Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry are too much for the Luka Doncic-led Lakers

Los Angeles – Jimmy Butler scored 31 points and Stephen Curry added 23 points, as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 119-109 on Tuesday evening in the opening match of the season for the two teams.

LeBron James missed the season opener for the first time in 23 years in the NBA, watching from the Lakers’ bench.

The league’s all-time top scorer suffers from sciatica, and is expected to be out of action until mid-November.

Jonathan Kuminga scored 17 points to lead the Warriors to outperform the Lakers to a large extent, with the exception of Doncic, who scored 40 points for the 47th time in his American League career and the third since joining the Lakers.

Doncic added 12 rebounds and nine assists in the opener of his first season with the Lakers, but the Slovenian star was 2 of 10 on three-point attempts as Los Angeles lost its season opener for the ninth time in 10 years.

Curry started his 17th season with just three three-pointers while relinquishing key offensive roles to Kuminga and Buddy Hield, who both hit five three-pointers.

Butler made all 16 free throws, and Curry scored a three-pointer in the final minute to get his first points of the fourth quarter.

Austin Reeves scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter after suffering foul trouble.

Golden State opened the second half with a 19-4 run to open the lead, which rose to 17 points. Reeves led a fourth-quarter rally, cutting the Warriors’ advantage to 105-99, but Los Angeles could get no closer.

Draymond Green scored just eight points and earned an early technical foul while on the bench, but his 3-pointer with 3:33 left halted the Lakers’ lead.

Deandre Ayton scored 10 points and six rebounds in his debut with the Lakers, while Marcus Smart scored nine points.

Al Horford scored five points in his Warriors debut, hitting a 3-pointer on his first shot of his 19th NBA season.