Golden State Warriors Las Vegas Summer League Championship Defense Ends With Loss To Hawks In Round 1 (Photo: Ryan Brown | Lets Go Warriors Instagram)
The Golden State Warriors‘ run as Las Vegas Summer League champions officially came to an end Wednesday night at Cox Pavilion.
A 68-65 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of tournament play eliminated the Warriors from contention, though they will play one more consolation game Friday at 1:30 pm against the Milwaukee Bucks.
There won’t be a new champion crowned until Monday, but for the first time since July 2010, the Warriors summer squad won’t be able leave Las Vegas as the league’s best.
A rough third quarter left the Warriors trailing by 12 going to the final frame, and a late push fell short of forcing overtime when Justin Holiday‘s three-pointer rattled in and out as the buzzer sounded.
Head coach Steve Kerr said that, once again as it was in their 89-88 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday, it was an inability to take care of the basketball the forced the Warrior to play from behind late.
“It was kind of a strange game. We started out great offensively, we were executing, and then all the sudden we just started turning it over,” Kerr said. “You can’t win with 22 turnovers giving up 25 points. That was the story of the game.”
Moments earlier, James Michael McAdoo to the free throw line with the Warriors trailing by just one, but both his attempts glanced off the front of the rim, and Golden State was forced to foul.
“It’s tough. I’ve been in that situation before. I’ve knocked those free throws down before,” McAdoo said. “But it’s back to the gym tomorrow just to continue to get better and hopefully next time I’m in that position I’ll be able to step up.”
Aaron Craft nearly forced a steal for the Dubs on the ensuing inbound pass, but the loose ball found its way back into the hands of the Hawks, and Trevor Releford knocked down two free throws to stretch the lead to three before Holiday’s last gasp rimmed out.
“One possession games are awful. You go through and you think of every possession you could have done different to change the game,” Craft said after the game. “It doesn’t come down to the last play, you’d love to get the ball, but we lost that game in the first half.”
Dennis Schroder led all scorers with 17 points for the Hawks, despite hitting just one field goal in the second half. He went 3-3 from the field with 10 points int he game’s first quarter, but finished just 5-15 for the game.
Releford and Mike Muscala both had 14 and combined to go 5-8 from 3PT distance.
Holiday led the Warriors in points for the third consecutive game, scoring 15 to with four rebounds, despite an inefficient shooting night in which he shot just 5-15 and 1-5 from 3PT range.
Nemanja Nedovic added 14 points on 5-10 shooting, but also had four turnovers and no assists, continuing to struggle in his development as an NBA point guard.
McAdoo had an impressive all-around stat line, going 3-4 from the field with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks, but went just 2-8 from the free throw line, including the potential game-winning pair in the game’s final minute.
Ognjen Kuzmic had another strong rebounding effort with 10 boards in just 23 minutes, and also had a personal best 6 points.
Craft once again provided a spark off the bench, with 6 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds, but the bench as a whole had just 17 points on 6-24 shooting.
Minus Craft, who was +0 in 26 minutes the Warriors’ reserves were a combined -29 in plus/minus in 55 minutes. The Warriors starters, in contrast were +14 overall.
The loss was the end of an era for the Warriors, who’s Summer League dominance included the first-ever tournament championship last season, as well as a quasi-championship when they were the only team to go 5-0 in 2012.
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