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Luka Doncic scores 43 points, but Lakers fall to Warriors in season opener – San Bernardino Sun

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Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, is defended by Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III during the first half of the season opener on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

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LOS ANGELES — During a 12½-minute pregame media availability that touched on a wide variety of subjects ahead of the Lakers’ season opener against the Golden State Warriors, one word Coach JJ Redick uttered stood out among the rest: discipline.

Redick mentioned discipline in response to a question about the Warriors’ offensive system, saying defenses need to play within the rules they establish, especially against Golden State’s signature post-split actions that create overreactions, leading to easy scoring opportunities.

But Redick’s referencing discipline could have applied to several areas of Tuesday night’s game for the Lakers – because their lack of it played a significant part in them dropping the opener, 119-109, despite Luka Doncic (43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists) turning in a stellar offensive performance.

Despite saying he felt his players’ discipline was “pretty good” after the loss, Redick pointed to the areas where they weren’t dialed in like they needed to be.

“It’s like the times … you make your own thing up,” Redick said. “Steph Curry gets a back cut for a layup. Gary Payton [II] slips and gets a dunk. We don’t [switch] a small-small pick-and-roll, and Jimmy [Butler] turns the corner, they get a layup.

“There’s gonna be growing pains with that early in the season, and hopefully it’s not long.”

The Lakers’ lack of ball security (20 turnovers – 15 in the first half) hurt them and helped create easier opportunities for the Warriors, who scored 22 points off the giveaways. The Lakers didn’t stay attached enough to one of Golden State’s best shooters, and Buddy Hield (17 points) found his rhythm behind the arc as a difference-maker off the bench.

The Lakers’ defense was stretched thin by the Warriors’ speed and quickness during the third quarter, which Golden State opened with a 19-4 run on its way to a 35-25 advantage in the period.

“We’ve just been bad at third quarters the last couple of years, for sure,” guard Austin Reaves said. “Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve had a problem with third quarters. So just got to figure out a way to come out with a little more energy. It was the first thing JJ talked about afterwards, just figuring out a way to be better in the third quarter.

“That’s on us players. That’s not on the coaches. They come and give us what we need, give us the answers to the test. And we just didn’t find an execute, so that’s on us. We have to be better.”

The Lakers’ struggles coming out of halftime date to last season, and it ultimately undid them.

“The trend I see is that we continue to be a terrible third-quarter team to start,” Redick said. “That was last year; that was the preseason. Gotta rethink some things. It’s a two-way thing with the guys. What do they need at halftime to make sure they’re ready to play? They’re not ready to play to start the third quarter.”

A late 13-3 run in the fourth quarter helped make the game competitive, with the Lakers trimming their deficit to 105-99 after a layup from Reaves (26 points, nine assists and five rebounds) with 3:59 left.

But that was the closest the Lakers got after being down by as many as 17 earlier in the fourth, with the Butler-Curry two-man game leading to Golden State scoring 14 points in the final four minutes.

Butler led the Warriors with 31 points and made all 16 of his free-throw attempts to go with five rebounds and four assists.

Curry sealed the victory with a 31-foot 3-pointer that gave the Warriors a 117-107 lead with 51 seconds left. The two-time league MVP made a pair of free throws 12 seconds later, finishing with 23 points and four assists.

“Obviously, we have 81 games to go, but obviously want to win every game,” Doncic said. “There was a lot of positive things, obviously a lot of things that we need to work on, especially [in the] third quarter. We got to figure that out.”

Doncic’s scoring total was the second-most by a Laker in a season opener behind late franchise icon Kobe Bryant’s record of 45 in 2007. The 26-year-old Slovenian star shot 17 for 27 from the field (15 for 17 on 2-pointers, 2 for 10 from 3-point range), including 13 of 14 inside the paint.

“Just attack the paint; when I attack the paint, things for my teammates,” Doncic said. “Sometimes they don’t help, sometimes, so I just gotta attack even more.”

Doncic, who played a game-high 41 minutes, was seen holding his groin/hip multiple times during the fourth but he said the issue was “probably nothing.”

Deandre Ayton was the lone Laker outside of Doncic and Reaves to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds. Marcus Smart had nine points in his Lakers debut.

Ayton made the first two shots he took within the game’s opening four minutes, but he didn’t have another field goal attempt until the second half. The 7-footer center finished 5 for 7 from the field.

“I was realizing, I’m probably a confusing big whether I can roll and stand in the pocket, probably gets a little difficult for them sometimes,” Ayton said. “I’m so used to having that low man on me. Sometimes I can’t even finish a roll, and I tiny bit linger around the free-throw area just to be available for him. There’s times where I can finish my roll.

“We just gotta play some more and play against some more great teams, like how we did [on Tuesday], to really see what’s the common coverage of these teams, really trying to put us on their personnel, what they got on us.”

Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers’ primary ball handlers, both acknowledged their parts in getting Ayton more involved offensively.

“I have to do a better job, just talking to him, like what I want, what he wants,” Doncic said. “And I mean, [Tuesday] was on me, not getting him enough touches.”

Reaves added: “I had [a team-high] five turnovers, and a couple of them are just dumb. But a couple of them were just miscommunications on where I needed to throw a pass to D.A. It wasn’t the wrong read. It was the wrong pass at the right time, basically. So it’s just like learning those little things, and you learn those on the fly.”

Jonathan Kuminga added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors, who shot 17 for 40 from 3-point range and 26 for 29 from the foul line. The Lakers were 8 for 32 from long range and 17 for 28 from the free-throw line.

Lakers star LeBron James missed a season opener for the first time in his 23 years in the NBA, watching from the bench due to sciatica that is expected to sideline him until mid-November.

“It’s hard to forget about LeBron,” Redick said. “The reality is when you’re focused on the group that you have, you gotta make that group work. Sometimes you can just be like, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna get LeBron back at some point.’ Like, it’s awesome, but you are focused.”

The Lakers will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.



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