2016 Preseason

Andy Fahey

The Dubs closed out their exhibition slate with a 107-96 thrill-a-minute victory over the visiting Trail Blazers on Friday.

If that was the preseason, there’s no telling how wild a ride the regular season will be. The Dubs closed out their exhibition slate with a 107-96 thrill-a-minute victory over the visiting Trail Blazers on Friday, and the packed house at Oracle Arena loved every minute of it.

Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant offered plenty of evidence defending why no other player has been named an NBA MVP since 2013, and the result was a showcase of highlights that can be looped over and over on Vine.

Curry owned the first half, particularly the second quarter when he knocked down four of his eight 3-pointers. The Dubs guard tallied 35 points in 28 minutes on the night, and Durant took over where Curry left off in the third quarter, connecting on 14 of his 28 points in the third period

By the time the Dubs had done the brunt of their damage, their horrid start was a distant memory. The Warriors trailed 22-6 midway through the first quarter, but the Dubs quickly got back into the game behind some stellar 3-point shooting. The Dubs trailed by five at the end of the first quarter, were up one at the half and then opened the game up with a 33-16 third period.

In addition to the stars doing their thing, Ian Clark came off the bench and put forth his best performance of the preseason, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 3-of-6 on 3-pointers for 17 points.

With the win, the Dubs finish their exhibition slate with a 6-1 mark, but that will be reset to zeros now as the team gets set for the regular season to begin. The Warriors open things up at home on Tuesday, taking on the Spurs in what is sure to be one of the most highly anticipated Opening Nights in franchise history.

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Warriors Win a Thriller in Preseason Finale

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Golden State won its fifth consecutive preseason game, earning a 123-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in San Diego on Wednesday night.

Golden State won its fifth consecutive preseason game, earning a 123-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in San Diego on Wednesday night. The Warriors jumped out to an early lead and held it from start to finish, as Stephen Curry paced all scorers with 32 points and six three-pointers. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson would add 23 and 19 points, respectively, while Draymond Green stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. With the victory Golden State improves to 5-1 in preseason play.

It didn’t take long for Golden State to find their shooting touch, as Draymond Green and Stephen Curry opened the scoring with back-to-back three-pointers as the Dubs opened the gamed on a 12-0 run. Kevon Looney entered the game for Zaza Pachulia at the 6:16 mark and would go on to score six points in the frame, all in a span of 59 seconds, the last two of which gave Golden State their largest lead of the quarter at 29-13 with 3:57 remaining. Los Angeles would cut the Warriors’ lead to 33-20 at the end of the first, much of which was built on Golden State’s proficiency in sharing the ball, tallying 13 assists on their 14 made field goals.

The Lakers would cut the deficit to four points just before the halfway mark of the frame, but Golden State responded with an 8-2 burst over the next two minutes to rebuild a double-digit cushion. Los Angeles would then climb within 45-41 with 3:12 remaining in the half before Golden State ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 52-43 lead into halftime. Klay Thompson, who tallied a total of six assists in the Warriors’ first five preseason games, totaled five in the first half, as the Dubs recorded assists on 17 of their 19 made field goals.

Klay Thompson’s three-pointer two-and-a-half minutes into the second half capped a 13-4 Warriors’ run to open the third quarter, establishing their largest lead of the entire game at 65-47. The youthful Lakers would not go away quietly, however, as Los Angeles cut that deficit in half over the next five minutes, ensuring that Golden State wouldn’t run away with the game before the fourth quarter. Lou Williams split two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to close out the scoring in the third and send the game into the fourth and final quarter with the Warriors leading 87-77.

The Lakers would continue to chip away at Golden State’s advantage early on in the fourth quarter, and Brandon Ingram’s two free throws at the 8:34 mark brought Los Angeles within 92-86. However, that’s as close as the Lakers would get, as Stephen Curry ensured the Warriors would taste victory for a fifth-straight game. He entered the game with 5:54 remaining and Golden State leading 103-90 and his three-pointer at the 4:37 mark ignited an individual sequence in which he’d convert three three-pointers in a span of 99 seconds to keep the Warriors’ advantage in double-digits. The Lakers would cut the deficit to nine points within the final minute, but the damage had been done as the Warriors rounded out the eventual 123-112 victory.

With their fifth-straight win, Golden State improves to 5-1 in preseason play. Next up, they’ll close out the preseason when they host the Trail Blazers at home on Friday.

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Curry Paces Warriors to Victory Over Lakers in San Diego

Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant combined for 55 points in 57 minutes of the Dubs' preseason win over the Lakers in Las Vegas.

There are no shortage of entertainment options on the Las Vegas strip, but for 24 minutes on Saturday the Warriors were the best show in town. The Dubs put up 74 points in the first half and held on in the second half to beat the Lakers 112-107 in Sin City.

After the Dubs won an overtime thriller behind a pair of clutch shots by rookie Patrick McCaw on Friday, it was the usual suspects who shone brightest in Las Vegas. Klay Thompson got off to a scintillating start, connecting on four 3-pointers and 18 points in the opening period. He finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry each took turns taking over in the second quarter and the Dubs went into the break up 74-47 thanks to 62 percent shooting and nine made treys over the first 24 minutes of the game.

With Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and David West resting on the back end of a back-to-back, several Warriors reserves had the opportunity to play major minutes with the team’s first unit. Second-year forward Kevon Looney started in place of Green and tallied seven points, nine rebounds and four assists, while McCaw followed his heroic effort from Friday with13 points and five assists in his return to his college town.

JaVale McGee didn’t play until the second half but came on strong with 12 points and two blocks, while fellow first-year Warriors player Zaza Pachulia had 11 points (4-for-5 FGs) and eight boards.

With the win, the Warriors move to 4-1 in the preseason. They’ll play the Lakers again on Wednesday in San Diego before wrapping up the preseason on Friday at home against the Trail Blazers on Draymond Green ‘Flex’ Bobblehead Night, presented by Lucky California.

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Warriors Stars Shine Bright in Las Vegas

Patrick McCaw hit buzzer-beating shots at the end of both regulation and overtime as the Warriors came away with a 129-128 overtime road victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday.

The Warriors came away with a heart-pounding road victory, earning a 129-128 overtime win over the Nuggets in Denver on Friday night. Patrick McCaw’s three-pointer with one second remaining in regulation tied the score at 112-112 to send the game into the extra period, in which the Warriors’ second round pick scored several more clutch baskets, including a running floater as the final buzzer sounded to steal the comeback victory. Stephen Curry led Golden State with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists while Kevin Durant and McCaw each added 19 and 18 points, respectively. With the win, Golden State improves to 3-1 in preseason.

Golden State got off to a strong start offensively, as the Warriors made their first four shots of the game, the last two of which were three-pointers by Klay Thompson that put the Dubs up 11-6 two minutes into the game. The Warriors would lead for the next six minutes, until an 8-0 Denver run put the Nuggets back in front 25-22. After knotting the score up at 27-27, Golden State would score the next five points before Kenneth Faried’s layup closed out the scoring in the frame and cut the Warriors lead to 34-31. 20 of Denver’s points came from the duo of Danilo Gallinari and Nikola Jokic, with each scoring 10 without missing a shot. Kevin Durant and Klay Thopson managed to balance them out, with their own 10 points apiece.

Andre Iguodala’s jumper at the 9:55 mark stretched Golden State’s advantage to six, their largest of the game up to that point, but the Nuggets immediately responded with an 8-0 run, holding the Warriors scoreless for more than three minutes to retake the lead. After Stephen Curry scored to put the Warriors up 50-49 with just over four minutes remaining in the half, Denver scored the next six points and would finish the second quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 59-54 lead into halftime. Durant and Thompson would go into the break tied for the lead in scoring with 14 points each.

Thompson and Durant would continue their imitative ways, sinking back-to-back three-pointers in a span of 50 seconds to pull Golden State within a single point at 61-60. Zaza Pachulia would follow that up with a turnaround jumper to put the Warriors back in front, but that would turn out to be their final advantage for the remainder of regulation as Denver quickly regained the lead and created some separation with a 16-4 run. The deficit would grow as large as 11, which the Warriors would trim to 89-85 heading into the fourth and final quarter thanks to two Curry three-pointers in the final 37 seconds, his first makes from long range in the game.

Iguodala would cut the deficit to 89-88 with a three-pointer just 39 seconds into the fourth frame, but that’s as close as Golden State would get until the final minute. Denver responded with an 11-0 run, and opened up a lead that appeared insurmountable until some last second heroics from Golden State. After the Warriors fell behind 105-90 with 5:39 remaining, Golden State closed out the quarter on a 22-7 run, capped by Patrick McCaw’s game-tying three-pointer with one second left. Denver’s heave after the ensuing inbound pass missed, sending the game into overtime.

James Michael McAdoo’s two free throws 21 seconds into the extra period gave Golden State their first lead since two minutes into the second half, which Denver quickly erased with two free throws of their own. McCaw would respond with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, and the Warriors’ second round pick would drain another clutch shot from beyond the arc to give Golden State a 122-118 lead with 2:17 remaining. McCaw’s heroics weren’t over quite yet, however, as the rookie’s jumper with 46 seconds left put Golden State in front 127-124 and set the table for his second buzzer-beating shot of the night. After Jarnell Stokes appeared to crush Golden State’s spirits with a layup with three seconds left, McCaw sank a runner as the game clock expired, securing the Warriors’ 129-128 overtime victory.

With the win, the Warriors improve their preseason record to 3-1. Next, they’ll travel to Las Vegas to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.

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McCaw's Heroics Lead Warriors to Comeback Over Nuggets

With less than two weeks to go until Opening Night, we take a look at some of the main takeaways from the first half of preseason action.

After three games in the first six days of the preseason schedule, the Warriors have been in the midst of an oddly long break in between games, as the Dubs don’t play again until they square off with the Nuggets in Denver tomorrow. That’s more than a week between matchups, and while the extra time has offered Steve Kerr and the Warriors a chance to ramp up their training and practice more complex actions and strategies, it also presents an opportunity to evaluate what has transpired in preseason thus far, and get more of an educated guess at what we can expect once ‘real’ games begin to be played. Less than two weeks lie between Golden State and Opening Night, and with that in mind, let’s take a look and what we’ve seen thus far:

The addition of Kevin Durant proved to be the unparalleled highlight of the NBA offseason, and while the Warriors obviously knew the kind of superstar they were adding to their arsenal, what wasn’t as readily apparent was precisely how all the pieces would fit and work together. In a small sample size of three games, Klay Thompson seems to be doing just fine with the transition. Thompson leads Golden State in both field goals and three-pointers made and attempted per game while also leading the team in scoring. He’s also averaging nearly one more field goal attempt and five more three-point attempts per 36 minutes than he did during the 2015-16 campaign, while also shooting considerably superior percentages from both ranges.

It’s no surprise, but Kevin Durant has already made his presence felt with the Dubs. He trails only Thompson in the shooting categories, ranks second on the team behind Curry in assists, and leads the team in both rebounding and blocks per game. In addition, he has had a positive impact in an area of need for the Dubs: team free throws.

Durant has always ranked at or near the very top of the league in both free throw attempts and free throw percentage, and his new team is already benefitting from the early returns of that talent. Last season, the Warriors ranked 23rd in the NBA with an average of 21.8 free throw attempts per game. Through the first three preseason games this year with Durant in tow, the Dubs have upped that number to 32.7 attempts per game; for reference, the Houston Rockets led the league in 2015-16 with an average of 29.4 free throw attempts per game. Given the accurate shooters the Warriors already possessed prior to adding Durant, as well as the additions of effective free throw shooters like Zaza Pachulia (career 74.6 FT%) and David West (career 81.9 FT%), it would stand to reason that the Warriors will not only get to the charity stripe more often this season, but also convert those opportunities at a higher clip as well.

Steve Kerr has plenty of reason to feel optimistic about the way his new-look bench has played and what direction they are headed. New and returning veterans like West, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston have and will continue to provide a steadying presence to that unit, while the Warriors’ collection of younger role players has produced promising results thus far. Most specifically, both Ian Clark and Patrick McCaw seem to have proven themselves dependable backcourt contributors off the bench, with the duo putting their promise on display in leading the Warriors’ fourth quarter comeback over the Kings on Friday. Clark "looks and feels like he belongs" according to Iguodala, and McCaw has simply been the revelation of preseason. If those two can continue their production into the regular season, Golden State’s bench could certainly be an improved unit compared to a year ago.

Golden State got dominated 58-42 on the glass by the Raptors in their first preseason game, which by no coincidence happens to be the Dubs’ only defeat thus far. The Warriors lost their top two centers from a season ago in the offseason, and Kerr admits they now lack the verticality in the paint that proved so beneficial and enabling to their defensive strategies over the last couple years. Granted, the additions of Pachulia and West should help mitigate that drop-off, but neither of them are the kind of player that is going to out-jump all others to grab a rebound way above the rim. JaVale McGee does happen to be that kind of player, and his possible inclusion on the regular season roster would give the Dubs some needed length and shot-blocking ability. Regardless, though, the Warriors are going to need an increased rebounding effort from their roster across the board, and Durant seems to understand that he, in particular, will play a crucial role in that endeavor.

"I’ve got to do a better job of getting in there and helping Zaza and Draymond out. And JaVale and D-West. I’ve got to go in there and help those guys out," said Durant following the loss to Toronto. "I feel I can be a double-double guy if I go in there and bang a little more than I have in the past…It’s just a matter of me developing that mindset and just going out there and doing it."

The Warriors have won both of their games since those remarks from Durant, outrebounding their opponent by an average of 7.0 boards per contest. So, while team rebounding continues to be a work-in-progress, there are already reasons for optimism.

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Early Preseason Takeaways

The Warriors' reserves pulled off a fourth quarter comeback as Golden State escaped with a 105-96 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday.

Two days after winning a game in which they never trailed and held a lead as large as 53 points, the Warriors had a tougher go of it on Thursday, but ultimately pulled out a 105-96 victory over the Sacramento Kings in a preseason game in San Jose. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 25 points in 26 minutes of action before giving way to Golden State’s reserves for the entire fourth quarter, and thanks to a fourth quarter comeback by those reserves, the Warriors managed to overcome a sloppy performance in which they committed 24 turnovers. The win is Golden State’s second in a row, and improves their preseason record to 2-1.

19 seconds into the contest, DeMarcus Cousins put the Warriors in a position they never experienced in their previous game – that is, at a deficit. The two sides would trade baskets for the first six minutes of the game, and Golden State wouldn’t gain their first lead until Stephen Curry’s 26-foot three-pointer put the Dubs up 21-19 with 4:01 remaining in the opening frame. Durant would follow that up with a three-pointer of his own, after which Klay Thompson drained a jumper to put Golden State in front 27-20, equaling their largest lead of the night until the decisive fourth quarter. Sacramento would trim their advantage to 27-24 heading into the second quarter, during which the Kings capitalized on Golden State’s carelessness to retake the lead.

Golden State, after committing eight turnovers in the opening frame, failed to learn from their mistakes and committed another seven in the second. Those fifteen miscues would lead to 16 points for Sacramento, giving the Kings the ammunition they needed to carry a lead into halftime. Despite Durant’s 16 points through the midway point of the game, it was the Kings taking a 55-50 advantage into the second half. The see-saw theme would persist into the third quarter, the vast majority of which Golden State held a small lead until a 9-4 Kings’ run to close out the frame sent the game into the fourth and final quarter all knotted up at 78-78. Durant and his 25 points, as well as the rest of the Warriors’ starters, would sit out the remainder of the contest, leaving their fate in the hands of their reserve unit.

After David West opened the quarter and temporarily broke the deadlock with a short jumper, Sacramento ripped off seven-straight points to put themselves back in the driver’s seat. Ian Clarke and Patrick McCaw responded with back-to-back three-pointers to put Golden State briefly back in front until Jordan Farmar flipped the script with a layup 17 seconds later. Sacramento would stretch their lead to as many as six points, but after Malachi Richardson’s split free throws put the Kings up 96-91 with 3:17 remaining in the game, the Warriors began to make their comeback, thanks to a combination of timely shooting and suffocating defense. Ian Clark drained consecutive three-pointers to give Golden State a one point lead with just over two minutes left, and that would prove to be enough, as the Warriors pitched a shutout from that point on, holding the Kings scoreless for the remainder of the game. McCaw would add another three-pointer of his own, and James Michael McAdoo closed out the scoring, sinking a three-pointer from the corner as the shot clock expired to put the finishing touch on Golden State’s 105-96 victory.

With the win, the Warriors improve to 2-1 in the preseason. Next, they’ll travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Friday, October 14.

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Warriors Slip Past Kings in San Jose

Playing at Oracle Arena for the first time this preseason, the Warriors got the home crowd on their feet early and often on their way to a 120-75 victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night.

Playing at Oracle Arena for the first time this preseason, the Warriors got the home crowd on their feet early and often as the Dubs built an insurmountable lead in the first half and carried it to a 120-75 victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night. Klay Thompson led all scorers with 30 points on 14 shots, including six three-pointers, while Kevin Durant produced a superb all-around effort, compiling 21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two blocks in just 25 minutes. With the victory, the Warriors even their preseason record at 1-1.

Steve Kerr has insisted that it will take some time for the Warriors, whose roster is nearly half comprised of new players, to work their way into form, but based solely on their performance on Tuesday night, perhaps it won’t take as long as initially believed. Kevin Durant scored the game’s opening three points off an assist from Stephen Curry, and from there the Warriors never trailed at any point in the contest, thanks in large part to an 18-2 run spanning the middle six minutes of the opening frame, which turned a 7-5 lead into a 35-19 rout at the end of one. Things could have looked considerably worse for the Clippers if not for Marreese Speights, who scored a team-high 10 points in the first quarter in his first game back against his old squad.

If Los Angeles had any chance of making it a competitive game, that chance faded away with a dominant second quarter by the Warriors. Klay Thompson, who led Golden State with 10 points in the opening frame despite sitting out the final three minutes, returned to the court to begin the second, and picked up right where he left off. His layup opened the scoring in the quarter, and he’d add 12 more points before halftime, giving him 24 points and four three-pointers heading into the second half. Durant wasn’t far behind, equaling Thompson’s perfect 4-of-4 line from the charity stripe in the quarter on his way to 11 points in the frame. By the time the teams headed into their respective locker rooms at halftime, Golden State had more than doubled the Clippers’ score, leading 71-33.

Things wouldn’t get much better for Los Angeles in the second half, as the Warriors’ dominant performance persisted. Stephen Curry’s three-pointer with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter capped Golden State’s 18-3 run to begin the frame and gave the Warriors their largest lead of the entire night at 89-36. Durant, Curry and Draymond Green were pulled from the game immediately after, as the Dubs’ reserves rounded out the final quarter-plus. The Clippers would actually win the fourth quarter, outscoring Golden State 24-18 in the final frame, but it was not nearly enough to overcome the Warriors’ gigantic advantage. With the victory, Golden State evens up their preseason record at 1-1 and will next host the Sacramento Kings in San Jose on Thursday.