What we learned as Steph Curry, Warriors' bench power win in preseason finale originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Finally, the Warriors’ six-game preseason slate ended Saturday night at Chase Center in a 128-118 win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Something clicked for the Warriors after trailing 10-2 to start the game. Warriors coach Steve Kerr called a timeout, and his message was received with his team starting to wake up. The Warriors outscored the Blazers 33-16 the rest of the quarter and never turned back.
The last time the Blazers held a lead was with a little more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter, and the Warriors’ biggest lead of the game was 25 points.
Steph Curry and Draymond Green had their two-man game on point throughout the win. While Curry was only 3 of 11 from 3-point range, he did finish with 20 points, four rebounds and five assists. Green provided a bit of everything with a line of seven points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.
Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski each scored 17 points like last game, and the Warriors’ bench outscored the Blazers 61-47.
Kerr will be happiest about the Warriors’ lower turnover numbers. After 104 turnovers through five preseason games, the Warriors gave it away 14 times Friday night, including only nine in the first half.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ win, giving them a 4-2 preseason record:
Final Dress Rehearsal
As the regular season creeps closer, the Warriors had one more chance to fine-tune their play in a game setting. The regulars were slated to play anywhere between 25 and 30, giving them a big increase in how much they previously have been playing. The most minutes Curry had played this preseason was 22, four fewer than the 26 he played Friday night.
But Curry continued to have trouble finding his groove early on. He was 1 of 5 in the first before immediately making a three to start the second quarter, but he finished a lowly 3 of 11 overall before halftime. Curry then opened the second half with a three before then finding Green for a triple of his own.
A seven-point first half turned into a 20-point night for Curry, even when he wasn’t his best from behind the 3-point line.
Green, who played 24 minutes, was given rest the previous game and opened full of energy against the Blazers. The 36-year-old was all over the floor and was a plus-18 when his night came to an end. Any questions of Green being ready for the regular season should be put to rest.
The first substitutions Kerr went with were Gui Santos, Gary Payton II and Georges Niang coming in at the eight-minute mark of the first quarter to play alongside Curry and Green, replacing Podziemski, Lendeborg and Charles Bassey.
Depth will be continuously tested for the Warriors. Kerr went with an 11-man rotation in the first half, which was all the players the Warriors had available on the 15-man roster. Players on two-way contracts didn’t enter until midway through the fourth quarter.
Bassey vs. Santos
Just four days ago, Kerr said he’s “leaning towards” a starting lineup of Curry, Podziemski, Lendeborg, Santos and Green. Not so fast. Instead of Santos in the starting lineup, Bassey opened against the Blazers.
Kerr said pregame that he wanted another look at a true center next to Green, and he was noncommittal in who would start next week’s season opener in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Well, Green came out of the gates like the preseason finale was a playoff game, and Bassey’s presence had an impact on the Warriors’ defense, too.
When Bassey was on the court, Green could focus on guarding Blazers star Deni Avdija, as opposed to clanking shoulders alongside the 7-foot-2, 280-pound Donovan Clingan. Plus, Green always loves a lob threat to throw passes up for.
Bassey only played eight minutes and didn’t leave the bench in the second half. In his eight minutes, Bassey was a minus-7 with six points and four rebounds. Santos played 20 minutes, the most of any Warriors bench player, and was a plus-6 with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting.
What every team doesn’t want to see, especially to close out the preseason, is a player going down to injury. Santos gave everyone an injury scare in the first quarter when he fought for a rebound and then began limping. He eventually limped off the floor, grabbed his left knee and went back to the locker room, but he came back at the end of the first quarter and was on the floor in the second.
Despite Bassey being in the starting lineup and Santos getting his left knee looked at, the latter played 47 seconds more than the former going into halftime. Santos then started the second half with Bassey on the bench. Once again, Kerr’s lineups can be very matchup-based this upcoming season.
3-Point Party
Implementing a 5-out offense isn’t all about the 3-point line. It’s about spacing and organization. Let’s be real, though, it sure helps when the Warriors are splashing shots from long distance.
Multiple Warriors let it fly and celebrated cashing in from three.
At first, it was the bench providing a 3-point punch. Niang and Al Horford each made a pair in the first quarter, and Horford went into the half having made four threes. A 12-point advantage on threes helped give the Warriors a nine-point halftime lead. That advantage grew to 21 points through three quarters, with the Warriors ahead by 14 points.
Led by five threes from the 40-year-old Horford, the Warriors’ final numbers from three were 18 makes on 44 tries, good for a 40.9-percent clip. They made four more than the Blazers, giving them 12 more points from deep. Eight different Warriors made a three, and five enjoyed seeing more than one go down.
