The Golden State Warriors opened up their pre-season with a game against the Denver Nuggets. With key performances from role players, the Warriors were able to win by two.
The Golden State Warriors were able to play their first preseason game I guess the Denver Nuggets in a game that featured some stars.
For Denver, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray would start as well as some of her other key role players. For Golden State, Steph Curry would be back in the lineup for the first time since March 5. However, Draymond Green and 2020 second round pick James Wiseman would not play due to COVID.
While neither team’s stars played much it was still an interesting game with big plays on both sites. The Warriors ended up winning the game 107 to 105 to start their preseason 1-0. Here are three things I took away from the Golden State Warriors’ first preseason game of the 2020-2021 NBA season.
Three takeaways from the Warriors first preseason game
Depth looks good so far
Because this was a preseason game, we got to see many of the Warriors’ young bench players. If these players can show consistency throughout the preseason, some of them can be key players for the regular season.
The Warriors played 14 players in this preseason game and a couple of them that are new additions to this team.
Mychal Mulder was a player that stood out in my opinion. His 3-point shooting is something that can help this team off of the bench during the season.
Jordan Poole was another player that stood out. He looks like he has made major strides during the off-season, especially with his ability to operate a pick and roll.
This team can be exciting this year, especially when you think that we still have not seen James Wiseman or Draymond Green with this squad.
Wing defense looked great
When a team loses a wing defender like Klay Thompson, it’s hard to fill that void immediately. However, a guy like Kelly Oubre can play high-level defense on the wing and use his length to bother opponents.
Oubre is a sneaky good defender, who will immediately help this team on the defensive side. Another player that looked good on the wing defensively was Eric Paschall who was listed at the power forward spot. However, he did a good job defending pick and rolls while staying with smaller guards out on the perimeter.
New additions mesh well with Steph
While Steph Curry did not have his best game, his counterparts showed that they can play well with him. Even though Andrew Wiggins was on the team last year, he only played a few games with Curry. To see them play together reminds us that they both play well off of the ball. Wiggins hit some shots that were impressive, including the first points of the game on a step-back three from the corner.
Obviously, the addition of Oubre is a huge key point as well. Since Oubre is a player that does not need the ball and is not a high-volume scorer this pairing should work. We were able to see them on the floor together for a while and even saw Kelly Oubre get his first bucket as a Warrior from the corner.
This team should be extremely fun to watch this season, even if they are not contenders for the title.