The Warriors tipped off their season with a 125-99 loss in Brooklyn on Tuesday. Stephen Curry posted 20 points, 10 assists in the defeat.
The Warriors tipped off their season with a 125-99 loss in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Despite early effort by the Dubs, the 4-2 lead generated by Stephen Curry and James Wiseman’s first buckets of the game was the last lead the Dubs had as the Nets’ combination of former Warrior Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert proved to be a scoring machine. The Brooklyn trio finished with 68 points on the night while Curry (20 points), Wiseman (19) and Wiggins (13) were the only Dubs to score in double figures.
Wiseman, the second overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, drew the start and scored his first bucket 49 seconds into his pro debut, jamming home a two-handed dunk off of an Andrew Wiggins dish. By the end of the night, the rookie added six rebounds and two steals along with his first NBA three-pointer.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Wiseman became the youngest player (19 years, 266 days old) ever to start for the Warriors at center on Opening Night. He was also the first rookie center for the Warriors to start the season opener since Todd Fuller in 1996.
Also putting their energy on display in the first quarter were Marquese Chriss and new Warrior Kelly Oubre Jr.
TEAM LEADERS
Chriss continued his solid shooting from beyond the arc he found in the preseason as he combined with Curry for back-to-back three-pointers to close out the first quarter. And as he had done in the preseason on several occasions, Oubre Jr. worked the offensive boards and cleaned up for his teammates with a put-back dunk.
Chriss led the team with eight rebounds to go along with nine points, while Oubre Jr. and Damion Lee tied with seven rebounds.
The Opening Night matchup marked the first of four games the squad will play in the first week of the NBA season. The Dubs are right back at it on Christmas Day with a matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks (11:30 am, ABC).
More Notables ...
- Golden State lost its season opener for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
- Tonight marked Golden State’s first regular season in 287 days (March 10 vs. the Clippers).
- The Warriors opened the season on the road for just the third time in 19 years (2012-13 & 2014-15), beginning the season with a four-game road trip for the first time since 1997-98… Golden State began their season in the Eastern time zone for the first time since 1975-76 (at Cleveland).
- The December 22 start date marks the third-latest season start for the Warriors, behind only the 2011-12 (Dec. 25 vs. the Clippers) and 1998-99 (Feb. 6 vs. Houston) campaigns.
- Stephen Curry appeared in his 700th career regular season game, becoming the sixth player in Warriors history to appear in at least 700 regular season games, joining Chris Mullin, Nate Thurmond, Jeff Mullins, Paul Arizin & Al Attles… Curry, who also crossed the 24,000 regular season minute mark for his career, is now in his 12th season with the Warriors, which trails only Chris Mullin’s 13 seasons for the most in franchise history… Curry finished with 20 points and 10 assists, his third career opening night double-double, and extended his free throw streak to 50-straight (career-long is 54).
- James Wiseman, the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, became the youngest player (19 years, 266 days old) to start an opening game for the Warriors since starting lineups were first tracked in 1970-71 (prev. Joe Smith, 20 years, 100 days, on 11/3/95 at Houston), per the Elias Sports Bureau… Wiseman is the first rookie to start the opener for the Warriors since Harrison Barnes in 2012 and the first to start at center since Todd Fuller in 1996… Wiseman finished with 19 points, six rebounds and two steals in 24 minutes in his debut.
- In addition to Wiseman, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Brad Wanamaker made their Warriors debuts.