Lakers learned hard lesson from Warriors now comes the real test

The Lakers entered this week in a similar situation they were in last year.They’re opening the regular season against one of their in-state rivals, the Warriors, after a pair of preseason matchups earlier in October.But because of the nature of preseason NBA basketball, they couldn’t lean too much on the game film in preparation for Wedneday’s opener at Crypto.com Arena.The Lakers were without a significant chunk of their rotation in the first exhibition against the Warriors on Oct.6 in San Francisco, with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler among the several players who didn’t suit up for the matchup at Chase Center during the first week of preseason.One week later, Kessler made his preseason debut and Reaves scored a preseason-high 28 points in Las Vegas, but the Warriors were without Draymond Green, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. And star guard Steph Curry only played 23 minutes, with Kessler only playing in the first half and Reaves also only playing through a chunk of the third quarter.So the game tape from those matchups don’t provide too much insight into what to expect Wednesday.“We’ll do a normal scout,” coach JJ Redick said of his team’s regular season opener.

“There’s segments of the game where they’re playing their rotation guys, [we’re] playing our rotation guys, where you can look and glean some stuff from that.And we will.

Obviously you look at how they have played historically and what they’ve been good at.So there’ll be a combination of the two.”Historically, the Warriors are a known commodity even as they become a “fading dynasty”, as Steve Kerr put it last Decemeber.Their post-split actions will continue to confuse defenses.Green will quarterback the defense.And Curry’s historical 3-point shooting will bend the court in ways no other player in NBA history can.But they’re no longer the juggernaut they once were.What the Warriors are though is a team that forces teams into mistakes. The Lake...