Warriors knock off Suns to claim Summer League championship
By Brad Rowland
The Golden State Warriors’ summer league “dynasty” lives on, and the team has completed a 7-0 stint in Las Vegas after a 91-77 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the finals of the 1st annual “tournament” for the Las Vegas Summer League.
Little-known guard Ian Clark led the way for the Warriors with 33 points (on 12 of 19 shooting) during Monday night’s victory. Clark, a rookie from Belmont, isn’t a favorite to make the Golden State permanent roster, but his hot-shooting certainly pulsed the offense against Charlotte. He was joined by Kent Bazemore, who provided a quality across-the-board line of 18 points (8 of 18 FG), 5 assists, and 4 rebounds in the win.
The Warriors did the majority of their damage, outside of Clark’s shooting, on the defensive end, as they clamped down on the undermanned Suns. Phoenix shot just 44% from the field and 29% from three-point distance in the loss, and Golden State seemed to show rare defensive intensity for the atmosphere of Summer League. The Suns did receive quality efforts from Archie Goodwin (18 points) and Marcus Morris (17 points, 6 rebounds), but it was too little, too late for Phoenix.
In the grand scheme, a Summer League “title” doesn’t mean much for the Warriors franchise. However, at least 2 of their “real” players (Draymond Green and the aformentioned Kent Bazemore) performed above expectations during the stint in Las Vegas, and the effort level of the entire roster is consistent with the culture change brought about by Mark Jackson. It remains to be seen what will carry over to the regular season, but it was a great two-week period for Golden State.