Lakers' Luke Walton considers return to native San Diego 'more of a business trip'

SAN DIEGO >> More than 40 family and friends will greet Luke Walton in his native city.

They will see the same man that helped University High of San Diego win a state title his senior year patrol the Lakers’ sideline. They will see whether Walton can guide the Lakers (2-4) to an upset victory against his former employer in the Golden State Warriors (4-1) tonight at Valley View Casino Center. And they will see a statue unveiling of Walton’s Hall-of-Fame father (Bill).

Though Walton admitted “it’s always special to go home,” he described his return as “more of a business trip” for reasons beyond already visiting there as a former NBA player and Golden State assistant.

Arena officials stressed to the Lakers not to worry about a slippery floor, which ended last year’s exhibition between the Lakers and Warriors during the third quarter. But Walton still sounded annoyed by the ordeal.

“It’s a week before the regular season and we’ve got our All-Stars sliding on every other play,” Walton said. “Obviously you want to play them for the fans that paid good money to come see them. But at the same time, you have to worry about them not getting injured. So they assured us we won’t have that issue again.”

In hopes of bolstering the Lakers’ bottom-ranked defense, Walton also devoted recent film sessions toward pointing out the Warriors’ effective defense in Saturday’s loss. They usually contrasted how the Lakers played.

“They’re going to score no matter what, but it’s easy to tell and talk to the players with a visual aide,” Walton said. “If we play good defense and they make a shot, we’re fine with that.”

Walton did not find the Lakers doing that as Golden State opened the first half with 74 points. He lamented the Lakers gave Kevin Durant “open shots” and slipped under screens for Klay Thompson.

“Letting a team like that swing the ball freely without putting any pressure on them defensively to take them out of their rhythm, you’re not going to beat them,” Walton said. “You can’t let them have an offensive rhythm or they will score at will.”

Positive vibes

The smile kept widening as Nick Young glowed about Walton’s positive coaching style. Then, someone interrupted Young’s interview to report a negative review about his game.

“Everything I said today about how good he’s been playing was not true in practice today,” Walton said. “He was awful through practice today. But throughout camp, he was better.”

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Young laughed off the incident, blaming his poor practice as “one of those days.” Otherwise, Walton has considered Young and Jordan Clarkson the team’s best perimeter defenders. Walton also said he has felt “very very pleased with Nick” after averaging 12 points on a 55 percent clip in preseason play.

To explain his improvement, Young offered an obvious swipe at Byron Scott’s system the previous two years.

“He didn’t want us to shoot 3-pointers,” said Young, who averaged 7.3 points on a career-low 33.9 percent clip last season. “This year is more free flowing and a lot more creative. We’re getting out there and going. It’s a different atmosphere and offense.”

The Lakers have noticed those differences improving Young’s mood.

“Nick is one of the greatest guys and greatest teammates I ever had,” Lakers forward Julius Randle said. “He’s not about all himself. He cares about his teammates and cares about his friends. I’m happy to see him up and I was definitely in his corner. I think he can be great for our team.”

Injury update

The Lakers listed backup point guard Jose Calderon as out for Wednesday’s game against Golden State. He has sat out of the last two practices and Saturday’s exhibition against the Warriors because of a slight left calf strain.