Warriors drop another preseason game against the Lakers 104-98

By now, you should know better than to take anything significant from an NBA preseason game and treat it as gospel. However, that still should not stop someone from appreciating something special whenever it happens. Case in point: Stephen Curry’s 40-point performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he went 14-of-19 from the field, 6-of-9 from three-point range (nice), and put up an incredible true-shooting percentage of .924.

Preseason does not matter, but on the other hand, you also shouldn’t hesitate to point out things that were just plain horrendous. In the Golden State Warriors’ 104-98 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers (playing without LeBron James and Anthony Davis), nothing could be described as pretty. Curry, the lifeblood of the offense, struggled. He finished with 17 points, but was a far-cry from being the beacon of efficiency he was against the Wolves, shooting only 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from the field and 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc.

His supporting cast didn’t do much to support him either. With Draymond Green and D’Angelo Russell held back for rest, it was left to rookie Jordan Poole to be the second scoring option. Coming off two revelatory scoring performances, Poole came crashing down by scoring only 8 points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field, with only 2 made threes out of 9 attempts. With 5 turnovers to go along with his lackluster shooting night, this is one night the youngster will definitely want to forget.

“Jordan’s young, and coming off two really good games, so (his struggle) was inevitable,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the game. “I think tonight’s a really good tape to show Jordan because he struggled with some of the physicality and, I think, just some of the decision-making defensively. ... Typical rookie stuff that we’ll show him and he’ll get cleaned up, but really it’s all good stuff and only helps him get better.”

On the other hand, Marquese Chriss continues to make his case as a regular season roster staple, finishing with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 4 assists, as well as an efficient 4-of-7 clip from the field.

“They allow us to play through the bigs a lot,” Chriss said after the game. “They throw it in, we play off splits and things like that, and a lot of DHOs (dribble hand-offs). ... I think being in the system has helped me a lot. I’m just trying to fit in, just trying to find shooters and set screens and get them the ball.”

As a team, the Warriors were abysmal on offense, shooting only 36.2 percent from the field and 25 percent on threes, with 21 turnovers to top off a night they will certainly want to move on from.

The Warriors will play the Lakers again on Wednesday night at Staples Center in their penultimate preseason game.