RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Golden State's Troy Hudson tried to get past Los Angeles' Vladimir Radmanovic last night. The Warriors won 119-106.
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Lakers’ second loss Golden for Warriors
Unlike Tuesday's preseason opener between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, most of the drama surrounding their Honolulu finale took place before tip-off.
The Warriors completed a sweep of the two-game exhibition series with a 119-106 win last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Warriors entered their training camp on the North Shore looking to build on the momentum of their playoff run last season and leave the islands today with a relatively easy win to pair with their dramatic 111-110 victory in the opener.
"The whole squad approached training camp the right way," Golden State coach Don Nelson said. "They really opened their minds up and they're doing what I asked them to do. I have no complaints about anybody really."
Still, most of the pregame buzz again surrounded Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who ended his stay with an 11-point outing on 2-for-10 shooting from the field. Whether he'll still be in purple and gold the next time the team visits remains to be seen.
Comments by Lakers owner Jerry Buss in Los Angeles papers yesterday stating his openness to trading Bryant rippled across the country, leading to questions of how much longer Bryant would remain with the team.
With Buss in a courtside seat, Bryant went about his business last night as the Lakers closed their training camp stay with what coach Phil Jackson called "a lackluster performance."
"I told them I didn't think they did anything well tonight," Jackson said outside the Lakers' locker room.
"Golden State is a run-and-gunning team. We wanted to up-tempo our game and tried to match their tempo, which we probably wouldn't do in the regular season."
After playing 25 minutes, Bryant slipped out of the arena without speaking to reporters.
For the second straight game, Warriors guard Kelenna Azubuike led all scorers with 22 points. He made seven of 14 shots from the field, including three of four 3-pointers.
"It's big, we've got a lot of new guys and I thought we played well together," Azubuike said. "We're getting our chemistry down, so it's looking good."
Marco Belinelli contributed 18 points to the win and Troy Hudson finished with 16.
Warriors guard Baron Davis did some extra shooting after the team's warm-ups prior to the game and that would be the extent of his court time for the night as Nelson mixed some new faces into the lineup. Al Harrington and Andris Biedrins, both starters on Tuesday, took the night off as well.
Bryant had a heavier workload for the Lakers, playing a team-high 17 minutes in the first half. He made just one field goal in seven attempts in that span. Still, he provided what many in the crowd had hoped to see, driving in off the wing and swooping under the basket for a one-handed slam.
Vladimir Radmanovic and Derek Fisher led the Lakers with 12 points each. Bryant and Andrew Bynum both finished with 11.
In contrast to Tuesday's game, which was decided by Hudson's last-second jumper after Golden State had squandered a 17-point fourth-quarter lead, the Warriors pulled ahead in the first half last night and stayed there.
A layup by Hudson gave Golden State a 37-35 lead 4 minutes into the second quarter and the Warriors never trailed again, going up by as many as 19.
Despite losing twice in their stay, the positive for the Lakers -- who again played without forwards Lamar Odom and center Kwame Brown -- is that it's still early.
"The type of offense we play is not something that's going to be great the first week of preseason," said Lakers forward Luke Walton, who returned from a hamstring injury to score eight points last night. "It's something that keeps getting better and better and hopefully by the middle of the season it's a beautiful thing."