Much less is extra in most issues, now, for s guard y. This can be a finely-detailed plan by some superior minds in sports activities drugs, and but not rocket science. In spite of everything, 38 years of wear and tear have constructed on his joints, and the act of stomping his new Li-Nings into hardwood again and again does no long-term good for his means to nonetheless be Stephen Curry at 40-plus.
He did fewer on-court reps this summer time, by design, after a knee situation price him two months final season. Curry is taking part in fewer minutes by design this preseason, too, as head coach r yanked Curry after simply 14 first-half minutes in opposition to Sacramento on Saturday night time. And Golden State is making ready itself, already, for the truth that it'll want to take a seat Curry at instances to attempt to protect these joints for any run in April.
How, although, do these growing old Warriors plan to outlive with Curry in sweats?
"We're everyone," Kerr stated pregame Saturday. "We're all of the younger gamers, and who may be capable to fill in … we’ve to take a look at completely different rotations with out Steph, completely different combos to see what's the simplest approach we are able to win when he's not there."
On a sleepy Saturday at Chase Middle – with the eye of basketball lovers within the Bay Space nonetheless centered on a p in Las Vegas – the Warriors may've simply discovered a slice of non-Curry magic of their 111-106 win over the Kings.
After a pair first-quarter threes, Kerr despatched Curry to the bench with simply over 4 minutes left within the first quarter. The Warriors' engine didn't head again to the scorer's desk till six minutes remained within the second quarter, and didn't see the ground the remainder of the night time afterward. This was a sluggish preseason ramp-up, as Kerr made clear pregame. Protect the joints.
Warriors 111, Kings 106
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SACRAMENTO | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Murray | 7:46 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Simmons | 8:54 | 2-4 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Achiuwa | 27:12 | 3-8 | 2-2 | 3-8 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Acuff Jr. | 27:13 | 8-15 | 5-5 | 0-4 | 8 | 1 | 25 |
| LaVine | 23:17 | 5-13 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Mogbo | 24:25 | 4-8 | 4-5 | 4-8 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Clifford | 22:32 | 1-10 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Sharp | 21:20 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Hunter | 18:31 | 2-8 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Black | 17:21 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Plowden | 16:25 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Karaban | 11:32 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Raynaud | 8:48 | 3-3 | 3-4 | 1-5 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Newton | 4:44 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 38-91 | 20-25 | 13-41 | 20 | 26 | 106 |
Percentages: FG .418, FT .800.
3-Level Objectives: 10-30, .333 (Acuff Jr. 4-6, Black 3-3, Raynaud 1-1, LaVine 1-4, Sharp 1-4, Murray 0-1, Achiuwa 0-2, Clifford 0-3, Hunter 0-3, Plowden 0-3).
Workforce Rebounds: 9. Workforce Turnovers: None.
Blocked Pictures: 1 (Raynaud).
Turnovers: 17 (Acuff Jr. 4, Clifford 4, Hunter 2, Simmons 2, Achiuwa, Black, Mogbo, Newton, Plowden).
Steals: 15 (Mogbo 5, LaVine 3, Black 2, Clifford 2, Newton 2, Sharp).
Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOLDEN STATE | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Lendeborg | 23:58 | 10-14 | 2-2 | 1-10 | 6 | 3 | 23 |
| Santos | 24:21 | 6-9 | 3-4 | 0-6 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Inexperienced | 23:04 | 1-1 | 1-3 | 1-7 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Curry | 14:19 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Podziemski | 26:11 | 4-9 | 3-4 | 1-7 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Horford | 20:38 | 1-9 | 2-2 | 3-5 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Payton II | 19:24 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Niang | 18:31 | 4-6 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Melton | 17:58 | 0-6 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Williams | 16:32 | 7-8 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| Richard | 13:49 | 1-5 | 4-4 | 2-3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Bassey | 8:09 | 1-1 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Cryer | 5:37 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leons | 3:43 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Terry | 3:43 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 38-79 | 23-29 | 10-49 | 26 | 21 | 111 |
Percentages: FG .481, FT .793.
3-Level Objectives: 12-35, .343 (Niang 3-4, Podziemski 3-7, Williams 2-2, Curry 2-4, Lendeborg 1-3, Richard 1-4, Leons 0-1, Melton 0-1, Payton II 0-1, Cryer 0-2, Santos 0-2, Horford 0-4).
Workforce Rebounds: 6. Workforce Turnovers: 2.
Blocked Pictures: 5 (Melton 3, Horford, Lendeborg).
Turnovers: 21 (Santos 5, Williams 5, Horford 2, Lendeborg 2, Niang 2, Bassey, Curry, Inexperienced, Melton, Podziemski).
Steals: 10 (Lendeborg 2, Richard 2, Bassey, Inexperienced, Melton, Payton II, Podziemski, Williams).
Technical Fouls: None.
| Sacramento | 25 | 31 | 25 | 25 | – | 106 |
| Golden State | 24 | 37 | 28 | 22 | – | 111 |
A: 18,064 (18,064). T: 2:42.
In years previous, maybe, this might've proved a demise sentence and a disjointed mess for Golden State's offense. However a one-point Warriors lead at Curry's first-quarter sub, magically, become a four-point lead by his second-quarter return, and the Warriors' deeper bench outlasted Sacramento within the second half.
The successful mixture, right here, was a five-man unit of Brandon Williams, the i, g, s and n, as Golden State's "small-ball" three-man mixture of Lendeborg-Santos-Inexperienced has continued to result in clear offense this preseason.
Rookie Lendeborg, particularly, was ferocious, a steam engine with opposable thumbs who grabbed rebounds and knocked away Kings defenders in transition. He went at Sacramento's big-bodied massive Valuable Achiuwa on a number of drives. He went on the Kings' 6-foot-9 Jonathan Mogbo on one second-quarter drive, flexing his left biceps and mean-mugging after dropping in one other layup. And he provided no second guesses in a 23-point, 10-rebound, six-assist night time, persevering with a two-game preseason run of flashing an offensive skillset that could be even higher than marketed.
"We had an excellent sense that he may dribble, cross and shoot," Kerr stated after Golden State's preseason win over the Lakers on Tuesday. "You may see these on movie. I believe he's received a greater really feel for the sport than I noticed, simply watching him deal with the ball within the pick-and-roll."
The 6-foot-7 Santos, too, flashed a extra mature offensive recreation to buoy the Warriors' offense for first-half stretches with out Curry, accounting for 9 of Golden State's 11 factors throughout one second-quarter stint. And new signee Williams, in the meantime, juiced the Warriors' second- and third-team items all through the second half, notably knocking in a pair of threes after ending his 2025-26 season in Dallas at only a 23% clip from deep.
Kings harm: Embroiled in a clearly youth-centered rebuild, one of many worst potential preseason developments for Sacramento unfolded on Golden State's ground early within the recreation.
With 2:32 left within the second quarter, 23-year-old Kings heart Maxime Raynaud – a Stanford product and All-Rookie Second Workforce choice final season for Sacramento – crumpled to the hardwood after his proper knee buckled whereas setting a display on Curry. Raynaud laid for minutes in apparent ache, as trainers attended to him.
An EMT, finally, introduced out a wheelchair, the middle providing a fast wave to followers as he was carted off the ground. Raynaud didn’t return.
Raynaud performed 4 years at Stanford, averaging 20.2 factors per recreation and a ACC-leading 10.6 rebounds in his closing yr with the Cardinal in 2024-25.
He has develop into a probably important a part of the Kings' long-term plans, averaging 12.5 factors per recreation after being chosen at No. 42 within the 2025 NBA draft.
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