5 Takeaways from Warriors win over the Kings
Bench players have fight
The Golden State Warriors probably shouldn’t have come away with a victory on Thursday night. They were down late without any of their stars in the game. The stars that take over were on the bench waiting for time to wind down and for the team to drop to 1-2 in the preseason.
But they won, somehow. The Dubs scored the last 14 points of the game. They also tightened up defensively, not allowed the Kings to put the ball in the basket over the last three minutes of the game.
Instead of Curry and Durant and Draymond Green, it was Patrick McCaw, Clark, and James Michael McAdoo. They led Golden State to their improbable comeback victory. They splashed threes, came up with big stops, and grabbed key rebounds down the stretch.
Steve Kerr believes in “Strength in Numbers.” It’s a philosophy that says everyone will get a chance to contribute (and, sometimes, certain players get too many chances). The Warriors will turn to their bench a lot, especially as the starters build leads and they get a lot of rest. They’re going to need their reserves to be productive.
With Leandro Barbosa’s departure, the Warriors are going to look for someone to eat up minutes behind Klay Thompson. Both McCaw and Clark have made their cases to earn consideration for more run during the season. This comeback is going to turn some heads.
Sure, they were also playing against other reserves, but there’s a lot of promise there. The fact that they didn’t just give up has to please Kerr and his staff. They fought the whole time and eventually stole the game away from Sacramento.
Clark finished with 16 points and McCaw had 8. They shot a combined 6/12 from beyond the arc. They played extremely well.
Kerr is clearly still playing with rotations and units. Clark and McCaw leading the comeback like seasoned vets shows that the Warriors might be deeper than people might have originally thought.