Lakers at Warriors: Short-handed loss, Grimes’ starting case among observations

The Los Angeles Lakers had a much different group available Tuesday than the one that opened the preseason with a win in Sacramento.

Playing the second night of a back-to-back, the Lakers fell 124-98 to the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. With several key players unavailable, JJ Redick had another opportunity to evaluate combinations and players competing for minutes.

Here are three observations from the Lakers' second preseason game.

Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Arthur Kaluma were unavailable Tuesday. Dončić, Williams and Thybulle joined the four players who also missed Monday's opener.

Those absences matter when evaluating the loss. Without Dončić and Reaves, the Lakers were missing the two players expected to organize most of their offense. Williams and Thybulle's absences also removed two defenders who helped establish the pressure in Sacramento.