Warriors ‘uncles’ close out preseason with an encouraging banger vs. Blazers

Warriors ‘uncles’ close out preseason with an encouraging banger vs. Blazers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry dug up his typhoon energy. Draymond Green window-shopped a triple-double. Al Horford was raining 3-pointers as if he were alone on the court.

Advertisement

The uncles at the core of the Warriors were vibrant Friday night at Chase Center, and their work in the NBA preseason finale fed a 128-118 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers and in the process sprinkled some encouragement five days before the regular-season opener.

Playing in all four quarters, Curry exited with 8:29 remaining after tying his preseason high in assists with five and posting preseason highs in points (20), rebounds (four) and, perhaps most significantly, minutes (26).

“He’s on a different routine this camp,” coach Steve Kerr said. “And we’ve ramped him up more slowly, so he’s been kind of working his way to this point. He’s not yet where he wants to be, but he’s on track.”

After shaking off a substandard first half (seven points, 3-of-12 shooting), Curry in the third quarter looked a lot like the point guard who has dazzled the NBA for the better part of two decades. The 38-year-old scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, including 2 of 3 from distance, and was plus-15 over seven minutes.

Green, who submitted a solid preseason despite still being in the conditioning phase, saved his best for last. Starting at power forward between center Charles Bassey and rookie small forward Yaxel Lendeborg, Green made the most of his 24 minutes: seven points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals.

Green, 36, had three turnovers, but that’s generally acceptable when accompanied by 10 assists. He has been given an adjusted role and an edict to reduce turnovers, but in this game looked like the good Draymond of old. He posted a team-high plus-18.

Advertisement

“Draymond really lifted us; he was fantastic,” Kerr said.

“He’s going to orchestrate the offense, (and) tonight it was just a clear example of how he got it going,” Horford said of Green. “He was playing at his own pace and just kind of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/warriors-uncles-close-preseason-encouraging-083116910.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-17 08:31:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.