Warriors begin title defense with win over Lakers

SAN FRANCISCO — On the night when Stephen Curry received his fourth championship ring — a marvelous 16-carat masterpiece — the Warriors star made it clear he’s still not satisfied.

Curry is hungry to add to his collection and hopefully put a band on his thumb next fall.

“That’s why we play, that’s why we’re competitive, that’s why we work as hard as we do,” Curry said Tuesday night after leading the Warriors to their first win of the season. “Nobody is just sitting at that ring and staring at it like, ‘oh, it’s over.’ I don’t think anybody’s built like that.”

The Warriors began their title defense Tuesday with a 123-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

After leading the countdown to unveil a massive banner honoring Golden State’s 2022 championship before the game, Curry, starting his 14th NBA season, poured in a team-high 33 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out seven assists.

Andrew Wiggins added 20 points and Klay Thompson, playing in his first season opener in three years, had 18 as the Warriors continue to dust off the remaining rust following a spectacle-filled preseason that started with a trip to Japan and included a leaked video that showed Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole in practice earlier this month.

The Warriors would like to put that latter event behind them, though Green addressed the incident in a TNT special released hours before tip-off of the season opener. Still, the two have pledged to keep it professional on the court.

The Warriors held an eight-point lead at the half before putting the game away with a trademark third-quarter scoring flurry. Golden State outscored L.A. 32-19 in the third quarter and held on in the fourth for the win.

It was a sluggish first game for the Warriors, who committed 18 turnovers, but coach Steve Kerr took pride in the end result.

“I’m thrilled with the win,” said Kerr, who chalked up some of the errors due to early season nerves.

Poole added 12 points and had seven assists off the bench. After having a breakout run last season, he’s expected to level-up even more in his fourth season, though he’ll likely do that by being the anchor of the second unit.

“I am just happy to be out there and playing to be honest,” Poole said of his role. “Wherever I am needed, whether it’s with the first unit, second unit… or closing games, as long as I am out there impacting games, that’s all that really matters.”

Depth will be vital for the Warriors, especially early on. Kerr used an 11-man rotation Tuesday after indicating he’d need to rely on more reserves in the first few weeks as the starters, save for Curry, work their way back to their normal workload.

Thompson sat out all but one preseason game as the training staff gradually ramped him up for the season due to his injury history, and Green missed close to a week of practice after the fight. Thompson played under 20 minutes and Green was in for about 25.

Their limited minutes “threw a wrench” in the rotation, Kerr said, though the Warriors’ retooled bench gives them plenty of options to turn to for the time being.

“We haven’t had much rhythm” with the lineups, Kerr said. “We’re not where we need to be but we took care of business. It was a great win in front of our fans on ring night.”

One game down, 81 to go.

“After tonight, the journey really begins in terms of knowing you’re going to get everybody’s best shot and you got some really talented teams that are going to be gunning for you so we got to be ready for it all,” Curry said.

The Warriors (1-0) return to action Friday when they host the Denver Nuggets, whom Golden State eliminated from the first round of the playoffs in April. Tip-off at Chase Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.