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Kent Bazemore played angry, Ian Clark nailed three threes, Cameron Jones added 15 points, Brian Scalabrine wore boots and jeans, and the Golden State Warriors came back from a 15 point deficit to take down the Dallas Mavericks. In the first wave of tournament games, the Warriors struggled to score—as they have been wont to do in this exhibition affair—but hung around just enough to do this:
From then on the Warriors took over—with Draymond Green on the bench—on several Lance Goulbourne finishes paired and an Ian Clark transition three evoking images of Stephen Curry, and ultimately squeezing out a 79-76 victory. For a guy that celebrates with absurd three-fingered gesticulations, double-bicep pumps, this new frustrated, profanity-laced Bazemore was a different side from what fans knew from the regular season. Taking 21 shots, Bazemore hit 10 of them and wasn't afraid to let his emotions hang, even prompting Coach Darren Erman to calm him down.
There isn't much to say about the game itself but perhaps the most striking aspect of the game was the 99 percent-filled Warriors crowd in the stands. Amidst the comeback, chants of "Let's Go Warriors" rang around the stadium, making it seem like a postseason game (okay, probably not) in late May.
With Joe Lacob smiling incredulously after every play, the Warriors will look to turn this college-tourney atmosphere into the second round on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Here's thinking that the crowd will show up again in a Summer League battle for the state of California. Or something.