The Lakers weren't great in the preseason, so in that sense, Tuesday's 119-109 opening night loss to the Warriors shouldn't be all that surprising. But in a game where Luka Dončić delivered 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine dimes and the Lakers still struggled to stay connected to Golden State, folks are going to be concerned.

The Lakers got production from an imperfect Austin Reaves (26/9), but everywhere else in the lineup it was ugliness. Deandre Ayton's regular season debut was a bust. He was tentative offensively and inert on the glass. He did manage to hit double figures in scoring, which is more than Gabe Vincent or Rui Hachimura could say. The bench? Not good, though Marcus Smart at least showed some grit and energy, but the collective wasn't nearly productive enough.

All in all, it was definitely not the sort of performance that will quiet critics who believe the Lakers needed to do much more in the preseason to get this team as far along as possible.

They have a couple days of practice before the Timberwolves visit LA on Friday, and have plenty of work to do.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers lose the opener, 119-109.

SEGMENT 2: Luka looks fantastic.

SEGMENT 3: Ayton, Vincent, Rui, bench... everyone struggles.
 

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