Warriors vs. Lakers: Stephen Curry’s synergy with Al Horford immediately on display in preseason opener

Stephen Curry came out firing in the Warriors’ preseason opener on Sunday, rattling off 14 points in 15 minutes before being shut down for the night halfway through the second quarter as Golden State defeated the Lakers, 111-103. 

Curry got on the board a little more than two minutes into the game in impressive fashion. Jarred Vanderbilt (who looked great for the Lakers, by the way), tried to pressure him 30 feet out and Curry just calmly routed him into a Draymond Green screen and proceeded into the paint for a nifty one-legged finish like he hardly even noticed the defense being played on him. 

It’s worth noting this particular bucket because even at 37 years old, we know Curry is always going to be able to shoot, but as long as he keeps this ability to separate downhill against big-time pressure and finish these creative paint shots he will remain an elite scorer. 

Curry finished 5 of 7 from the field and 3 and 5 from 3. He was clearly hunting his shot early and often knowing his minutes were going to be limited. He looked fantastic. Here’s the full scoring reel.

One more play to spotlight out of that package was the give-and-go with Al Horford early in the first quarter — which highlights the significant impact Horford is going to have on this Warriors team as both a passer and floor-spacer. 

It’s a transition possession, and watch as Horford runs straight the short corner. Because he can shoot the 3, the defense (in this case, Bronny James) has to go with him. With Green trailing the play, and thus keeping Lakers center Deandre Ayton occupied 30 feet from the basket, that leaves the paint wide open, so Curry simply hits Horford in the corner and immediately cuts backdoor for an and-one layup. 

The Warriors have perhaps had centers who can make this pass (Andrew Bogut, Kevon Looney), but they have never had a starting-caliber center in the Steve Kerr era who commands this kind of attention as a 3-point shooter. 

You see what it opens up. If that’s Looney or Bogut or JaVale McGee or Festus Ezeli or Zaza Pachulia standing behind the 3-point line, the defense just sags into the paint and Curry’s path is encumbered. If you do that with Horford (as Jaxson Hayes does here), he just pulls the trigger. 

The threat of Horford’s shooting is going to open up loads of interior space for Curry, Jimmy Butler, Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga and all the Warriors’ penetrators and cutters to finish at the rim without the opposing shot-blocker camped in their way. 

Horford already looked comfortable operating in Golden State’s system predicated on waiting for Curry to pop free from a maze of impromptu screens and passes. It’s not an easy thing. It requires at once the patience to wait for Curry to emerge and the anticipation to make the read and pass a beat before he actually gets to his spot. It isn’t for everyone, but Horford is so smart and skilled that he’s clearly going to pick it all up in no time. 

And this is to say nothing of the defensive impact Horford will bring, which we also saw on Sunday. In the few cases that Golden State has enlisted a shooting big man (Quentin Post, Nemanja Bjelica come to mind), it has come at the expense of defense, or when they play Draymond at center it clearly costs them traditional size. 

But with Horford, you get the shooting and passing plus what is still an All-Defense caliber center — both as a positional defender who can show high and credibly guard on the perimeter and as a rim protector. Within his first four minutes of action, Horford rattled off the assist to Curry, a steal (after jamming up a would-be pick-and-roll before it ever got started) and this blocked shot. 

In his second stint, Horford cut off Vanderbilt’s drive before turning his shot away at the rim. 

The margins of NBA lineups are so often about give and take. Someone helps your offense but hurts your defense, or vice versa. Horford, who stuffed the score sheet in 14 minutes with three points, three assists, three blocks, four rebounds and a steal on Sunday, costs you no such compromise. You get everything. And it was all on display in his Warriors’ debut.