https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/Warriors-overcome-rare-poor-shooting-night-from-16547403.php

LOS ANGELES — During a pair of first-quarter free-throw tries by Anthony Davis on Tuesday night, Stephen Curry and LeBron James went to the other end of the Staples Center court and shared a series of laughs.

Curry might still be laughing Wednesday.

The Warriors’ point guard knows he got away with a 5-of-21 shooting night, getting saved by some unexpected bench contributions in a 121-114 victory that featured a case study of what can happen with a traditional lineup versus a small-ball unit.

“I played like trash tonight,” Curry told TNT, despite posting 21 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.

At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, James opened the game at small forward and was bigger than everyone in the Warriors’ starting five. The Lakers also started a pair of 6-11 players in Anthony Davis and DeAndre Jordan

The Warriors, though, managed to win the rebounding battle, and made up for lack of size with some timely 3-pointers. Curry was 2-for-8 from beyon the 3-point arc on a triple-double night , but his teammates made 12 additional 3s after a record-setting preseason.

Nemanja Bjelica had one on a 15-point, 11-rebound night, Damion Lee added one on a 15-point effort from the bench, and Andre Iguodala went 2-of-5 beyond the arc en route to 12 points.

“It just feels like five or six years ago, when we had guys up and down the roster who can play,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ve got guys who are injured who can play, so I think we’re really deep. … Tonight might be one guy’s night, and tomorrow might be someone else’s.”

In going 5-0 during the exhibition slate, the Warriors led the league in 3-point field goals made (92) and 3-pointers attempted (266). They averaged 53.2 total 3-point field goals attempts — a bump from 38.7 during the 2020-21 regular season.

Maybe the preseason really does mean something. Kerr joked that he thought the Lakers were playing “possum” during an 0-6 exhibition schedule that saw James, Davis and newcomer Russell Westbrook play sparingly together.

James (34 points, 11 rebounds) and Davis (33 points, 11 rebounds) showed up when it mattered — a regular season opener with such high billing that it drew Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, Floyd Mayweather, Jack Nicholson and Usher to courtside seats and a national TV audience on TNT with no other NBA games opposing it.

The game generally lived up to the hype with seven lead changes, five ties and neither team leading by more than 10 points until the final of minutes of a matchup that many are predicting will be the Western Conference finals..

The teams don’t play again until Feb. 12, when they’ll both likely look drastically different with the continued cohesion of James, Davis and Westbrook for the Lakers and the injury returns of Klay Thompson and James Wiseman for the Warriors.

With the gap in meetings coming, the Warriors and Lakers gave it their all in front of a sellout crowd that seemingly breathed along with every play in the closing moments.

The Warriors got to that point only because Jordan Poole (20 points) bounced back from a rough start and gave them a 100-96 lead while Curry was resting for the first 5½ minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Warriors’ bench, especially Iguodala and Bjelica, kept the Warriors in it. Despite going 4-of-16 from 3-point range in the first half, the Warriors trailed just 59-53 at the break.

It looked like the Lakers might dominate inside as Curry continued to struggle inside and out. With 4½ minutes left in the first half, he missed a dunk and got called for offensive basket interference while Westbrook smirked in disbelief.

Who’s laughing now?