BOX SCORE
Just two days after suffering their first preseason loss in two years, the Warriors bounced back for a 118-111 win Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center.
The Warriors made twice as many threes as the Blazers, 18 to nine, but gave up 20 more points in the paint than they scored and had the same number of turnovers (26) as assists.
Steph Curry, to no surprise, was the best player on the floor, scoring a game-high 28 points in three quarters of work. He was a plus-13 with four 3-pointers, six rebounds and five assists. He brought plenty of showmanship to the Pacific Northwest one week before the real games begins.
The biggest surprise of the night was rookie Will Richard joining Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga and Al Horford in the starting lineup. Richard continued to impress, too, scoring 13 points with six rebounds as a plus-12 in 29 minutes. He went 4 of 7 from the field and 3 of 5 on threes.
Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Seth Curry and Gui Santos all were ruled out for the Warriors, as well as De’Anthony Melton and Alex Toohey.
Here are three takeaways from a Warriors win that moves them to 3-1 in the preseason.
Welcome To The Starting Five, Rook
Rest, injuries, and the desire to experiment have led coach Steve Kerr to use a different starting lineup in each of the Warriors’ first four preseason games. The biggest change Tuesday night in Portland was the addition of the Warriors’ rookie second-round draft pick.
“I feel like it’s a good night to have Will out there for ball handling, decision making and it’s a good night for him to have to guard different guys and play against a really athletic team,” Kerr told reporters in his pregame press conference. “It’ll give us a good look at him, and it gives him a chance to play with Steph and BP and Al and JK. It’ll be a good challenge for him, but a good opportunity too.”
The Warriors’ first two points of the game that weren’t from three Curry free throws came from a cutting Richard. Kuminga was backing down his defender when Richard darted into the paint and caught a pass for two points.
Richard’s first made outside jumper was with a little more than three minutes remaining in the second quarter. Standing wide-open on the left wing as Curry got into the paint, Richard didn’t hesitate when hit in the chest with a pass from the defense collapsing. Swish. Defense is Richard’s first trait, but that kind of confidence offensively will help him find minutes as a rookie.
He was easily the Warriors’ second-best player in the first half behind Curry, going into halftime with eight points, made both of his threes and was a plus-10, which tied him with Curry as the team leader. Richard then, in the second half, scored another five points and had four more rebounds.
Kuminga Ejected
In the final seconds of the first half, Kuminga was on the wrong end of the rare one-tech ejection. Kuminga went through contact for a layup down the middle of the paint and missed hard off the glass. As he crashed into the stanchion, Kuminga threw his hands up in frustration, looking for a foul call.
Though it wasn’t shown on the broadcast, Blazers commentators claimed Kuminga made contact with a referee’s face as he argued the no-call. Kuminga then immediately was ejected in a bizarre scene. He might have been playing his best half of the preseason, too.
Kuminga played 18 minutes and stuffed the stat sheet. He scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting and made his only free throw, and also had six rebounds and four assists, both of which were team highs at the time. His impact was even better than his stats.
Throughout the preseason, Kuminga consistently has been setting up his teammates for easy looks. That trend continued Tuesday night, even when they didn’t convert. Kuminga now has four or more assists in three of the Warriors’ four preseason games.
Last season, Kuminga only registered four or more assists in eight games.
Steph’s Ready
After Deni Avdija made a three at the 8:19 mark of the third quarter to give the Blazers a 10-point lead, neither team scored until Curry went to the free-throw line with 6:56 left in the quarter. He split his free throws, but that was the start to a 13-0 run by the Warriors. Curry scored five points in that span, putting the Warriors up by three points.
The Blazers and Warriors then traded four straight threes, with the fourth being a 27-footer from Curry that again gave his team a three-point lead. About a minute and a half later, his night was over but Curry had already made a statement.
Curry’s 28 points in 26 minutes led both teams. The demon from long distance made three 3-pointers all within inches of each other on the right wing, and another from the left corner. His six rebounds were a team high when he took a seat, as were Curry’s five assists.
How Curry continuously went to the free-throw line stood out most. Curry only once attempted 13 or more free throws last season. He was 12 of 13 in three quarters Tuesday night.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
Read the full article here