The Golden State Warriors didn’t get a win in their first preseason game of the year, but they did showcase something infinitely more important: A healthy roster.
Save for Festus Ezeli, who’s still out while recovering from knee surgery, each of the Warriors who struggled with some sort of ailment at the end of last season looked healthy and in good shape.
Stephen Curry (ankle), David Lee (hip flexor) and Andrew Bogut (ankle) all looked to be completely recovered from last season’s playoff run, though they looked at times like they hadn’t seen a basketball all summer.
The Warriors put together a sloppy performance, beginning with poor shooting from the starters. Harrison Barnes, who got the start at small forward, went just 3-14 from the field with four turnovers, while the Warriors other recovering stars didn’t fair much better. Curry, Lee and Bogut combined to shoot 7-22.
Newcomer Andre Iguodala was statistically the lone bright spot in the Golden State starting lineup, finishing the game 6-7 from the field with 15 points and 3 rebounds in just over 20 minutes of playing time.
He filled holes where needed, finishing a couple fast breaks and spending a significant amount of time at point forward, though those stretches of the game ended mostly poorly for the Warriors.
Ultimately, Golden State would fall to the star-less Los Angeles Lakers, 104-95. The high-point for the team came early in the game, when the Warriors’ starters went on a 15-0 run after opening the game with a seven-point deficit to the Lakers.
For what it’s worth, Bogut looked great, inhaling rebounds early on and taking the ball up court himself, something he’s said he wants to do more often. While he also struggled with his touch, the Aussie really did look like a whole new player in his first completely healthy action in a Golden State uniform.
Klay Thompson also flashed a few new wrinkles, going for 26 points off the bench Saturday night. Just six of the shooting guard’s points came from beyond the arc and his off-season work in the post and on finishing showed, as he shot 9-11 on twos. He played a game-high 38 minutes in his 6th-man role, and his play was one of just a few positives offensively for the Warriors.
Xavier Henry (29), Nick Young (17) and Jordan Farmar (12) would do most of the scoring for the Lakers, as their plethora of off-season signings out-played the Golden State bench down the stretch of the game.
Few Warriors would make a significant contribution off the bench, though Toney Douglas showed a solid grasp of the point guard position during his 18 minutes there in the second half. Draymond Green would get a healthy 22 minutes of action, too, followed Jermaine O’Neal (15), Mareese Speights (14) and Kent Bazemore (11).
Training camp hopefuls Dewayne Dedmon, Cameron Jones and Seth Curry all saw a little bit of action, but not enough to set them apart in the competition for the final spot on the Warriors’ roster. For now, we’ll put 1st-round draft pick Nemanja Nedovic in the same boat.
You can probably expect to see a little more extended minutes for those guys at some point in the preseason.
Overall, it the sort of performance you might expect this early in the season. Don’t read too much into the mistakes, or even the choice of starting lineup. Most of the issues are likely to correct themselves with more practice. For now, though, the Warriors just seemed happy to be back on an NBA court.
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