Warriors have a model in how to get it done — the Lakers

Countdown to April…

Oh, it’s still too early?

With the playoffs five months off — How will I make it? — it was another sky-above vs. mud-below matchup for the Lakers, who have yet to see what’s so new about the new Golden State Warriors.

Having led by 20 points in the first quarter of their first meeting, the Lakers led by 16 in Sunday’s first quarter, extended it to 35 and you can guess the rest.

“Understand something,” said Warriors Coach Keith Smart after the 117-89 decision, “this team here, the Lakers, they’re playing for a bigger prize.”

Not for a while, they’re not.

Not that the Lakers have been tested, with only four games against teams that came in with winning records.

That was one of them Sunday night, the now 7-6 Warriors, and the Lakers have played them twice.

Then there were the Kings, who were 3-1 when the Lakers went to Sacramento, rolled up a 20-point lead and breezed in.

The fourth, Portland, was 5-2 when the Lakers hammered the Trail Blazers by 25.

(The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets were both at .500 when they handed the Lakers their only losses.)

With a barely discernible “strength” of schedule, the Lakers are only No. 5 in ESPN’s closely watched (well, I watch them closely) Hollinger Power Ratings … which still have 8-5 Miami No. 1.

Of course, the Heat has played real powers like Boston (twice), Orlando, New Orleans and Utah.

Unfortunately, it lost four of those games.

The Warriors are actually wonders, or were until David Lee went out, shocking the world with their 6-2 start.

It may not even be a mirage with the buoyant, fast-talking Smart turning them from barnstorming to competing, and new deep-pocket, spotlight-loving stars-in-their-own-right owners, Joe Lacob, a genuine Silicon Valley multimillionaire, and Peter Guber, a genuine Hollywood mogul.

Buying out shallow-pockets, inaccessible Chris Cohan, the new owners are more like a rescue team sent down into a coal mine than a breath of fresh air.

From his cave or wherever he went, Cohan handed the team to President Robert Rowell, a bright young guy from the business side.

Rowell annexed the basketball side, cutting General Manager Chris Mullin out of the loop.

Rowell then brought the curtain down on their renaissance under Don Nelson — whom Mullin not only hired, but gave part of his salary — highlighted by their 2007 first-round upset of No. 1 Dallas.

When Mullin agreed to a $13-million-per-year, well-under-the-max extension with Baron Davis — a disaster as a Clipper but a star in their freewheeling system — Rowell nixed it.

When Monta Ellis fell off a motor scooter, missing 57 games, Rowell held out the possibility of trying to void his contract.

With Ellis furious, without new owners, Monta was on his way out.

Most of the merry band from 2007 left within months of Davis: Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson, Al Harrington, Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus.

So, welcome, Joe and Peter!

“It’s pretty daunting, and thrilling,” said Guber, who sat courtside Sunday, “but this is not my first rodeo …

“Joe’s skill set, he knows a lot about basketball and what goes on the floor.

“I have to learn a lot but I’m smart enough to know what I don’t know and I’m smart enough to listen.”

With the sale having just closed, there has been only one new appointment … Kirk Lacob, Joe’s 22-year-old son, as director of basketball relations, whatever those are.

“The idea is, he’s certainly not a retread,” said Guber of their first controversy. “He’s a new-tread.”

Actually, insiders say the Lacob who’ll have a major voice in personnel will be Joe.

mark.heisler@latimes.com