LOS ANGELES — There were a lot of firsts Tuesday for the Lakers.
It was Russell Westbrook’s first game with his hometown team. There was a sell-out crowd at Staples Center for the first time in 19 months and, of course, the Lakers’ first game of the 2021-22 season.
One thing, however, eluded them — a victory.
LeBron James scored 34 points and Anthony Davis added 33 but the Lakers lost their season opener to the Golden State Warriors, 121-114, Tuesday at Staples Center.
The Lakers looked solid through three quarters, pushing the ball at will and holding the always-efficient Warriors to 27.6% from three-point range on the way to a slim two-point edge.
Unfortunately for them, there was a fourth quarter.
The Warriors scored 38 points in the final 12 minutes as Jordan Poole — not Stephen Curry — came alive from three-point range to push Golden State to victory.
It ruined the homecoming for Westbrook, who played his first game as a Laker after a lengthy basketball career that started at Leuzinger High in Lawndale, continued at UCLA and began in the NBA in 2008.
He had only eight points, five rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes. He missed nine of 13 shots and the Lakers were minus-23 with him on the court.
“Him more than anybody, it’s going to be an adjustment period. He’s the new guy,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s got to find his way…It’s just a little bit different for him.”
Westbrook was not overly talkative with reporters afterward, declining to elaborate on his thoughts in a brief interview.
“Just gotta figure it out. That simple,” he said.
Davis said he tried to cheer up Westbrook in the locker room after the game.
“Russ was really hard on himself,” Davis said. “I told him I was 0-3 in my Laker [season] openers.”
Davis, for his part, was a scorer from the start, notching 20 in the first half as he drilled mid-range shots, ran the lanes on fastbreaks and was highly effective down low.
James looked nothing like a guy two months shy of his 37th birthday. He made five three-pointers, hauled in 11 rebounds and even took a charge in the third quarter.
“Those two guys were spectacular,” Vogel said. “We just have to be better defensively. This is a unit that’s all new to each other.”
Ah, yes. The defense.
Free-agent acquisition Kent Bazemore helped hold Curry to 21 points on five-for-21 shooting on a night where the perennial All-Star had to contribute in other ways (10 assists and 10 rebounds).
The lesser-known duo of Poole and Nemanja Bjelica, however, hurt the Lakers. Poole (20 points) fueled a Warriors run early in the fourth quarter with a pair of three-pointers. Bjelica scored 15 points off the bench, including seven in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors’ reserves outscored those of the Lakers, 55-29.
The good news for the Lakers is their favorable schedule over the first month. They’ll have plenty of time to work on their chemistry — seven of their next nine games are against teams not expected to make the playoffs.
The big off-court headline was the full house at Staples Center, a crowd of 18,997 marking the first sell-out at the arena since March 10, 2020. Fans had to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test for the virus within 48 hours of Tuesday’s tip-off. They were also required to wear masks at all times inside the building.
The Lakers played some games at the end of last season inside a partially filled Staples Center, but Tuesday was different.
All that was missing was a win.