Hints of new identity in preseason opener

Curry, joy return to Chase Center; supporting cast not at home yet

During his pregame shooting routine Saturday evening, Warriors guard Stephen Curry caught the ball several rows up in the stands, lofted in a higharcing jumper and, as soon as he saw the swish of the net, turned around and ran down the stairs.

By taking his famous tunnel shot up a few feet, Curry showed that he wasn’t willing to let a fansless Chase Center infringe on his joyful approach. This is good news for a team that knows it’ll need Curry at his best this season to contend in a loaded Western Conference. Though Curry struggled from the field in the Warriors’ 107105 win over Denver at Chase Center, he helped ensure that a newlook roster did what was the recent dynasty’s signature: ratchet up the tempo, play hard on defense and shoot a lot of 3pointers.

In its first game in nine months, Golden State offered hints of its latest identity in its preseason opener, attempting 40 shots from beyond the arc, outscoring the Nuggets 146 on fast breaks and holding Denver to 7for25 shooting from 3point range. Never mind that no Warriors player logged more than 23 minutes because head coach Steve Kerr wants to ease the team back into a heavy workload after such an extended layoff.

“I felt like we put in a pretty good week of work in training camp,” Curry said. “It was definitely a weird environment. But once the ball tipped,

The Warriors had a shootaround scheduled for 10 a. m. Saturday at Chase Center.

But due to delays in Golden State’s coronavirus testing, head coach Steve Kerr had to move the shootaround to 3 p. m. — just 2 ½ hours before tipoff of the preseason opener against Denver. Such is the new reality the Warriors and the rest of the NBA must navigate as they prepare to start a season during a pandemic.

“We’re just realizing quickly that we’re going to have to be ready to call audibles every single day,” Kerr said. “Knowing the lengths to which the league is going to keep everybody safe and how many precautions they have, we’ve just got to be flexible.”

Flexibility was already the theme of training camp before

Saturday’s schedule change. After center James Wiseman and forward Draymond Green tested positive for the coronavirus, the Warriors had to push the start of practices back a day this past week.

After five group workouts, Kerr said he wasn’t surprised to see that players were not in ideal shape after a ninemonth hiatus from games. The conditioning was subpar enough that Kerr decided not to play anyone more than 20 or so minutes against the Nuggets.

Wiseman and Green are working through the league protocols after their positive tests. Both recently progressed

to light individual shooting, and they’ve started sitting in on film study. However, Wiseman and Green have yet to be cleared for practice. Kerr doesn’t expect either player to be available during the Warriors’ threegame preseason. On Saturday, Wiseman watched the game on his own at Chase Center while Green stayed home.

“James has been watching practice the last few days, and we’ve put a coach with him during every drill so he’s watching a coach instructing him on what the point of the drill is, what his role is, how you know how we want him to play,” Kerr said. “What the scheme is, that sort of stuff, and we’ve watched film with him post practice, too.

“Then the last couple of days, he’s been able to get out on the court on an individual basis. So, he’s gone through some shooting drills and some basic stuff.”

With Wiseman and Green sidelined, Kevon Looney started at center against the Nuggets while Eric Paschall started at power forward.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Stephen Curry keeps his eyes on the prize on a firsthalf shot Saturday night at Chase Center in San Francisco. He showed flashes of his old self after playing just five games last season.