Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction: New-look Lakers take on rhythm-seeking Warriors

The NBA trade deadline has caused a lot of ripples and certain squads are so loaded that championship aspirations have peaked. The Dallas Mavericks have benefitted from this landscape and the inclusion of Kyrie Irving has filled them with a lot of confidence. Then there is another team that made huge changes to the roster. One of those teams, the Los Angeles Lakers is going to visit the Golden State Warriors here.

The Warriors come into this game after losing 122:125 against the Portland Trail Blazers despite a 38 points outing by Jordan Poole. The Warriors’ campaign has been highly underwhelming for a team that is defending the title. They have lost three of the last five games after a three-game winning streak. However, an awful 21 losses and seven wins performance away from home, has relegated them to 28 wins and 27 losses.

With around 25 games remaining and Steph Curry out for a sizeable time, the Warriors will need to put up better performances. They traded away James Wiseman and brought in Saddiq Bey, which bolsters their scoring end but doesn’t seem like a move that will likely bring championship-level gains.

The Lakers enter the game after losing 106:115 against the Bucks despite a 25 points performance by Dennis Schroeder. They have lost three in a row and have lost six out of their nine games. Such recurring windows have relegated them to 31 losses and 25 wins. The team finally ended the Russell Westbrook experiment in a fit that wasn’t working for both parties and hauled in D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt.

Russell and Beasley are amazing three-point shooters which help in composing something needed as the Lakers are one of the worst long-range shooting teams. Defensively, Jarred has improved. But is this move enough for this season or is this a blueprint for the next season at this point?

This will be D’Angelo’s second stint with the Lakes, a team that drafted them, and this season D’Angelo is having his most efficient season, which is needed by the Lakers. Beasley is an immense improvement to a bench that had virtually no long-range shooting. On the other hand, the Warriors are without Curry which puts the onus upon Jordan Poole, who has been reliable in such scenarios. That’s why I’d favor the Warriors to win here. I predict a scoreline of 128:120 in the favor of Golden State.