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Around the NBA: Phoenix Suns pacific rivals deliver tame, expected opening

By Peter O'Keefe

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - OCTOBER 18: LeBron James of Los Angeles Lakers warms up before NBA game between Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers at the Chase Center on October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, California, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - OCTOBER 18: LeBron James of Los Angeles Lakers warms up before NBA game between Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers at the Chase Center on October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, California, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) /
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There’s always optimism heading into a new NBA season. For the Phoenix Suns, there’s hope the team’s disastrous ending to last season, and an offseason full of drama and controversy, won’t have further effects on this season’s performances.

Yet sometimes the reality can set in early, leaving behind the early optimism that can mask a team’s true challenges. For the Los Angeles Lakers, the flaws of an uninspiring roster were on full display as they sought to ruin celebrations for the Golden State Warriors on ring night.

The Phoenix Suns pacific rivals, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, squared off in a rather predictable and tame opening to the NBA season.

After the Boston Celtics delivered an offensive masterclass to claim a nine-point win at home over fellow Eastern Conference contender the Philadelphia 76ers, all eyes were on the defending champions and whatever version of the Lakers we’ll get this season.

Maybe new coach Darvin Ham will magically discover a more efficient, team-friendly version of Russell Westbrook? Perhaps fully fit and productive versions of LeBron James and Anthony Davis will conquer all their glaring deficiencies. The ironic aspect is that Westbrook actually had his moments, and James and Davis stuffed the stat sheet, yet the Lakers still found themselves down 25 late in the third.

LeBron James and Stephen Curry battle it out on opening night. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
LeBron James and Stephen Curry battle it out on opening night. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

The game went as many would have expected — Davis and James, even Westbrook, kept the Lakers close for a half, before the Warriors produced one of their patented, almost inevitable bursts in the third quarter. Sure, Golden State were good, but they’d be the first to admit they were far from their best. That third period was almost more about the Lakers comical style — throwing the ball away at random, isolation possessions for role players that resulted in bricks, wide open jump shots that got nothing but air.

Minus James and Davis, this is a flat out bad roster that even those two stars don’t appear capable of elevating. As Golden State eased their foot of the accelerator and waltzed into a 14-point win, Los Angeles’ perimeter shooting (10-for-40 from deep) stuck out like a sore thumb. James acknowledged post-game they had open looks, but equally stated the team isn’t “sitting here with a lot of lasers”. 

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If anything, the opening night’s action was a win for the Suns and every other team with an aim towards the top of the standings. Everyone acknowledges the Warriors are once again a title contender, but early affirmation of the Lakers place as a likely play-in team (at best) is music to the ears of many.

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