LEE 3 ... YIPPEE!
First victory of season comes in dramatic fashion with late 3-pointer
Damion Lee hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1.7 seconds left Sunday night to give the Warriors their first victory of the season, 129-128 over the Chicago Bulls.
The Warriors, who’d lost their first two games by a combined 65 points, were down by 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“What a moment for D Lee,” said coach Steve Kerr. “That’s one he’ll remember forever.”
“We needed that one,” said Stephen Curry, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. “It wasn’t pretty at all. But we showed some competitive fire.”
With 36 points on 11- of-25 shooting (5- of-15 from 3-point range), Curry snapped out of his seasonopening scoring slump and passed a pair of historical benchmarks.
His first 3-pointer of the game put him in elite company, as he joined Ray Allen and Reggie Miller as the only players to make 2,500 3-pointers for their career. He made his 61st- consecutive free-throw in
the third quarter to break Rick Barry’s all-time Warriors record.
Golden State entered Sunday night’s game without forward Draymond Green (foot) for the third straight game and trying to find a groove on offense.
In the second quarter, they posted their best scoring quarter of the season with 36 points. Andrew Wiggins, in particular, found his rhythm, scoring 10 points in the second quarter and finishing with 19 points on 6- of-15 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists. As a team, the Warriors made 18- of- 47 (38.3%) 3-pointers and forced 24 turnovers that led 18 points.
However, after taking a four-point lead into halftime, the Warriors gave up the lead when they were out- scored 41- 33 in the third quarter.
Down 128-126 with 16 seconds left, Curry was the obvious option when the Warriors inbounded the ball. Lee was the inbounder and barely got the ball in play, finding Kevon Looney near the top of the key at the last moment. Looney quickly gave it back to Lee, who launched the gamewinner.
Lee had 12 points off the bench and Eric Paschall had 15. Kelly Oubre’s struggles continued. He went 3 for 16 for the floor and missed all six of this 3-point tries, making him 0 for 17 from behind the arc.
The Warriors complete their season- opening fourgame trip Tuesday in Detroit and they again will be without Green.
Green, 30 has been bothered by a foot injury, but Kerr said it’s now a matter of conditioning.
“He’s doing really well, the foot has healed nicely, but he was out with the league (coronavirus) protocols,”
Kerr said. “And the conditioning level is important because it’s very risky to put somebody out there who’s not quite ready from a conditioning standpoint. It leaves people vulnerable.”
Green scrimmaged Saturday and said his body
“feels amazing” but “has to get my wind back.”
“Draymond got through the scrimmage really well, and he felt good,” Kerr said. “We just felt that, from a conditioning standpoint, it made more sense to give him the next two games off.”