RECAP: Warriors Preseason Off To Good Start vs Clippers

The Golden State Warriors got their 2014-15 preseason off to a satisfactory start with a trip down to Staples Center to face their rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Dubs withstood some rust in the first quarter, a barrage of long-range jumpers by Blake Griffin, and the bench held on for a 112-94 preseason win after Andrew Bogut and Klay Thompson took turns showing off a variety of offensive skills in the second and third quarters, respectively.

FIRST QUARTER

Head coach Steve Kerr had told reporters at the last practice in Oakland that he was concerned about “flinging the ball around” for turnovers, even in intra-squad scrimmages. That concern continued as the Warriors’ starters helped commit 6 turnovers in the opening frame, 5 of them in the first 7 minutes of play.

Griffin showed off a new dimension of his game: long jumpshots. He buoyed the Clippers in the first quarter, while DeAndre Jordan did a good job of keeping the game close by missing free throws.

Meanwhile, the Warriors did look good at stretches on both ends of the court. They had an early transition layup by David Lee as Stephen Curry embraced associate head coach Alvin Genry‘s “first three steps” philosophy and pushed the ball forward.

Other highlights:

• Bogut showed off a behind-the-back dribble, as well as a lefty hook.
• Harrison Barnes was the first Warrior off the bench, in for Andre Iguodala with about 5:24 to go. Barnes was, for the most part, passive, and unfortunately got called for a charge on his first aggressive play.
• Curry had a nasty cross-over on Chris Paul, but the ensuing three-pointer went inand out and #HumanTorch mode was not lit.
• Draymond Green, the second Warrior off the bench at 4:14 to go for Lee, made a couple threes to start, picking up right where he left off from Game 7 in last season’s playoffs.
• According to Rusty Simmons of the SF Chronicle, Kerr said Ognjen Kuzmic would play a lot of minutes and he did, entering at the 3:15 mark of the first quarter. “Kuz” had a yeoman’s outing, quite pedestrian, but he did miss a point-blank setup by Curry.
• Also per Simmons, Kerr mentioned he could play Leandro Barbosa at point as long as Iguodala was on the court with him, and Kerr tried that with no spectacular results.

A total of nine Warriors played in the first quarter. The Dubs trailed, 28-24, at the end of one, with the Warriors shooting 36.8% and the Clippers 47.8%.

SECOND QUARTER

The Warriors started off the second quarter nicely with Green hitting a three then a running pull-up jumper, tallying 9 straight to tie up the game at 35-35.

#DubNation got an extended look at their second unit of Kuzmic, Green, Barnes, Barbosa, along with Iguodala. That combination held up well.

What also held up well were the FIBA after-effects for Curry and Thompson. That was good news for the latter, but bad news for the former.

Curry couldn’t help but get called on fouls that were a little bit too much physicality against Paul. Meanwhile, Thompson tried a lob to Bogut that was far too short for him, but would have probably been slammed home by #TeamUSA teammate Anthony Davis.

https://instagram.com/p/t4I11yAmak

But Bogut stole the show. After a running floater, he paused with the ball at the high post on one play, then surveying and going in for a left-handed layup.

To top that off, as the second quarter ended, Bogut had another one of his beautiful interior bounce passes to Lee, giving Lee 11 points heading into the break, behind Griffin’s game-leading 18.

After a Thompson steal, another nice play involving Bogut had Thompson and Curry taking turns circling around “Bogues” who had the ball at the high post. That particular sequence ended with Curry hitting a pretty and-one fall-away jumper.

The Warriors took a 56-52 lead into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

In something we will only see in preseason, Kuzmic started in place of Bogut at the beginning of the third quarter, but that was quickly overshadowed by Curry continuing his conflicts with the referees, as he picked up his 5th foul with 10:23 to go and then later got his 6th as “CP3” (Paul) manufactured an and-one bank-shot in traffic.

Curry finished with 12 points in just 19 minutes of play.

Thompson scored the majority of his team-high 20 points, including a blow-by right-handed drive against Spencer Hawes that ended with a two-handed jam plus the harm, although Klay missed the free throw.

There was also this highlight featuring an Iguodala “splash” assisted by Lee:

https://instagram.com/p/t4RrC5AmRn

Those two highlights were, however, counter-balanced by this lowlight by both teams:

Nemanja Nedovic, Justin Holiday, Marreese Speights, and James Michael McAdoo all saw action that continued into the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

Nedovic had his best game ever in a Golden State uniform, with highlights that included a laser pass inside to Barnes, who turned around and nailed the shot and-one, a cut to the hoop that was rewarded with a layup, a three-pointer, and a blocked shot.

“Nedo” finished with 12 points as the Warriors’ bench held on, aided by their chemistry and familiarity with Kerr’s new system from Summer League, with Barnes and Green the biggest names to help hold up the fort against the Clippers’ second unit.

Griffin led all scorers with 28, but seven Warriors scored in double-digits as the Dubs ended the game with a 112-94 margin.

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