NBA preseason: Steph Curry and Jonathan Kuminga lead the Warriors past the Lakers

We still haven't seen the Golden State Warriors at full strength, but on Tuesday in Las Vegas they looked like a team that's putting everything together ahead of next week's season opener. The Dubs were without Brandin Podziemski (who broke his nose in Sunday's win over the Detroit Pistons) and De'Anthony Melton (who sat out with back strain), but welcomed back Steph Curry and Draymond Green (who both sat out Sunday). and saw Andrew Wiggins make his first appearance this pre-season. And that was more than enough to defeat a Lakers team that wasn't lacking in star power thanks to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

It started with an interesting look from the Dubs. Steve Kerr has been open about his hesitation about playing Jonathan Kuminga at three instead of keeping him as a small-ball four, but he went completely the other way in this game. Not only did Kuminga start at small forward alongside the frontcourt of Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, but regular small forward Wiggins was also deployed at two guard alongside Curry.

Such a massive lineup only seems to work if Kuminga and Wiggins can make their threes or get out in transition, and while they didn't do the former, Kuminga emphatically did the latter. He led the offensive attack early, pushing the Warriors in transition while outshooting Davis in the half court on several possessions and scoring eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in the quarter.

It was an entertaining start to the game with teams going back and forth. The Warriors kept things exciting on offense, but their defense – Jackson-Davis facing off against Davis, Green against James, Kuminga against Rui Hachimura, Wiggins against Austin Reaves and Curry against D'Angelo Russell – couldn't hold off the Lakers coming not to the edge at will. But Las Vegas audiences loved the fast pace and frenetic – but controlled – action.

As teams began heading to the bench (Kerr brought in Buddy Hield, Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney to play alongside Curry and Green), the game began to slow down. But the bench impressed: Even when new Lakers coach JJ Redick brought James and Davis back late in the quarter, Kerr went with an all-bench lineup of Payton, Hield, Looney, Moses Moody and Kyle Anderson. They held their own, and a Moody three-pointer late in the quarter gave the Warriors a 31-28 lead after one.

They picked up where they left off in the second quarter, going on a 9-3 run early on thanks to an ultra-active performance from Moody. Eventually the fast-paced game came to a halt; Neither team was sloppy, but both relied too heavily on three-point shots without much success (Golden State shot just 14 of 45 from long range on the night; Los Angeles shot an even worse 11 of 40).

But the Warriors found a competitive advantage: hustle. The Dubs just played like they wanted it more, and that led to a 10-point lead with under three minutes left. It was another three-pointer at the end of the frame – this time one from Curry – that established the halftime lead, as his three-pointer flashed through the net with less than two seconds left to give Golden State a 58-51 lead.

For the first time in the entire preseason, the Warriors kept their starters at the start of the second half. Back-to-back three-pointers from former teammate Russell brought the Lakers within three points early, but the Warriors responded with a 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead after just over four minutes, forcing Redick to call a timeout. The push-and-pull continued: After Golden State built an 11-point lead, the Lakers scored six unanswered points, but the Warriors called a timeout and came out with a strong response.

After extending their lead to nearly double digits, the Dubs ended the third quarter with a perfect two-on-one: Anderson dropped a floater on one end, they got a stop on the other end, and then a miraculous run to the two- Man play with Moody and Looney resulted in a midfield jumper for Moody. Golden State led 83-70 in the final quarter.

There would be no shenanigans in the fourth quarter like we were used to last year. The Warriors scored the first five points of the frame to extend their lead to 18 points, and it stayed close to that lead for most of the quarter. Curry and Green played significant minutes in the fourth quarter as they worked toward their regular-season playing time, but with the lead secured, the only truly notable part of the quarter came three minutes in, when Bronny James entered the game to a roar of enthusiasm Vegas crowd.

Golden State kept the lead out of Los Angeles' reach, and it would stay that way until the final whistle as the Warriors won 111-97. With a perfect 5-0 record, they remain undefeated this preseason.

As his phenomenal preseason continues, Moody has once again paced the Warriors. He scored a team-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 5-for-7 from distance, again provided some buzz and strong defense, and had a plus/minus of +18, second only to Anderson +22 was exceeded. Curry scored 16 points (though he needed 18 shots to get there) and five rebounds and six assists, while Green posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Curry also provided one of the funniest moments of the night with a very weak dunk attempt.

Kuminga had a few defensive lapses, but his athleticism and transition offense were key, and he finished the game with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting along with six rebounds and three assists.

Wiggins looked pretty rusty, which is to be expected, and struggled with his jumper…he scored 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting, but all of his made field goals were uncontested layups and dunks, while he missed all of his jumpers Shots. However, he made it to the free throw line, where he made all five shots. Most importantly, he looked athletic and explosive, which was strangely missing last year.

Despite shooting just 31.1% from deep, the Warriors dished out a fantastic 33 assists, turned the ball over just 14 times and outrebounded the Lakers.

The Dubs will look to complete a perfect preseason on Friday when they return home to host the Lakers in both teams' preseason finale. This game takes place at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.

And then it's on to the regular season!