Warriors rookie quietens critics with breakout summer league performance

It's fair to say that Alex Toohey endured a horror start to his time with the Golden State Warriors, having been a -81 in plus-minus across his first two games after being drafted 52nd overall in the second-round of last month's draft.

Toohey tallied just 13 points on 3-of-14 shooting across those two games, but bounced back with a much improved performance in Sunday's 103-93 win over the Utah Jazz in Las Vegas.

Alex Toohey dropped 15 points in the Warriors win over the Jazz

The critics were getting louder after another slow start for the Australian forward, yet he found some much needed confidence with an impressive sequence to close the first-half.

Toohey snatched a rebound, pushed in transitioned and drew a foul from Jazz big man Kyle Filipowski, subsequently knocking down both free-throws. He followed that with a beautiful spin move and layup, before drawing another foul from Filipowski that led to two more free-throws. That all happened in the final 90 seconds of the second-quarter, with Filipowski hardly impressed as he and Toohey tangled to end the half.

Toohey added a corner 3-pointer in the second-half and finished his night with a crafty and-one circus layup, ending with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in a breakout performance that will raise optimism of his potential among Warrior fans.

Before Toohey's strong close to the second period, it was undrafted rookie Gabe Madsen who propelled Golden State to the lead with a blistering 18-point half on 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

The 24-year-old finished with an equal game-high 22 points in less than 17 minutes off the bench, doing himself no harm in pushing for a potential training camp deal with the Warriors and/or a spot on their G League roster.

Golden State's other late second-round pick, Will Richard, was a little quieter but still finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three steals, though his 3-point shooting is yet to come around after another 1-of-5 display from deep.

Taran Armstrong had some uncharacteristic turnovers but got better as the game went on, including a couple of tough drives and layups as Utah made their push in the fourth-quarter. The Australian point guard finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists, but he too shot just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Sunday's win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Warriors dating back to the California Classic, with the squad now setting their sights to a matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.