Takeaways from Warriors’ opening win
In their first game in 9 months, Warriors, Curry look rusty
In their first game in 277 days, the Golden State Warriors were predictably disjointed but a revamped bench led the way in their 107-105 win against the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center on Saturday night.
Here are a few takeaways from the game.
1. SHORT STINTS FOR THE STARTERS » Head coach Steve Kerr said the Warriors were not going to stick with their normal rotation in the first preseason game. That included not playing Stephen Curry the entire first quarter. Instead, he aimed to cap each player at 20 minutes.
The starting lineup (with Eric
Paschall in Draymond Green’s place) played the first six minutes of the first quarter, last six minutes before halftime and the first six minutes of the third quarter.
Curry played 21 minutes, went 3 for 10 overall (2 for 7 on 3-pointers) and had three assists and three turnovers. The inefficiency was a factor of rust and lack of experience with his teammates. By creating space, Curry can make the game much easier for those he plays with, but it does take a while for new teammates to get used to how he relocates in the halfcourt.
“As soon as Steph gives up the ball, that’s when the action really starts,” Kerr said. “That’s the tricky part for guys to figure out.”
2. THERE WAS A LOT OF 3-POINT SHOOTING »
Last year, the Warriors took an average of 31.3 3-pointers per game. Tonight, they shot 40. Curry, Wiggins (2 of 6) and Oubre (1 of 6) accounted for nearly half of those shots, but converted on only 26%. As a team, the Warriors didn’t do much better and went 11 for 40.
Despite not having many elite 3-point shooters, the emphasis remains on spacing. Putting up so many shots from beyond the arc could be par for the course this season.
“We’re just trying to get space behind the 3-point line a little bit better than we have in the past,” Kerr said. “And if we do that, we’re naturally going to fall into more 3s. So, I’m fine with it.”
3. FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE OF AGGRESSIVENESS ON DEFENSE WILL BE A PROCESS » Keeping Denver’s high- scoring starters to 56 points on 35.7% shooting is a win for a group that is aiming to be a top-10 defense this season. But few teams, including the Warriors, have an answer for Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets’ quarterback of a center.
In the first half, Jokic beat the Warriors’ defense a handful of times with passes to teammates cutting backdoor. The Warriors wings lunged at Jokic too often, and the genius big man picked them apart en route to 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes.
“Where he beat us was with his passing,” Kerr said. “We got too ambitious in the passing lanes.”