Santa Cruz Warriors hold off Grand Rapids in first 2018 Showcase game
The Santa Cruz Warriors emerged victorious in a close game against the Grand Rapids Drive on Wednesday.
The Santa Cruz Warriors — G League affiliate of the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors — opened the 2018 G League Showcase with a win Wednesday morning, defeating the Grand Rapids Drive 94-92 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
The Warriors improve their regular season win/loss record to 16-10, pushing their current win streak to four consecutive games. They’ll play one more Showcase game on Thursday, facing the Raptors 905 (14-10) on the tail end of a back-to-back series.
Quinn Cook was pretty solid against the GRD on Wednesday, leading all scorers with 25 points, four rebounds, nine assists and two steals on 10-of-19 shooting (52.6 percent) from the field. His layup in the last 26 seconds basically secured the game for the Sea Dubs, making it a two-possession game in crunch time.
Georges Niang also looked great in what may be his last outing with the Santa Cruz Warriors, posting 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and one block in 34 minutes. He shot 8-of-14 from the field (57.1 percent), 2-of-4 from behind the arc (50.0 percent) and 1-of-1 from the free throw line (100 percent).
Missed today's game? We've got your highlights 👇 pic.twitter.com/swCPKo2tOc
— Santa Cruz Warriors (@GLeagueWarriors) January 10, 2018
Per G League reporter Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days, the Utah Jazz are planning to sign Niang to a two-way contract. Niang is the second Santa Cruz Warriors player to be signed to a two-way contract this year. Antonius Cleveland signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks back in November 2017.
Damion Lee contributed 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals on 7-of-14 shooting from the field (50.0) percent. Other than newcomer Terrence Jones, I strongly believe Lee has a significant chance of being the next Sea Dubs player to be called up.
Next: Clippers stun Warriors at Oracle on Wednesday
Golden State Warriors assignee Damian Jones was the only other Santa Cruz player to score in double digits, tallying 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.