THOMAS & MACK CENTER, LAS VEGAS, NV — The Golden State Warriors embarked on their annual NBA Summer League development tour against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Warriors were without Kevon Looney (hip surgery) and Damian Jones (pectoral surgery).
1st Quarter
With assistant coach Jarron Collins at the helm, the Warriors trotted out Keifer Sykes, Patrick McCaw, Royce O’Neale, Darion Atkins, and Ognjen Kuzmic.
McCaw, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas product intimately familiar with the Thomas & Mac Center and who has a guaranteed contract and roster spot on the regular-season Warriors, was the main focus and got to play the entire opening quarter.
McCaw didn’t disappoint, with an impressive behind-the-back dribble in traffic to avoid a theft attempt, then recovered and finished a nifty right-handed scoop before the Spurs could react:
The first @NBASummerLeague points for the Warriors are the first Summer League points from @PMcCaw0 pic.twitter.com/C2HAAoDUzY
— Laurence Scott (@LaurenceScott) July 10, 2016
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Later, on a Spurs miss, McCaw got the rebound and started the break by himself, pulling up at the free throw line for a jumper to put the Warriors up, 9-4, with 5:41 remaining.
McCaw wasn’t done. After a Thomas Walkup bad pass that turned into a Spurs dunk on the other end, to cap an 8-0 run for San Antonio, Walkup hit a jumper, then stole the ball, dished to McCaw, and McCaw drove into traffic in transition and drew a foul in the process…
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…although he missed the “and one” free throw.
About the only thing McCaw did wrong was pass up a three to throw a lob that went impossibly high for Kuzmic to catch.
Meanwhile, Kuzmic had a nice block that led to a Sykes transition layup that was fouled and provided screens up top for point guard Sykes. Kuzmic didn’t get many opportunities to score, missing a putback too hard off the board, but did get a couple tap-outs on rebounds, some dish-outs on clogged post-ups, and generally looked a whole lot better than he did previously in a Warriors uniform, when it seemed he was lost out there.
Sykes showed off his spunkiness, showing bursts of speed here and there, but he has diminutive size, so it remains to be seen if that can translate at the NBA level.
Backup power forward David Laury did well to stay involved, with attempts inside and a nice jumper, and even Walkup showed some mettle with a jumper or two, but McCaw led the way with 9 points in the first frame, drilling a catch-and-shoot three with 36 seconds to play, and the Warriors took an 18-14 lead.
2nd Quarter
McCaw wasn’t shy about pulling the three, but he missed two more from downtown in the second quarter, one of them going in and out.
He also showed hustle on defense, diving for a loose ball, but not getting it, then getting back up on his feet to take away a botched handle by the Spurs for a steal.
Oneale showed off a nice spin-and-finish:
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Robert Carter, Jr., who has a size and wingspan similar to Draymond Green, sputtered on offense, although he set some solid high picks, and was a non-factor. His footspeed will need some improvement.
Still, Carter provided a nice screen for Sykes, who sliced and diced for a nice Euro-step scoop:
Warriors extend lead in Vegas w/ @ksykesyb slicing his way for the bucket pic.twitter.com/DkQlFG9C7G
— Laurence Scott (@LaurenceScott) July 10, 2016
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A nice lead bounce pass from Kuzmic to Sykes put the Warriors up, 26-22, with 5:06 to play, then Laury got a steal, was fouled on the break, then hit a jumper and Becky Hammon, coaching the Spurs, called timeout with 3:54 left, with the Warriors up, 28-22.
Both teams couldn’t score for more than two minutes, when McCaw broke free on a fast break and dunked, giving the Warriors a 31-25 as Hammon took another timeout:
Walkup to McCaw for the easy jam on ESPN 2. Listen live on #Warriors Mobile App: https://t.co/ZkjPJjiF76 pic.twitter.com/z6TVwRHlRU
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 10, 2016
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Jonathon Simmons hit a rare bucket, going with a reverse layup out of the timeout, but Laury answered from inside, and the Warriors took a 33-27 lead at halftime.
McCaw led all scorers with 11 points, although the Warriors shot a very un-Golden State-like 1-for-10 from beyond the arc.
3rd Quarter
McCaw continued his solid play with a tap-block of a missed jumper that led to a Sykes layup.
Later, McCaw added another three on a swish via Laury and, after a turnover by Simmons, Hammon called a timeout with the Warriors up, 41-39, and 4:51 remaining in the third.
With 3:22 to play, Kyle Anderson, who played key minutes for San Antonio against Golden State in the 2015-16 campaign, went between-the-legs on a dribble past McCaw to keep the Spurs close, 45-43.
McCaw made two consecutive nice lead passes, but Carter miss inside, although he got his own rebound for the putback, and Laury did the same, then added a tough lefty banker.
Big man Rosco Allen hit a three in transition on a catch-and-shoot, but Ryan Arcidiacono hit a runner and McCaw lost the ball on a crossover, trying to score on the last play of the period, and both teams were tied, 52-52, heading into the final stanza.
4th Quarter
The Spurs and Warriors traded empty possessions for nearly two minutes before Oneale made a banker and, later, after a missed three by McCaw, a Sykes hesitation dribble led to a layup down the right side and the Warriors had their biggest lead, 59-53, with 5:50 to go.
McCaw made a nice adjustment to re-angle his body away from a high screen, then got a steal when Anderson coughed up the ball inside, but Anderson came back for a block from behind on Allen’s layup attempt.
The shifty Sykes even stole a sideout inbound, but muffed the dunk attempt on the break out, hitting back iron, although his elevation was impressive.
Still, that became a crucial miss in a game separated by just one or two possessions throughout, and Sykes missed a floater and a layup, although Laury was there to clean things up, and the Warriors held a 61-59 lead heading into the final two minutes.
Simmons missed a three, McCaw corralled the rebound, his fourth of the game, but Sykes tried to cross Dejounte Murray and Murray stuck a hand in there to disrupt Sykes, leading to Sykes losing the handle and turning the ball over.
Murray ended the sequence with a nice Euro-step banker, and the Spurs tied the game at 61-61 with just 15.6 seconds left as Collins called a timeout to set something up for the last play.
Unfortunately, McCaw missed a floater from the right baseline with 1.3 seconds remaining. The Spurs got the rebound and Murray launched from past halfcourt, but the refs had ruled that Hammon had called a timeout on the rebound before any dribbling, and San Antonio was granted an inbound from the hashmark, advancing the ball past halfcourt.
Collins finally inserted 7’6” center Mamadou Ndiaye, but to cover the inbound from Anderson and not to protect the rim. That proved to be the wrong chess move as Hammon had Simmons feign a screen up top, then slipped to the rim.
Ndiaye had trouble getting off his feet, so it wasn’t too challenging for Anderson to get the ball up and over Ndiaye, and Anderson delivered the ball perfectly to Simmons in stride, who hit a runner at the buzzer to win the game, 63-61:
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The ballyhooed Simmons, who garnered MVP honors last summer in the Spurs’ Summer League championship game, redeemed himself from an otherwise quiet 2-for-7 game, with just 7 points.
McCaw tied with Anderson for a game-high 14 points, going 6-for-13 from the field and 2-for-7 from downtown, to go along with 4 rebounds.
In two nights, the Warriors (0-1) will face the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat No. 1 Draft pick Ben Simmons’ Philadelphia 76ers on a buzzer-beater three from D’Angelo Russell, the game before this one, also at Thomas & Mack Center.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @scsentinel)
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