Preview: Warriors welcome LeBron’s Lakers on Ring Night to open season

The Golden State Warriors are facing the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night to kick off the NBA’s regular season. I’m getting a little bit of deja vu here because it was a year ago this time that I was writing about these two teams squaring off on opening night.

Golden State won that game in exhilarating fashion, stunning L.A. in a contest that was a harbinger of sorts for how these team’s seasons ended. The Lakers would stumble all year and fall well short of championship level expectations, whilst the Dubs shocked the world by battling their way to their fourth NBA title in the Splash Bros era.

Now these two teams meet looking to size each other up as they battle for Western Conference supremacy.

Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers

October 18th, 2022 | 7:00 PT

Watch: TNT | Listen: 95.7 The Game

The Lakers are top heavy with the star power of big names looking to add to their hall-of-fame legacies. LeBron James is closing in on the all-time scoring title, Anthony Davis is hoping to regain his All-NBA form after being waylaid by injuries last year, and Russell Westbrook is...well, let’s just say in a far different position than his MVP days.

Isn’t it crazy that those three All-Stars have a combined playoff series record of 1-6 against the Warriors during their careers? They’re probably tired of seeing GSW’s core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green in big-time games. Those three Warriors have persevered together to terrorize the league and will be honored for their most recent conquest when their fourth banner is raised in Chase Center’s rafters.

Gold-Blooded matchup of the night: Anthony Davis vs Draymond Green and Kevon Looney

Per NBA.com’s matchup data, over the past two seasons Davis has shot 13-31 (41.9%) from the field when guarded by Green or Looney. This may stun a lot of pundits who believe that Golden State’s interior defense is a juicy target for a high-scoring big man like the 6-foot-10 AD. But Green is a former defensive player of the year with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, and Looney is a rugged competitor with a 7-foot-4 wingspan of his own.

I’m also hoping we get some extended looks at Golden State’s 7-foot behemoth James Wiseman battling Davis in the post, as eventually the third year center out of Memphis will be in charge of locking down the paint for the Dubs. But his hands will be full as Davis has already declared he’s interested in spoiling Golden State’s ring night.

*Q-Tip voice* Now why you wanna go and do that love, huh?