Monday night’s game against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans was another test for the second unit that has yet to establish its identity.
And the Warriors’ reserves failed miserably, suffering a 128-83 blowout loss to the Pelicans.
With the core group of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green sitting out the latter half of the back-to-back one night after they lit it up from beyond the arc en route to the team’s first road win, Golden State’s youngsters started the game sluggish and dug themselves in a hole early that they couldn’t climb out of.
Sure, the Warriors got better as the game rolled on but it was near impossible to come back from an ugly opening quarter during which Golden State turned the ball over seven times and was outscored 35-16.
The Warriors failed in the first half to play the franchise’s brand of basketball that prioritizes ball movement. They had only five assists while turning the ball over 16 times. Golden State shot 14-of-36 or 38.9% from the field and 3-of-18 or 16.7% from 3-point range.
Their shooting improved in the third quarter but the damage was already done. Jordan Poole led the Warriors’ scoring with 26 points on 50% shooting. He had a rough night from 3-point land, making only two of his nine attempts from deep.
Jonathan Kuminga showed flashes throughout the game and played solid defense on Williamson, who finished with nine points on 3 of 7 shooting. Kuminga made four of his 10 3-pointers and ended the night with 18 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal. He played a team-high 39 minutes but finished with a team-worst minus-38.
Rookies Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins were recalled from Santa Cruz and rejoined the team as needed reinforcements. With shallow depth at big, notably the Warriors did not recall James Wiseman from Santa Cruz.
The Warriors recalled rookies Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins ahead of the game for much-needed reinforcements with their depth slimmed by most of the starters being out. But even with Green out and Looney questionable, Golden State notably chose to leave former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman with the team’s G League affiliate.
“We felt it was important for him to get a really good stretch in Santa Cruz practicing,” Kerr said before the game. “When you get attention in the G league it’s easier to make progress than the stops and starts in the NBA when you aren’t in rotation.”
Baldwin made his first NBA bucket in the fourth quarter and finished with seven points on 3 of 6 shooting.
The Warriors drop to 1-9 on the road and 8-10 on the season. They’ll return home to play the 10-7 Los Angeles Clipper Wednesday before hosting on Friday the surprising first-place Utah Jazz, who own a Western Conference-best 12-6 record.
