THOMAS & MACK CENTER, LAS VEGAS, NV — The Golden State Warriors opened their Las Vegas Summer League Tournament play against the Houston Rockets, in a matchup that featured the 16th and 17th overall tournament seeds.
Warriors head coach Jarron Collins started the same lineup he did the previous night against the Philadelphia 76ers: Patrick McCaw, Thomas Walkup, Royce Oneale, Darion Atkins, and Ognjen Kuzmic.
1st Quarter – Kuzmic Owns The Paint
The game started with an active Ognjen Kuzmic, securing the Warriors first 3 rebounds of the game and knocking down 2 free throws.
Second round draft pick Pat McCaw missed his shot of the night, a three from the right wing, but the Warriors still led early 5-4.
Royce O’Neale went hard to the basket and knocked down a three off an in and out with Kuzmic to give the Warriors a 10-4 lead.
Royce Oneale getting it done on both ends of the floor in tonight’s #NBASummer Tournament matchup on @NBATV. pic.twitter.com/9FrEvveTAO
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 14, 2016
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But the Rockets’ KJ McDaniels scored 8 of their first 10, including two threes, and tied the game back up at 10-10 with 6:20 to play in the first.
Kuz set up two more baskets from the post, finding Darion Atkins for a long two and then McCaw for a set shot 3 in the right corner.
O’Neale finishes with under a minute left in the quarter, with the foul, but couldn’t convert the free throw.
Quarter ends with a foul on Rockets, resulting in free throws for Robert Carter, Jr. He made both to put the Warriors up 21-18.
2nd Quarter – Rockets Run But Warriors Finish Half Strong
The Rockets opened up with an 8-0 run to start the 2nd quarter, putting them up 26-21.
Warriors got their first basket of the 2nd with 8:10 left, a three from David Laury set up by a McCaw swing pass, to close the gap to 26-24.
David Laury knocking down that flat-footed trey on @NBATV. pic.twitter.com/5fmZnogMva
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 14, 2016
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Sykes added another trey at the 7-minute mark to make it 27-26 followed by some traded baskets.
Kuz made another big play with an offensive rebound and an up and under to mak it 33-32 Warriors with 3:35 to play in the half.
Then a McCaw trey from the left wing sparked an 11-0 run for the Warriors to end the half.
.@PMcCaw0 showing off that range on @NBATV ? (@NBATV) pic.twitter.com/cGxmdQbkyA
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 14, 2016
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Atkins pulled down an offensive rebound off a missed McCaw pull up and scored And-1 to push GSW lead to41-34.
Thomas Walkup then banked a runner with contact to make it 43-34 with 1:22 left.
Right before the end of the half, McCaw drew a foul with 5.5 seconds left and split FTs to make it 44-34 Warriors.
3rd Quarter – Warriors Build 17 Point Lead, Rockets Battle Back
Walkup to Atkins on the break. Watch #NBASummer on @NBATV or listen on #Warriors Mobile App. pic.twitter.com/1FhZA0EtSW
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 14, 2016
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After 4 straight points for Houston, Royce O’Neale went right post hook over Sam Dekker to make it 53-40 Dubs.
Then Pat McCaw hit his third three-pointer of the game to make it 56-42.
Kuz split a pair of FTs after being set up by McCaw and O’Neale knocked down 2 more to give the Warriors a 17-point advantage, their largest of the game.
But the Rockets weren’t ready to quit yet, going on a 7-0 run to close the gap back to 10, then adding a second 9-2 run to close the gap to just 3 with 59.1 seconds left in the 3rd.
Keifer Sykes finally stopped the Houston run with a wide open transition 3 set up by Walkup and the Warriors earned the final shot of the quarter with a defensive stop.
Pat McCaw’s corner 3 attempt rattled out as the buzzer sounded, and the Warriors took a 64-58 lead to the 4th quarter.
4th Quarter – Rockets Go For The Win, SYKES
The play that put the Dubs ahead for good in tonight’s #NBASummer victory over Houston. ? pic.twitter.com/a6pwcKLuVb
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 14, 2016
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Sykes missed a tough jumper the next trip down after a stop but Royce O’Neale grabbed the offensive board and reset the offense.
McCaw followed that with a baseline dunk attempt that was emphatically rejected by Montrezl Harrell but the Rockets turned it over at mid-court and Sykes was fouled, burying 2 more FTs to make it 78-74.
Freeman then earned a trip to the line for the Rockets, and hit both FTs to make it 78-76 with 11.2 seconds left.
Finally, the game was decided as the Rockets fouled Sykes one more time, and he converted. The Rockets didn’t score on their next trip and the Warriors ran out the clock to move on with a 80-76 win.
Keifer Sykes led the Warriors in scoring with 17 points on 4-12 shooting, also adding 5 steals and 2 assists. Three others finished in double figure scoring for the Warriors, including Pat McCaw (13), Royce O’Neale (15), and Darion Atkins (12).
Ognjen Kuzmic had another solid game, putting up 5 points to go with 10 rebounds and 5 assists. As a team, the Warriors shot 9 of 19 from the 3PT line (47.4%) and 21 of 26 from the free throw line (80.8%).
The win means the Warriors are still alive in the winners’ bracket of the Las Vegas Summer League tournament. They will face #1 overall seed Toronto Raptors Thursday at 3:30pm PST.
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