Game Preview- Santa Cruz Warriors vs Oklahoma City Blue
Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz Warriors will face the OKC Blue at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in the Western Conference semifinals.
On today’s edition of TimeOut, I am going to reveal three things fans of the Santa Cruz Warriors should pay attention to in tomorrow’s matchup.
Number 1-Damion Lee offensive prowess
There is no doubt that Lee has made himself known as a force to be reckoned with on the offensive side of the ball. During the regular season, he averaged 20.3 points per game, shooting 47.3% from the field, 39.8% from three-point land and 82.8% from the free throw line. He also averaged 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals.
Against the OKC Blue, this should be no different. In the three meetings the Santa Cruz Warriors had with the Blue, Lee scored twenty-six, twenty-nine and twenty-two points respectively. Outside of the free-throw line, Lee was the most efficient when shooting from the Curry range shooting over 50% on all three occasions.
What was also remarkable was his rebounds numbers. He grabbed a total of twenty-four rebounds in the three meetings the most being ten on January 20 when the Sea Dubs hosted the OKC Blue at Oracle Arena.
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It will be interesting to see how Lee will contribute on both sides of the ball during the playoffs.
Number 2- The bench’s contribution
With the inconsistencies that come with a G-League team, the Santa Cruz Warriors have done a good job at maintaining the bench throughout the season. This year’s bench had many players consistently contributing offensively and defensively.
From Kendrick Nunn and Darius Morris to Alen Smailagic, the Warriors had no problem giving the keys to a bench player with a game on the line. Kendrick Nunn’s late floater in the season finale against the Agua Caliente Clippers proved that the Sea Dubs bench is going to be effective in this year’s playoffs.
Keep your eyes on Darius Morris, Kendrick Nunn, Michael Gbinije and Alen Smailagic who performed well against the OKC Blue. Nunn scored twenty-plus points three times against the Blue. Michael Gbinije in the first meeting scored fourteen points while Smailagic scored seven points when the Sea Dubs visited the OKC Blue in February.
In the season finale, Nunn scored 21 points, shooting seven-of-twelve from the field. Darius Morris, in that game, scored twenty-one points and secured five rebounds and ten assists.
Safe to say the bench can hold their own against the Blue. The question that will be answered on Friday is the bench’s ability to keep the Warriors afloat when the starters are on the bench in a playoff-type atmosphere.
Number 3- Defense without Deyonta Davis
For those who may not know, the Atlanta Hawks signed Deyonta Davis to a ten-day contract on March 19, 2019. While Davis was on the Sea Dubs, he made himself known on the defensive side and that will be greatly missed especially in the playoffs.
What these last few regular season games have taught us is that the Sea Dubs are in good hands with Lee, Wil Cherry and Kendrick Nunn in the lineup. Hopefully, this momentum from the end of the season continues into Friday’s game.
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The Western conference semi-finals will be live on Twitch tonight at 8 p.m.