Inside: Takeaways from Golden State’s loss to Sacramento on Tuesday.
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 exhibition loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Though the Warriors narrowed the gap when both teams emptied their respective benches in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, they trailed 88-81 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 — 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 that Curry sat.
Golden State dug itself into a hole in the second quarter, when it was outscored 37-20 because of poor shooting and 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.
WHAT’S THE OFFENSEWITHOUT 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 5048 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-point shots in the game. For reference, Golden State attempted 31.3 3- pointers per game last season. 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.”
RACE FOR LAST TWO-WAY SPOT >> Toscano-Anderson got the start, but did not attempt a shot until the final minute of the first half.
That’s not a great look for someone trying to make an impact and earn Golden State’s final two-way spot (the first is already occupied by Mannion).
Still, Toscano-Anderson made several smart plays, recorded four rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes and wasn’t outdone by any of the training- camp invites despite forward Dwayne Sutton exciting the bench with a poster-worthy dunk in the fourth quarter.