LAS VEGAS – Warriors middle Marques Bolden was half a head shorter and a minimum of 30 kilos lighter than the behemoth he lined up in opposition to on Friday evening on the Thomas & Mack Middle.
Bolden banged, and wrestled and grappled with the 7-foot-1, 250-pound Hansen Yang, however he was no match for the Chinese language rookie who was cheered on by nearly all of these in attendance.
The Warriors had been acquainted with Yang’s recreation – they introduced him in for a pre-draft exercise – however neither Bolden, nor Isaiah Mobley or another defender coach Lainn Wilson threw on the behemoth was in a position to defend with any effectiveness.
Yang threw dimes from the excessive submit, spun and drove his method for layups and even buried a 3-pointer as he put up 10 factors, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in a 106-73 Warriors loss.
“We knew he had pretty good size and pretty good passing ability, so we really tried to stress for our guys, especially off the ball, that they had to be alert,” Wilson stated. “We didn’t do the best job of respecting his passing ability.”
At one level, Warriors ahead Jackson Rowe grew to become so pissed off whereas defending him that the undersized submit shoved Yang throughout a useless ball as Warriors teammates Brandin Podziemski, Quinten Submit and others watched courtside.
Late within the fourth quarter, each Wilson and Mobley had been whistled for technical fouls.
“I figured I’d try to stand for our guys,” Wilson stated. “They were being pretty physical, and I don’t ever want a team to expect that they can just run us over.”
Yang’s best affect might have come on the defensive facet of the ball, the place he had three official blocks and a number of other different layups deterred by his limitless wingspan.
Golden State will face the Jazz subsequent on Sunday evening.
Rookie highlight
The perfect participant for the Warriors was level guard Taran Armstrong, and he utilized his velocity and sharp deal with to create uncommon benefits on the break for the Warriors.
Armstrong made a powerful first step towards attaining his aim by making 3 of seven pictures and scoring 10 factors whereas totaling seven assists.
Draft picks Alex Toohey and Will Richard, each chosen late within the second spherical, had uneven Las Vegas debuts.
Richard made the Warriors’ first bucket of the sport, the longest of lengthy 2-pointers when he buried a shot along with his foot on the road.
The Florida product additionally displayed a willingness to run subsequent to Armstrong on the wing and end quick breaks. He completed with 12 factors regardless of the excessive stage of physicality.
“You can be a lot more physical knowing that you have 10 fouls to give,” Richard stated. “Guys are definitely going to use as many fouls as they can.”
Toohey’s shot confirmed it wanted work by going simply 2 of 9 for seven factors. The No. 52 decide within the draft admitted after his Tuesday debut that he wanted to get used to the velocity of the NBA recreation, and Friday confirmed that the adjustment interval may take greater than only a few video games.
However in a recreation the place the Warriors had been usually taking part in catchup with the run-n-gun Blazers, Toohey gave effort on protection. He used his 6-foot-8 body to play the passing lanes and was rewarded with 4 steals.
Different, uncommon, brilliant spots
All-California Traditional choice Jackson Rowe was one of many few brilliant spots on an in any other case dismal evening, scoring 12 and and grabbing three rebounds regardless of taking part in in opposition to a bigger Blazer entrance line. Even when he was not rewarded with assists, Rowe tossed a lot of fast, high-level passes as a playmaker within the short-roll recreation.
Guard Jaden Shackelford and his quick-trigger shot scored 9 and helped briefly minimize the Blazers result in single digits within the second quarter. He spent the previous three seasons within the G-league, most lately with the Suns’ affiliate.
Jules Bernard obtained to the rim and scored eight factors. Gabe Madsen, a sharpshooter out of Utah, drilled two 3-pointers and scored eight in the course of the fourth quarter.
Initially Printed: July 11, 2025 at 10:11 PM PDT
