Second-year Warriors guard Ian Clark on Thursday night made his pitch to calm the nerves of those still worried about the team’s revamped bench.
And Clark had plenty of help from rookie guard Patrick McCaw.
The two combined to score 19 of the team’s 27 fourth-quarter points, leading the Warriors on a stirring comeback for a 105-96 preseason win over Sacramento.
[POOLE: Rewind: Two positives from Warriors' win over Kings; Camp Kerr on deck]
“We’re all competitors,” Clark said. “Coach puts you in the game to play and do your job. That’s what I wanted to do.”
Clark in the fourth quarter scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting (3-of-4 from beyond the arc) in eight minutes, while McCaw played all 12 minutes, delivering eight points and a steal.
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With the Warriors trailing 96-91 with 3:18 remaining, Clark and McCaw combined for 11 consecutive points, giving the Warriors a 102-96 lead before James Michael McAdoo drained an unlikely 3-pointer from the corner with 50.4 seconds left to close it out.
"That was a good finish to the game,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We had guys step up and hit big shots. Ian hit a couple threes. Patrick hit a big one. Obviously Mac, you know we drew that one up in the time out. It was a fun way to win the game.”
The McAdoo corner trey was anything but drawn up during a timeout. It was an end-of-the-shot-clock prayer from a forward who rarely shoots outside the key.
That the rally came against the Kings, of whom little is expected this season, didn’t dim the postgame glow.
When the bench forms a comeback win, with youngsters leading the way but getting help from veterans – Anderson Varejao had five rebounds in four minutes – the Warriors walked out of SAP Center believing the bench will provide ample support.
“You just pay attention to detail,” Clark said. “We know what we want to do and what we don’t want to do. We talked about that coming into training camp. It’s a new team. Guys have to get used to each other. It’s going to take some time. We’re not just going to have it figured out in a week and a half.”
Kerr’s faith was bolstered.
“Ian and Patrick are both going to make big contributions for our team this year,” he said. “Anderson came in and did a nice job generating some extra possessions. McAdoo comes in and changes the game with his speed.
“So, we got a lot of guys who can play and we’re very confident in our bench.”
