The Santa Cruz Warriors are set to host the Austin Spurs at Oracle Arena in Oakland on January 28, 2018.
Also: Chris Boucher sheds some light on his estimated timetable working back from his ACL injury.
The Santa Cruz Warriors, G League affiliate of the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors, will be stepping away from Kaiser Permanente Arena on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2018 to host the Austin Spurs at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
January’s game against the Spurs will mark the second time the Santa Cruz Warriors will have hosted a game at Oracle Arena. In Santa Cruz’s first time at Oracle on Feb. 12, 2017, the Sea Dubs took on the Oklahoma City Blue, proudly establishing what was then a new single-game NBA G League attendance record of 17,497 fans.
The current single-game G League attendance record is 18,090, which was established by the Raptors 905 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada — home of the 905’s NBA affiliate Toronto Raptors.
The Santa Cruz Warriors are certainly capable of breaking that record, as Oracle Arena currently has a sellout capacity of 19,596.
While last year’s Santa Cruz Warriors game certainly proved to be an attractive event for true Warriors fans everywhere, the fact of the matter is that DubNation has even more incentive to see January’s game against the Spurs due to the introduction of the two-way contract.
For those still unaware, a two-way contract allows players to split time between an NBA team and its G league affiliate. The Warriors currently have both of their two-way contract slots filled with Quinn Cook and Chris Boucher.
Cook has continually been a dominant force in the G League, and the Warriors are incredibly lucky to have a player like him that’s able to contribute in a number of different ways when given the opportunity.
When Stephen Curry was held out of Monday night’s contest against the Orlando Magic, the Warriors brought Cook up from Santa Cruz and made him available to play, which exemplifies the kind of trust and confidence the organization has in Cook’s developing abilities.
Next: Top 3 Warriors players from win vs. Magic
Boucher, on the other hand, has yet to see any action on the court due to an ACL injury he suffered in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals. The injury is what ultimately led to him going undrafted this past summer in the 2017 NBA Draft, but he was quickly picked up by Golden State as their first two-way contract player.
He still remains inactive as he continues to undergo rehab on his knee, but he’s reportedly ahead of schedule. Talking to him during Santa Cruz’s Media Day, Boucher told Blue Man Hoop that he aims to be back before January, but he doesn’t have an exact timetable as to when he could return.
"“For myself, I would say I wanna come back before January, but at the same time, it’s on their hands,” Boucher said. “If they tell me I have to wait, then I’ll wait; but I mean, we’re doing great progress right now, so I feel like if I stick to my goal and keep working hard, I’ll be able to reach (my goal).”"
If Boucher can work back into participating in full-contact drills and practices before January, using the Oracle Arena game as a platform to showcase Boucher’s debut would likely result in a new G League attendance record.