Warriors open title defence against 'underdogs' Lakers

SAN FRANCISCO - The Golden State Warriors tip off their bid to repeat their National Basketball Association (NBA) success against an opponent who know a little about going back-to-back when they host the Los Angeles Lakers in a nationally televised opener on Tuesday.

The Warriors had the third-best record in the Western Conference in the regular season before veterans Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala led a 16-6 play-off run to their fourth title in eight years.

Golden State, who put together back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, will begin the new campaign against the same opponents they saw on opening night a year ago.

Last time, the game was played in Los Angeles, where Golden State ignited an 18-2 start to the season with a 121-114 victory.

The Warriors took three of four from the Lakers last season, including a two-game home sweep after Klay Thompson returned from a 21/2-season absence due to knee and Achilles injuries. Thompson, a Los Angeles native, had 33 points in each of the wins at home.

Golden State return with most of their championship cast, including all five starters from their title-clinching win at Boston in June.

The most significant losses are Otto Porter Jr, the team's second-leading rebounder, and Gary Payton II, who led the club in steals.

They have filled those two roster spots with free agents in Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green.

But coach Steve Kerr is confident that his team have the strength in depth to be in another chase for the championship.

He said on Monday: "I don't think we're ready yet to have our top five or six guys play 30-plus minutes a night.

"So we got to rely on our depth. Not only opening night, but probably for the first couple of weeks.

"I think we have a really deep team so we'll get there eventually. So it's fine, you just adapt and adjust. That's exactly what they'll do and it all starts on Tuesday night."

The Lakers missed the Western play-offs last season with a 33-49 record. Much of their decline from a 42-30 team one year earlier was blamed on injuries - LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed a combined 68 games - as well as the club's inability to mesh Russell Westbrook with his teammates.

Coach Frank Vogel was then fired in April and replaced with former Bucks assistant Darvin Ham.

Davis insisted that he and his teammates will relish being the "underdogs" to open the campaign despite the presence of James, whose Miami Heat club were the last NBA team to repeat in 2012 and 2013 before the Warriors did so in 2017 and 2018.

The Lakers won successive titles in 2009 and 2010, as well as their "three-peat" from 2000-02. They also won it back-to-back in 1987 and 1988. Their most recent title in 2020 matched the Boston Celtics' record haul of 17.

"They're not talking about us, and that's fine. We'd rather be under the radar," said Davis.

The Lakers hope to have strengthened their backcourt in the off-season with the additions of veterans Patrick Beverley and Dennis Schroder, and rookies Max Christie and Scotty Pippen Jr.

REUTERS