The Los Angeles Lakers began summer league play on Saturday in their first game of the California Classic at Chase Center in San Francisco. Unfortunately, fans were disappointed when Bronny James was held out of the contest.
It was up to players such as Dalton Knecht and Cole Swider to carry the Lakers as they went up against the hometown Golden State Warriors on Saturday afternoon.
Early on, things looked good for them. They established a 19-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 12 points early in the second quarter as Swider started to get hot. But even though he was scorching in the second half, the Lakers as a whole lost steam.
While they scored a decent 41 points in the second half, they allowed Golden State to score 50, which resulted in them losing, 89-84.
Swider, who has played for the Lakers in summer league and for their G League affiliate in the past, went off for a game-high 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point range. He grabbed eight rebounds, and he showed that even though he has played sparingly in the NBA, he can definitely light it up from downtown.
Knecht, on the other hand, struggled. He connected on just three of his 13 shot attempts and missed all six of his 3-point tries, although he did contribute a bit on defense with two steals and one block.
Los Angeles will play again on Sunday, this time against the Miami Heat.
