Warriors beat Kings to wrap up preseason
With a strong performance from Stephen Curry and his new-look supporting cast, the Warriors on Thursday beat the Kings 113-109 in Sacramento in their final game of the preseason.
Curry’s 17-point flurry in the third quarter helped swing the game and open up a 17-point lead. He finished with 29 points on 9- for-23 shooting (6- for13 from 3-point range), six rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes.
Along with Curry, wings Andrew Wiggins (19 points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks) and Kelly Oubre (22 points and four rebounds) helped create shots, push the pace and limit Sacramento’s perimeter scorers.
For conditioning reasons, Draymond Green and James Wiseman did not play at all in the preseason after testing positive for the coronavirus prior to training camp.
Harrison Barnes scored 19 points for the Kings (2-2). Hassan Whiteside had 12 points and nine rebounds, but De’Aaron Fox endured a 3-for-17 shooting night en route to his eight points and 13 assists. He missed all seven 3-point attempts.
Sacramento begins the season at Denver on Wedensday.
The Warriors, who finished 2-1 in a preseason shortened by the pandemic, open the regular season Tuesday at Brooklyn. It will be their first encounter with Kevin Durant since he left the Bay Area as a free agent in 2019. Following the opener, they go to Milwaukee to play
the Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo on Christmas Day.
WARRIORS’ WISEMAN NOT
RULED OUT TO START IN SEASON OPENER VS. NETS » Despite rookie James Wiseman’s lack of practice time, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr left open the possibility that he could start in the regular season opener against the Nets on Dec. 22.
“Depends on where we are next Tuesday,” Kerr said.
Wiseman and Draymond Green scrimmaged for the first time Wednesday after clearing league protocol for positive coronavirus tests that sidelined them for training camp and the Warriors’ first two preseason games.
Having been limited to individual work and contract drills this week, Wiseman in Wednesday’s fullspeed 12- minute scrimmage, “Made some great plays using his athleticism and speed,” Kerr said.
“Then was late on some plays because he hasn’t experienced what he’s looking at before.”
These mixed results are why coaches are tempering expectations for Wiseman, the No. 2 pick in the draft.
At 7-foot-1 and 250 pounds, Wiseman has drawn comparisons to Hall of Famer David Robinson.
However, Kerr cautions not to think of Robinson as he was as a 10-time All-Star with the Spurs, but rather as a 19-year- old sophomore at Navy who averaged nearly 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks per game against college competition, but was far from a polished product.
“Where he is now compared to where he’s going to be two years from now is two different things,” Kerr said, “because you’re talking about a guy who’s 7-feet tall, huge wingspan, runs the floor, good touch, handles the ball — the package you don’t see very often, but there’s zero experience.”