Warriors struggle in loss to Kings
SACRAMENTO » For the Warriors to reach their goals this season, Stephen Curry is going to need more help than he got in Golden State’s 114- 113 preseason loss to the Sacramento Kings Tuesday night.
Though the Warriors narrowed the gap when both teams emptied their respective benches in the fourth quarter, they trailed 8881 by the time the starters were pulled after three quarters. Kings guard Kyle Guy’s 3- pointer at the buzzer gave Sacramento the win.
Curry finished with 29 points on 11- of- 21 shooting ( 5- of- 13 from 3- point range), four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes. But with core rotation players Draymond Green, James Wiseman and Eric Paschall sidelined — none were injured as all three sat out for conditioning reasons — the Warriors struggled to find a consistent second source of offense. This is something they’ll need to discover in order to return to the playoffs.
But even with Green playing, it will be the jobs of forwards Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. to provide scoring when Curry is on the bench. They combined to shoot 7- for- 21 overall ( 33.3%) for 24 points, and the Warriors were outscored by eight in the minutes Curry sat.
Golden State dug itself into a hole in the second quarter, when it was outscored 37- 20 because of poor shooting and flimsy defense. Sacramento’s backcourt of
De’Aaron Fox ( 17 points, five assists) and Buddy Hield ( 18 points) had efficient shooting nights, and center Hassan Whiteside ( 11 points, nine rebounds) was allowed to feast.
Here are five takeaways from the second game of the preseason, which wraps up Thursday in Sacramento.
WHAT’S THE OFFENSE WITHOUT STEPH CURRY? » With the Warriors on a roll, Curry asked to stay in the game at the end of the third quarter, pushing his minutes to 28 after playing only 21 Saturday. He scored 13 points in the quarter and helped Golden State narrow Sacramento’s 19- point lead to seven. But without Curry, the Warriors struggled. That’s to be expected for a team that hasn’t played together prior to these two preseason games.
“Our second unit is more of a get- a- stop- and-run-type team,” said center Marquese Chriss. “In the halfcourt, we struggle with some things.”
Added head coach Steve Kerr: “It’s going to take us a while to get our groove.”
After starting the game with Toscano- Anderson at power forward, Kerr tinkered with the lineup to start the second half by subbing in point guard Brad Wanamaker and, later, rookie point guard Nico Mannion. The swap put another ball- handler on the floor with Curry, allowing the two- time MVP to move off the ball and make shots. It’s easy to see how much the Warriors will need Green on both ends of the court this season.
DEFENDING THE PAINT » Though the Warriors ended up outscoring the Kings 50- 48 in the paint for the game, they were outscored 24- 6 in the paint in the far more representative first half that mostly featured the core rotation for both teams.
After being outscored 58- 36 in the paint by the Nuggets in the preseason opener, this is turning into an early issue for a team that aims to have a top- 10 defense this season. “I was very disappointed, though, in the defense in the first half,” Kerr said.
At 6- foot- 9, Kevon Looney is one of the more undersized starting centers in the league. And without Green and Paschall, Kerr elected to start 6- foot- 6 Juan Toscano- Anderson at power forward. Despite Green being just as big, he provides a defensive intelligence that, without, makes it difficult to evaluate the unit as a whole. “Getting ( Draymond) back changes everything,” Kerr said.
LOTS OF 3- POINTERS » After attempting 40 3- pointers in the preseason opener, the Warriors took 43 3- pointers in the game. For reference, Golden State attempted 31.3 3- pointers per game last season — fifth- fewest in the league. Seven of them came from the team’s centers Tuesday. If Curry averaged as many 3- point attempts as he took Tuesday night ( 13), it would be a career high. “I think the approach is to take what defense gives me no matter what the situation is,” he said.
Asked about whether or not he has a target number of 3- pointers he wants his team to take, Kerr said, “I haven’t said one word to them about how many 3s I want to take. The only thing we’ve emphasized is the spacing.”
The rest of the quote is worth the time: “With our championship teams, we didn’t play with a ton of spacing. We played with a lot of motion, and frequently we cluttered the lane but there was purpose to it — a lot of screening and cutting and back cuts and guys who understood angles. Guys like Shaun and Andre , David West, those guys who maybe weren’t going to be standing out of the 3- point line all the time but understand how to generate offense from underneath the 3- point line.