Santa Cruz wins by record margin in blowout
Santa Cruz Warriors coach Kris Weems has said in recent games that his NBA G League team needs to learn how to finish opponents off when it has a big lead.
The Warriors’ killer instinct finally kicked in as they played a nearly error-free second half against Agua Caliente on Monday night. Santa Cruz extended its win streak to four games with its record setting 129-90 blowout of the Clippers in the Orlando bubble.
The Warriors matched a franchise best 42-point lead in the fourth quarter and coasted to a franchise record 39-point margin of victory. Their previous largest margin of victory was 35 points, reached three times, lastly in a 102-67 win over the Long Island Nets on Nov. 17, 2017.
News of the record would eventually reach the Warriors in the bubble, but Weems didn’t plan to speed up the process.
“I’m not telling the guys anything about that,” said Weems, before chuckling. “No, it’s just nice to get a convincing win because it just kinda cements the facts, the things we’ve been
working on. We’ve got to continue to get better. One of the players we made fun of last year, he said in the huddle, ‘You can’t get tired of doing the right things.’ So I don’t want our players getting tired of doing the right things.”
With the win, Santa Cruz (5-3) climbed into a tie for sixth place with G League Ignite (5-3) and Raptors 905 (5-3). The Warriors have seven regular-season games remaining in the abbreviated 15-game schedule. The league’s top eight teams advance to postseason.
It was another shot of confidence into the arm for the Warriors, who were without injured guards Jeremy Lin (back spasms), Nico Mannion (thigh contusion) and Dwayne Sutton (foot) for the second straight game.
(The Warriors released Sutton on Tuesday morning and acquired guard Jacob Evans III.)
Moreover, guard Jordan Poole, on assignment from Golden State, was held to eight points, well off his G League leading 24.4-point average. He battled foul trouble early and entered the fourth quarter with three points. He exited with 6:14 remaining after he was stepped on under the basket.
“It’s next man up mentality,” said Ryan Taylor, a reserve guard who buried six 3-pointers on nine attempts and finished with 23 points. “Everybody’s trying to make it to the NBA, so it’s a situation where you gotta perform when you get your opportunity.”
Center Alen Smailagic, also on assignment from Golden State as he works his way back from meniscus surgery, had eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes.
Weems said Poole will likely be ready for Tuesday’s game against Iowa (0-8), but noted that Lin will likely remain out.
Without the aforementioned firepower, the Warriors showcased other weapons. Power forward Axel Toupane scored 16 points of his game-high 24 points in the first half.
Toupane, who played in 25 games with three NBA teams from 2015-17, finished 8-of-11 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. He also had four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
“Axel is huge for us,” Warriors point guard Isaiah Reese said. “He’s a vet, gets the job done on offense and defense. He’s definitely an NBA player and he’s showcasing out there night in and night out.”
Santa Cruz shot 54% from the field (45 of 84) and an eye-popping 45% on 3s (17 of 38).
Reserve forward Kaleb Wesson, perhaps the team’s most steady player this season, added 19 points and seven rebounds. Reese started and had a season-high 11 points by halftime and finished with 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
“We just, finally, put everything together,” Reese said. “We played as a team, cut down on turnovers, make sure we rebounded, and had a lot of assists. We were playing for each other. Even the ones that didn’t go down, it was just good basketball.”
All 10 players who suited up for Santa Cruz ended up scoring. Reserve guard Nate Hinton, on assignment from Dallas, scored 13 points. Guard Dusty Hannahs added 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Santa Cruz trailed by 12 points late in the first quarter, but used a 22-5 run to get back in the game and a 30-6 run in the second quarter to take the lead for good. Toupane scored 11 points in the final four minutes of the first half, including three 3-pointers.
Relentless defense, team rebounding, unselfish play were all on display as the Warriors turned their 68-51 halftime lead into an entry in its record book. The Warriors had 12 turnovers in the first half and just three in the second half. They also won the rebounding battle, 4339, and had 29 assists.
“If we can stay right around 15 turnovers going forward we’re going to be in good shape,” Weems said.
Shooting guard Jahmi’us Ramsey led the Clippers (3-5) with 17 points and forward James Palmer Jr. added 14.
Guard Tyrone Wallace and reserve Donte Grantham each scored 13 points and Jalen Smith added 10 points.