Season Opener: New Warriors look more like Nellie Warriors in Loss to LA Clippers
By Tom Macasaet
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 26 Oct 2019
The Chase Center, SF - The excitement was palpable. The moment we all waited for was finally here.
The new Golden State Warriors were starting their new season in their new home of the beautiful state-of-the-art Chase Center.
The only problem...their opponent, the new Los Angeles Clippers fronted by their newest player, 2018-19 NBA World Champion Kawhi Leonard.
Touted as one of the elite teams coming into this 2019-20 NBA season, the LA Clippers didn’t disappoint. After taking down the LA Lakers in an exciting and much anticipated season opener at home, the Clippers continued their onslaught of firepower and defensive prowess in the Chase Center at the expense of the Warriors to get their second win of the season.
Clippers center Ivica Zubac started the game scoring the first 5 points for his team. The Clippers had done their homework and saw how Anthony Davis used his size against the Dubs to score
at will.
Zubac was stellar on both ends of the floor at the start of the game with “and-1” layups and blocks to keep the Warriors from scoring as the Clippers ran up the score 14-0 with a 3 from Patrick Patterson coming off an early timeout by the Warrior’s coach Steve Kerr.
Surprisingly, it was not the Warrior’s two-time MVP player who would get the first score for the team.
D'Angelo Russell scored Warriors first 10 points of the season against the Clippers Thursday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
It was their newest acquisition from the Brooklyn Nets, D’Angelo Russell, who would put up the first points for the Warriors on a 10-0 terror to bring the Dubs into the game.
It was electric in the arena. It was everything we Dub fans had hoped for with him coming across the country to play with the Warriors. It forced LA Clipper coach, Doc Rivers, to call a timeout.
The scoring by Russell charged up the Dub fans in the arena. And the fan noise the Warriors came to be known for at the old Oracle Arena was now filling the Chase Center Arena, pushing all the other Warriors to get more aggressive on both ends of the floor.
The Warriors kept it close enough to stay interesting through one half of the game. Unfortunately, they could not sustain the effort.
The weaknesses evidenced by a young team started to show in the 3rd quarter. The Warriors allowed the Clippers to score an unheard of 46 points against them in the 3rd quarter, shooting 62.5% field goal percentage for the game.
The Warriors shot a miserable 39.4% from the field falling way short in order to compete against the high-caliber offense of the Clippers.
Curry struggled to hit from deep, shooting only 2-11 for a pathetic 18% 3pt percentage for the future Hall of Famer. He worked hard to get the team involved, all the while trying to create his own shots against the formidable Clipper defense.
With Kevon Looney leaving the game early with persisting tightness in his hamstring, Draymond Green hurting his elbow in the first half, the Warriors didn’t have enough firepower or defense down the stretch to keep up with the Clippers.
They were able to make a short run late in the game with Green back on the floor, but their effort was futile.
Their lack of defense didn’t get the stops all the elite teams in the league are able to get in clutch moments. The Warriors managed to score 122 points for the game, but gave up 141 points to the LA Clippers on their home court to get their first loss of the season.
Warriors Highlights October 24th, 2019
The Warriors are still very much an exciting team to watch as their new, young players continue to develop chemistry on the floor. They will eventually find their offensive fit against the rest of the league as the season progresses.
However, it won’t get them the wins they will need to make the playoffs if they can’t keep other teams from outscoring them night-in and night-out.
During the tenure of Warrior Legend, Coach Don Nelson, the Warriors were more known for being exciting, not contending. They could score 120 points a game, but they would give up 121
points to lose anyway. That, however, was what contributed to the growth and loyalty of the Dub Nation. Even if it was a losing game to see, at least it was an exciting game to watch. No disrespect to Coach Nellie. He got his wins. Some of them in the most memorable fashion.
Let’s hope the memory of the Warrior’s past stays there and doesn’t come back to haunt the new team this season. On to game two Saturday against the Oklahoma Thunder in Oklahoma.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Tom Macasaet.
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