Warriors use 3-point barrage to bury Kings

Still undefeated!

If the preseason is any predictor of the regular season, then it should be a pretty fun year for the Golden State Warriors. After relying on the theatrics of a Lindy Waters III buzzer-beater in their opener against the LA Clippers on Saturday, the Warriors used a high-octane offensive attack to take down the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in their second game of the preseason, winning 122-112.

We’ve heard a lot of talk in recent days about how the Warriors want to be a bigger threat from behind the line, even with the departure of Klay Thompson. And on Wednesday, that talk was backed up by actions.

The Dubs took a staggering 52 three-point attempts against the Kings, compared to just 30 shots from inside the arc. But they weren’t throwing them up willy-nilly; they were almost all good looks, as evidenced by the fact that they made 53.8% of them.

It took a few minutes for Golden State to find rhythm, as they tried a new starting lineup of Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney (Andrew Wiggins remains sidelined). Sacramento’s athletic lineup — which was led by newcomer DeMar DeRozan, who shot a perfect 6-for-6 en route to 15 points — broke down the Warriors’ defense in the early going, and kept Golden State from finding much rhythm on either end.

But after turning things over to the subs, the Dubs started to click, and they went on a run to end the quarter with a 31-27 lead.

Then the threes really started to rain in. While DeRozan carved up the Warriors early in the second quarter, Curry started to take off, and everything began to click. It was three after three after three ... you know things are going well when Green makes two threes in a single quarter! No one shined brighter than Buddy Hield, who finished the half a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. But despite all of that, a late run by the Kings gave Sacramento a 68-66 lead at halftime.

Curry, Green, and Looney saw their nights end at halftime, but the second-half starting quintet of Hield, Kuminga, Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Trayce Jackson-Davis played with life and energy, and quickly built up a seven-point lead. And then the flurry of threes came in earnest, and from nearly everyone on the roster. With under two minutes remaining, the Warriors had built up a 12-point lead, and would take a 100-91 advantage into the final frame.

The Dubs looked like they were going to cruise to a victory from there, but Sacramento’s bench had other plans. The Kings made a serious push about halfway through the quarter, prompting Steve Kerr to call timeout at the 5:28 mark, with the lead sitting at just 109-106.

But the timeout worked. The Warriors came flying out of it, rattling off a 13-0 run to secure the victory, and keep the undefeated preseason intact.

Hield absolutely shined, and showed what he can bring to this offense, scoring 22 points on an absurdly efficient 8-for-9 shooting, including shooting 6-for-7 from distance. Fellow newcomer De’Anthony Melton also looked incredibly at home in Golden State’s system, dropping in 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting (4-for-9 from deep), with five rebounds and three assists. Kuminga also had 16 points while shooting 6-for-11 and 4-for-7 from distance, while Curry dropped in an efficient 13 points and Green 10 with five assists. Podziemski, as we saw for much of last season, filled up many different stat columns, finishing with eight points, four rebounds, eight assists, and two steals. Jackson-Davis was a team-best +22, while also logging eight points and six rebounds.

The Warriors are back in action Friday night, when they host a rematch against the Kings. You can catch that game at 7:00 p.m. PT on NBC Sports Bay Area and NBA TV.