SC getting rematch with RGV
Vipers ended Warriors' win streak at 9 games Friday in bubble action
When the Santa Cruz Warriors on Monday make their first playoff appearance since 2019, they’ll do so against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team that snapped the Warriors’ nine-game win streak Friday night.
RGV knocked off the Warriors 110-94 two days ago at HP Field House in the Orlando bubble.
Santa Cruz (11-4) is the No. 2 seed in the eight-team, singleelimination playoffs and RGV (96) is No. 7.
“We just got to keep doing what we did today and the majority of the season,” guard Isaiah Reese said after the Warriors’ win Saturday. “Just go out there and stick to the game plan that the coaches give us every game and just execute and we’re going to be fine.”
It’ll be the teams’ seventh meeting in Santa Cruz’s six playoff appearances since the 2012-13 postseason. The Warriors are 2-4 against the Vipers in their three previous postseason meetings.
Santa Cruz was swept 2-0 by the Vipers in the 2013 G League finals, won 2-1 in their semifinal series in ’14, and lost in their singlegame conference final in ’19.
Forward Axel Toupane and guard Jeremy Lin each scored 20 points in the Warriors’ loss Friday, when the Warriors struggled to produce against the Vipers’ zone defense. On the other end of the court, the Warriors had difficulty slowing Anthony Lamb and Kevin Porter Jr.
Lamb finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Porter Jr., whose father played 15 years in the NBA, had 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Moreover, the Vipers finished with six players reaching double digits in scoring, including 18 points from the league leader in made 3-pointers, Armoni Brooks (57 3s).
Porter, a former USC star who is on assignment from the Houston Rockets, finished the regular season as the G League’s scoring leading (24.1 ppg) and assists (7.2 apg).
RGV outrebounded the Warriors 44-37 and forced 17 turnovers.
“The important thing is to be thinking about the game plan discipline that we always talk about because every opponent presents something different that we have to try to take away,” Warriors coach Kris Weems said Saturday, before learning his team’s first playoff opponent. “So we have to be locked in on what that is. Anything outside that is just staying connected and playing for each other.”
The Warriors were held to a season-low matching nine 3-pointers in the loss to RGV, but rebounded Saturday, closing the regular season with 15 3s in an overtime win over Oklahoma City.
The Warriors, led by Lin’s 19.8 point per game and 6.4 assists, hope to see Toupane return to the lineup. He’s averaging 17.9 points and 8.0 rebounds. He sat out Saturday’s regular-season finale with a leg injury. Santa Cruz guard Jacob Evans (adductor strain) and forward Kaleb Wesson (knee), a double-double machine, also sat Saturday.
Forward Alen Smailagic, on assignment from Golden State, has been limited to roughly 11 minutes in each of the past two games as he battled a stomach issues. His return Monday with extended minutes will be key to Santa Cruz’s success.
Despite having its first and third leading scorers — guards Jordan Poole (22.4 ppg) and Nico Mannion (19.3 ppg) — recalled by Golden State last week, Santa Cruz found success with its suffocating defense, and ability to drive and create on offense. Lin and fellow guards Dusty Hannahs, Ryan Taylor and Isaiah Reese are among the players who have been clutch with their ability to bury shots from beyond the arc.
“I feel like we’ve established an identity in terms of how we want to play offensively and defensively,” Lin said Saturday. “Obviously, we’ve seen guys coming in and out, guys getting hurt, every last scenario. We had two guys, a shooting guard and small forward, playing center and I think it’s next man up and just try to figure it out and keep sticking to our principles.”