New look Lakers, same old results
Lakers still searching for answers
Recap of Warriors/Lakers game played on January 1, 2025
The Los Angeles Lakers turned the page in the calendar and welcomed in 2025 in a very shocking way. The Lakers have not been very good the last six weeks, they have been beaten by teams that seem to have an edge offensively and then when it comes to the defensive end, having the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Anthony Davis, not to mention another rim protector in Andre Drummond, the Lakers should able to withstand any teams firepower, but this Laker team for some reason is just meshing together. For that reason, it was reported that they were engaged in trade talks and that anyone not named LeBron or AD was being put out there and to everyone's surprise, if the trade they made to get rid of Russell Westbrook had fans excited, then what they pulled off should have fans jumping off the walls. The Los Angeles Lakers traded D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jalen Hood-Schifino as part of a three-team trade with the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors. Russell and Hood-Schifino went to Toronto while Hachimura, Vanderbilt, Reaves and the Lakers 2029 1st round draft pick went to Atlanta. The Lakers in return got Trae Young from the Hawks and Kelly Olynyk from the Raptors. Those were the two key pieces they got back. They also received Bruno Fernando and Ziaire Williams from the Hawks and Chris Boucher from the Raptors. The Lakers waived Bruno Fernando as soon as the deal with made official. With Reaves going to Atlanta that opens up more playing time for Max Christie, who the Lakers are very high on and he's only 21 years old. Chris Boucher and Ziaire Williams were thrown in for salary cap purposes, but the Lakers could have some use for them. Trae Young and Kelly Olynyk were available for tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors. Trae Young started in the backcourt with Max Christie and Kelly Olynyk came off the bench and that will be his role even though he will see a lot of minutes. The first matchup of the season between the Lakers and Warriors did not go the Lakers way as they were defeated by the score of 123-112. Both Steph Curry and Jonathan Kuminga, each had 32 points to lead the Warriors and Kevon Looney put up a double-double, 18 points, 13 rebounds and was 7-of-9 from the field. LeBron James led the Lakers and all scorers with a game-high 37 points on 14-of-22 from the field and 4-of-8 from the three-point line. Anthony Davis put up 23 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Trae Young, in his Lakers debut scored 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting, that includes 1-of-7 from the three-point line in 42 minutes and Kelly Olynyk had six points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. The Warriors had 15 more shot attempts than the Lakers and scored more fastbreak points and second chance points. The Warriors also hit eight more three-point attempts.
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
 |
17 |
38 |
33 |
35 |
123 |
 |
20 |
36 |
25 |
31 |
112 |
Player Stats
Stephen Curry - 32 ponts, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal
Jonathan Kuminga - 32 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
Kevon Looney - 18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Andrew Wiggins - 12 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals
Brandin Podziemski - 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Player Stats
LeBron James - 37 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal
Anthony Davis - 23 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks
Trae Young - 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal
Gabe Vincent - 10 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists
Next Game: 1/3 vs. Miami Heat