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I wanted to wait a day and see how the Warriors would respond to playing with guard Stephen Curry. I’d like to wait another night too, but I can’t, because they were at Staples on Sunday. I’d like to say they played at Staples, but that wouldn’t be accurate. They showed up, and that’s being generous. It wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure.

Golden State was coming off two home ins to start the season. The last time that happened, Newt Gingrich was about to burst onto the scene with “A Contract for America.” But a contract for Chris Webber was out of question, and the feud between him and Nellie blew up, and before we knew it, Tom Gugliotta was playing for G’ State and the rest, as they say, is history. Sixteen years later, and the W’s haven’t had two w’s to start a season since.

After beating Houston on opening night in a tribute to their former coach Don Nelson by rebounding very little, and playing even less defense, yet somehow escaping with a 132-128 win, the Warriors beat the stuffing out of the Clippers and Blake Griffin to go to 2-0. But only the sad-sap Warriors could make such a joyous occasion a somber one, because while they were blowing out their rival bottom-feeders from SoCal, their most important player re-injured his ankle. The second-year stud first hurt himself in the pre-season. He aggravated the ankle injury on opening night, and again in game two.

So there we were, heading to L.A. to take on the anti-Clippers, the World Champion Lakers without Curry. Going into the season, the biggest question was, who would back up Curry at the point? After Sunday’s game, it’s clear the answer is: nobody. Reggie Williams tried, but he’s not a point. Charlie Bell played some minutes. Nope. Clearly the best option is CJ Watson, but the former backup guard is now playing in Chicago.

Instead, without Curry, the Warriors, no match to the Lakers in terms of size, were now also no match in terms of quickness. They couldn’t do anything in the half court, couldn’t run. They couldn’t do anything. They were down 20 after the first quarter, and it never got any better from there. David Lee scored as many points as Curry did, which was none. Lee was brought over from New York to help give the Warriors some size and toughness. In his first big test, he got an ‘F.’ On Halloween night, he must have dressed up as a ghost, ‘cause he was nowhere to be seen.

Now, is it really fair to judge too much on just one game, a 10th straight loss to the Lakers by Golden State? No, not really. But I will say this: If the Lakers lose Kobe for a game, or the Suns lose Steve Nash, someone else will man up. For the Warriors, that player needs to be either Monta Ellis or David Lee. I don’t expect either of them to lead them to road victories over the Lakers. I do expect them to show up. I expect them to score a basket.

If I had to guess, I would say the next time Lee goes up against the Lakers he will fare much better. Heck, you can’t score any less than zero, can you?

As for Curry, the Warriors aren’t sure how long their do-everything guard will be out. With him, the chance of a very intriguing start is possible. Without him, if Sunday is any example, keep the women and children inside and away from the TV.