Thursday night featured a primetime matchup between two teams who dramatically shook up their rosters at the trade deadline. But those moves weren’t on display: Jimmy Butler, while in the house, didn’t suit up for his Golden State Warriors debut, nor did Luka Donu010diu0107 for his Los Angeles Lakers debut.
And for one night, at least, we saw which team is better absent their new addition, with the Lakers holding on for a 120-112 victory.
The Warriors dug a huge hole, and spent the entire game trying to climb out of it — which, to their credit, they nearly did.