered. GSW still need better spacing, cuts, decision-making and organization, especially without Dray.
The bigger picture: Yax’s defensive development, Podz’s unusual on-ball/off-ball strengths and the process of eliminating turnovers.
Twenty turnovers. Again.
The Warriors actually began the game reasonably well, playing the Lakers to a 29-29 tie after the first quarter.
We saw some encouraging offensive sequences, particularly from Lendeborg and Bassey. There was a beautiful after-timeout pick-and-roll that allowed Yaxel to get downhill and finish past Walker Kessler’s help defense. On another possession, Bassey tapped out an offensive rebound, Yaxel saved the ball while diving into the Warriors bench and Brandin Podziemski converted the resulting corner three.
Those are the kinds of plays that make you appreciate the possibilities within the new five-out system, but the second quarter was almost painful to watch.
George Niang got doubled in the mid-post and lost the ball, leading to a Matisse Thybulle and-one in transition. Brandon Williams threw an unsuccessful alley-oop toward Bassey. Podziemski got stuck with his dribble against Austin Reaves and later threw another lob too high. Bassey left his feet to pass and sent the ball out of bounds.
And those were hardly the only examples. What bothered me wasn’t simply the number of turnovers. It was the nature of them. These weren’t all ambitious passes attempting to create something special. Too often, they were basic mistakes in recognition, spacing and decision-making.
The Warriors trailed 63-50 at halftime and eventually fell behind by 20 in the third quarter. They finished with 20 turnovers, bringing their total to 104 through five preseason games, along with just 24 assists Tuesday night.
Add their 21-for-31 performance at the free-throw line and you begin to understand why the final score didn’t tell the whole story. Kerr called the second-quarter mistakes “mindless turnovers,” explaining that they had allowed the game to get away. And he was right.
But beyond the turnovers themselves, I worry about what they reveal regarding the Warriors’ readiness to execute the offense Kerr wants. This is supposed to be a team that benefits from collective basketball intelligence, movement and the ability to make quick decisions. Too many possessions Tuesday night demonstrated the opposite.
Yaxel: The fulcrum of the comeback, with work still to do
One of the main reasons I was looking forward to this game was the opportunity to study Yaxel’s defense following our recent Xs & Os livestream. We had specifically identified point-of-attack defense and help-side positioning as areas where he needed improvement.
Against the Lakers, some of those same concerns resurfaced. There was a possession in the second quarter where Chris Manon drove and Yax was slow adjusting, eventually fouling from behind.
On another, Reaves attacked downhill to his left. Yaxel appeared concerned about a potential crossover — deep in the paint where that’s unlikely to happen — and failed to cut off the more immediate driving lane.
He also picked up his third foul before halftime while defending Kessler. Granted, Al Horford also did not play tonight as an additional 5 to throw at Kessler, but those details matter if Yaxel is going to start for the Warriors, as Kerr has suggested is increasingly likely.
But they don’t negate everything else he contributed. In fact, Yaxel was arguably the fulcrum of the third-quarter comeback. His energy on the offensive glass was particularly noticeable. After Podziemski kept a missed Steph three alive, Lendeborg won a MegaTron-like jump ball against Jake LaRavia, and the ensuing possession ended with an alley-oop to Bassey.
I loved that Yax pointed back toward Podz afterward, recognizing the hustle that helped create the opportunity.
A little later, Yaxel followed up another missed shot with an offensive rebound and putback that cut the deficit to seven. He kept battling, even after stepping on Reaves’ foot and suffering what initially looked like a concerning ankle injury. He eventually returned after briefly heading to the locker room.
By the end of the game, he was on his feet cheering for his teammates. That kind of enthusiasm is infectious. We can appreciate Yaxel’s energy, his developing offensive chemistry with Bassey and his willingness to do the little things while still recognizing the defensive improvements he needs to make.
He’s not going to fix all of those habits overnight. Sometimes player development is about making that incremental one-percent improvement every day. And Yaxel has given us plenty of reasons to be interested in following that process.
Of course, it remains to be seen if that ankle needs some rest with the last preseason game set for Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers again at Chase Center. Lendeborg said as much in the locker room postgame, as reported by the usual beatwriters, from the locker from before the squad hurried out of T-Mobile to avoid, reportedly, the halt in air traffic with the President arriving in Vegas soon,
Why Podziemski can be so frustrating — and so valuable
Another theme from our Watch Party was Podziemski’s unusual combination of strengths and weaknesses.
I’ve been saying that Podz is almost the inverse of what we’re accustomed to evaluating in basketball players. When he has the ball and tries to create offense, he can look below average. He sometimes holds it too long, struggles to create separation or gets himself into situations where he has to kill his dribble.
We saw examples against Reaves and even Sandro Mamukelashvili, when Podz couldn’t execute a convincing step-back move. I understand why those possessions frustrate fans. They frustrate me, too.
But when Podz doesn’t have the ball, I think he can be elite at the things that help teams win. He takes charges, grabs offensive rebounds, makes slip cuts, anticipates passing lanes and finds ways to manufacture extra possessions. He also looks considerably better when he makes his decisions quickly.
One of my working observations is that when Podz holds the ball for less than two seconds, good things tend to happen. His second-quarter catch-and-shoot three off Steph was a good example. And in the fourth quarter, after Bassey, Gui Santos and Bassey again collected three consecutive offensive rebounds, Podz converted a “reload” three that gave Golden State an 81-78 lead.
That possession captured something important about his value. He wasn’t required to manufacture a difficult shot through an extended dribbling sequence. He simply needed to be available, catch the ball and make the play.
I think this helps explain why Kerr values him and why our evaluation shouldn’t be reduced to whether we like watching him create offense.
Interestingly, Kerr made a related observation after the game when discussing Podziemski’s defense. He said Podz was better defensively off the ball than on it, while pointing to his craftiness, good hands and positioning.
“Brandin is definitely better off the ball than on the ball,” Steve said in the postgame scrum outside the Warriors locker room. “But he’s better than you think. He’s really crafty. He’s in the right spots all the time. He’s got good hands.”
I’ve been considering a dedicated video essay about why Podz can be so frustrating to watch and why that shouldn’t cause us to overlook everything he does well. There’s considerably more nuance here than deciding whether a player is simply good or bad.
Melt & Will gave us something to cheer
As the game moved into the second half, Golden State’s defensive intensity improved dramatically. Melton was a major part of that. His six steals helped disrupt the Lakers’ offense and create opportunities in transition. He was active in passing lanes, made timely deflections and contributed to a defense that allowed only 13 points in each of the final two quarters.
And then there was Will Richard. Richard finished with nine points in 14 minutes, going 3-for-4 from three-point range. All three makes came in the fourth quarter. He hit one against a Lakers zone — which was an odd choice at the time by J.J. Redick — another after Los Angeles switched to man-to-man and a third from the left corner as the Lakers pressured the ball after the Dubs crossed halfcourt, which was another odd choice.
He also forced a Bronny James turnover and collected an impressive leaping offensive rebound. Richard looked engaged on both ends of the floor and ready to capitalize when his opportunities arrived.
Could this earn him more minutes against Portland on Friday?
I’d certainly like to see more of him, although the rotation decisions aren’t necessarily simple. Golden State still needs to give Melton, Brandon Williams and other players opportunities to establish their roles. By the way, Williams did well to decrease his turnover rate against the Lakers, committing just one against two assists. Luca Evans of the SF Chronicle had mentioned to Steve that B-Dub had racked up more turnovers than assists in the three preseason games played prior to heading to Vegas.
Richard is at least making that decision more interesting for Kerr. And Bassey deserves recognition, too, particularly for his offensive rebounding, tap-outs and pick-and-roll chemistry with Yaxel. Bassey’s only problem was his turnovers, often committed trying to go from inside to the perimeter. Another off stat: at one point before halftime, seven of the Warriors’ ten turnovers had been committed by forwards or centers.
His four giveaways were frustrating, but his activity around the rim helped Golden State manufacture some of the extra possessions that eventually changed the game. He has the elite ability to get a touch on the ball on nearly every rebound in his vicinity. That’s something he can build on.
The difference between the two halves was remarkable. The Warriors had just two offensive rebounds before halftime. They collected thirteen afterward. For all the concerns about execution, that improvement in effort and physicality was real.
The Draymond problem isn’t going away
One issue that kept coming up throughout the livestream was just how much the Warriors miss Draymond when he isn’t available to organize the offense. Green rested Tuesday night, Horford remained in the Bay Area and Kristaps Porzingis still had no definitive return timetable, although he was spotted in Santa Cruz, apparently getting a haircut:
Who knows, assuming the barber wasn’t posting a flat-out lie, we can maybe speculate that Porzingis got some work in with the Santa Cruz Warriors?
In any case, back to the performances at T-Mobile Arena, Dray had five assists against Sacramento, many generated through the five-out system the Warriors have been emphasizing. Well, those assists aren’t simply individual statistics. They represent the recognition, timing and shared understanding that allow players like Podziemski to cut into open spaces and make quick decisions without needing to create everything themselves.
When Draymond isn’t on the floor, that structure can become much less reliable. And while it’s fair to point out that the Warriors were missing important players, the Lakers weren’t at full strength, either. Luka Dončić rested, Collin Sexton was absent, and Los Angeles didn’t play its regulars for extended minutes late in the game, so we shouldn’t overstate what the comeback proves.
The larger question is whether the Warriors have enough reliable playmaking, size and defensive organization to withstand the inevitable absences over an 82-game season.
Kerr knows the Warriors aren’t there yet
Kerr’s postgame comments were unusually revealing about what he believes still needs to improve. He wasn’t questioning the players’ character or willingness to work. He praised their effort, energy and commitment. His concern was their execution.
Specifically, he explained that the Warriors are trying to move away from some of the random offensive actions they’ve relied on in previous seasons, instead establishing consistent spots, cuts and recognition after made baskets. That’s a substantial adjustment for a team accustomed to the improvisational genius of Curry and Green.
Steve also acknowledged that the first-half pick-and-roll defense was poor. He emphasized that containing someone like Reaves requires a coordinated five-man effort rather than one defender handling everything alone. And when asked whether he thought the roster had enough talent, Kerr didn’t want to dwell on who was unavailable.
He believed the Warriors had enough to become a really good team, but they had to accomplish it together. I agree with the sentiment, but what I struggle with is how close the regular season is and how far away the execution still appears to be.
The Warriors have spent training camp talking about the importance of movement, spacing, cutting and sound decision-making, yet through five preseason games, they’ve accumulated 104 turnovers.
Some of those are understandable growing pains. Others look like mistakes that shouldn’t be happening with such regularity at the NBA level.
The second-half comeback was evidence of the team’s competitiveness. The second quarter was evidence that its basketball habits still need considerable work. Both things can be true.
As a former coach who had to deal with careless turnovers made by his team, I know how hard it is to hold back. But at the same time, it should be an easy mental adjustment to just keep everything away from the red-line when needed, like 3rd or 4th gear only if there’s been a giveaway the last possession. It would be nice to be a fly on the wall at practice.
Comeback ≠ celebration
I’ve been thinking about the relatively quiet atmosphere in our Watch Party as the Warriors made their comeback. I don’t want to overinterpret the lack of comments. People watch games differently and not everyone feels compelled to type something every time a team makes a run, but it seemed to reflect some of what I was experiencing myself.
When you’ve watched a team spend an entire quarter turning the ball over, failing to execute basic actions and surrendering opportunities, it’s difficult to erase that impression simply because the opponent starts missing shots and your own team finds some energy.
The comeback was fun. Yaxel was fun. Will’s shooting was fun. Melton’s defense was terrific. Yet the overall performance still concerned me about how this team is going to function when the regular season begins and the competition becomes less forgiving. Oh, and Steph and Dray might want to consider dialing it back a little in the passing department at times, too, but then again you run the risk of reining in the so-called “Organized Chaos”.
Maybe that’s why a game like Tuesday’s can produce both appreciation and frustration. The frustration doesn’t necessarily come from negativity. Sometimes it comes from caring deeply about the team and playing the game the right way.
As such, maybe it’s time for DubNation to dial back its expectations — ironically parallel to the sun setting on Organized Chaos.
I still enjoyed watching Yax dive into the bench, seeing Bassey battle for offensive rebounds, watching Melt disrupt the Lakers and witnessing Will Rich make three big splashes in the fourth quarter.
And above all, I enjoy the privilege of watching Steph Curry play basketball, even if it’s only preseason. You can tell, so far, he’s holding back for the good of the team, too. The Warriors have one final preseason game against Portland on Friday before the regular season begins. I’ll be watching for cleaner possessions, better defensive recognition and signs that Kerr’s five-out system is becoming more natural for everyone involved.
A comeback from 20 points down deserves appreciation. Twenty turnovers deserve scrutiny — at least it’s all happening with Curry only logging 23 Draymond-less minutes and, in general, deferring.
Watch the timestamped reactions and postgame analysis
We’ve updated our Warriors-Lakers Watch Party with timestamped live reactions, individual play analysis and a complete quarter-by-quarter recap. You don’t need to sit through the entire three-hour livestream. Jump directly to the conversations that interest you:
1:25:31 — Why we miss Green
1:50:03 — Lendeborg ankle scare amid the comeback
2:25:21 — Richard heats up
2:36:30 — Full quarter-by-quarter recap
2:55:57 — Kerr’s candid postgame assessment
What was your emotional reaction to the comeback? Did you find yourself celebrating, or were you still bothered by the turnovers and the overall execution? I’d particularly love to hear whether others felt that same tension during the second half.
A little more on Podziemski, for paid subscribers
There’s a longer discussion I’ve been wanting to have about Podz, because I think the usual arguments about whether he’s good or bad miss something fundamental about his game.
Below, I’m taking a closer look at the plays that frustrate me, without yet going into too much minutiae, the things he does exceptionally well without the ball and why understanding that difference could be important when evaluating his role — and eventual $110 million — alongside Steph and Draymond.
This is also a conversation I’m considering bringing to Wednesday’s Warriors news livestream, definitely with some Xs and Os evidence fr this Laker game, and perhaps as the foundation for a separate video essay.
🫶💙💛
