Santa Cruz Warriors Beat Energy; Damian Jones Reassigned After Spurs Loss

The Santa Cruz Warriors were victorious over the Iowa Energy on Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena, winning 111-108. Damian Jones was reassigned to Santa Cruz on Sunday.

The Santa Cruz Warriors (25-17) extended their winning streak to six on Sunday against the Iowa Energy (11-30) at Wells Fargo Arena, defeating the Energy 111-108. Santa Cruz remains 0.5 games behind the Sioux Falls Skyforce (26-17) for the fourth and final playoff seed in the NBA D-League Western Conference.

Santa Cruz will have another opportunity to narrow the gap between them and Sioux Falls on Tuesday when the Warriors take on the Oklahoma City Blue at Cox Convention Center on Tuesday, March 14. The Blue currently have the third-best record in the D-League, which is good enough for the second seed in the West.

Santa Cruz will return to Surf City on Friday, March 17 to host the Texas Legends at Kaiser Permanente Arena. The first 1,500 fans in the doors will receive a limited edition Casey Hill bobblehead courtesy of Awe Sum Organics.

The Warriors had six players score in double-digits, led by Scott Wood‘s 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. Phil Pressey recorded a double-double on 19 points (7-18 FG) and 10 rebounds to go with his six assists and three steals, while James Southerland dropped in 18 points (7-12 FG) and five rebounds.

Cleanthony Early has continued to be a spark for the Warriors, contributing 15 points (5-5 FG, 3-5 FT), four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Jabari Brown had 14 points (4-11 FG), while Damian Jones added in 11 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block on 4-for-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 shooting from the free throw line.

It was a wonder to see Jones in uniform against the Energy considering he had just been called back up to play with the Golden State Warriors just the night before. Playing 21 minutes for Golden State against the San Antonio Spurs, Jones finished with a career-high four points and a career-high five rebounds.

The Warriors organization had originally planned to have Jones on assignment in Santa Cruz for the remainder of the D-League regular season.

However, Steve Kerr had announced prior to the team’s game in San Antonio that he would be resting Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. With Kevin Durant still injured, Jones was needed for additional depth, pushing Golden State’s number of active players against the Spurs to 10.

Barring any further injuries or unexpected plans to rest players, Jones will likely remain with Santa Cruz to finish out the D-League regular season.