ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Golden State Warriors wrapped up their preseason tonight against the Denver Nuggets, who rested point guard Ty Lawson and power forward Kenneth Faried.
The Warriors had their full lineup with the exception of Shaun Livingston, who is still nursing his toe injury, and Brandon Rush, who sat out with back spasms in Tuesday’s win against the Los Angeles Clippers. Andrew Bogut returned to the lineup after food poisoning forced him to miss the game on Tuesday night.
FIRST QUARTER
Bogut didn’t skip a beat as he started off with a lefty hook good for two. He would have yet another great start to the game, as he has had in most, if not all, of the preseason.
However, the turnover bug reared its ugly head early again, as the Warriors committed three turnovers in the opening few minutes, mostly of the “careless” kind, as Bogut had been self-critical of the team about earlier that morning at shootaround.
For example, on one play, David Lee cut late to the free throw line, as Stephen Curry waited to deliver the pass. When Lee finally got there, he threw a touch pass, that was improperly handled, to Harrison Barnes in the corner. The only problem was, it was wide to the right by about three yards. Even if Barnes had been in motion on a cut to the basket, Lee’s pass still would’ve been off.
Still, the Warriors got off to a 16-10 lead with 6:26 to go at the first timeout.
Bogut continued to stand out, getting one-handed tip slam, stealing the ball, and delivering a baseball pass to Andre Iguodala for a dunk.
He even showed the non-finesse side, setting a mean (and illegal) pick on Arron Afflalo, sending Afflalo crumbling to the floor as Bogut raised his hand with the guilty foul gesture.
Here were some other highlights of the quarter:
- Curry tried to draw a foul Chris Paul-style, initiating the bump with the shoulder, but didn’t get the call. He also missed the running jumper.
- Thompson had a post up of Afflalo — not exactly of the 6’7″-versus-diminutive-point-guard variety we’ve seen in the past. Afflalo is listed at 6’5″, 215 lbs.
- Thompson got an and-one by protecting the ball James Harden-style and getting the and-one.
- On a set that was deep into the Triangle motion, Curry cut the hole and Lee delivered a nice low-to-the-ground bounce pass for a layup.
- Thompson had another patented blocked-shot-then-in-transition-trey.
The quarter ended with Klay Thompson on the floor to play with the second unit of Barbosa, Iguodala, Draymond Green, and Ognjen Kuzmic. The Warriors led, 29-21, at the end of the first period. Thompson led the way with 10 points and Curry had 7, but the team had tallied 7 turnovers.
SECOND QUARTER
The second frame started with Barbosa, Justin Holiday, Iguodala, Green, and Kuzmic.
Festus Ezeli would check in with 10:16 remaining and, once again, immediately made his presence known, getting fouled on a dunk attempt over Jusuf Nurkic. Ezeli made one and missed one free throw.
Ezeli later had a nice drop step move, made with the harm, although the center missed the free throw.
The Warriors’ passing was on full display as they assisted on 8 of their 10 field goals in the quarter. Holiday got a long alley oop pass from Iguodala. Curry made a wide cut past Bogut in the post with the ball, then it Thompson’s turn and he stopped and popped as Bogut got enough in the way of Klay’s defender. On a broken play, Lee mishandled but finally got the ball to Curry in the middle, who immediately gave Bogut a behind-the-back assist for a reverse dunk.
And the two non-assisted field goals were pretty, as well. Barbosa “blurred” by a helpless Wilson Chandler with the left hand and, in transition, Curry stopped at the left elbow, faked a pass to Thompson on his left in the corner, freezing the Nugget defense, and calmly drained the uncontested three-pointer.
The Warriors “only” committed 3 turnovers and led 65-53 at halftime. The #SplashBrothers combined for 28 points, with Thompson with 15 and Curry with 13. Barbosa chipped in 9 points, Iguodala added 5 assists and Bogut 5 rebounds. Golden State was shooting 60.5% from field. The only blemishes may have been the 7 turnovers and Bogut missing both of his lone two free throws, shooting right-handed.
Stay tuned for the 2nd half report/recap!
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