LAS VEGAS — Through five games, the Warriors remain undefeated in Summer League play.
They hoisted the Mitch Richmond Trophy with a 3-0 California Classic and have now started the major showcase in Vegas with two straight wins.
In their latest victory, a 92-82 pull-away from Chicago, Brandin Podziemski neared a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. His running mate, Trayce Jackson-Davis, tallied 17 points and 10 boards.
Sunday is expected to be Podziemski and Jackson-Davis’ last Summer League game. It’s standard for established second-year NBA players like themselves to play a few games to get extra offseason reps.
“My wish list is that they play, but we have to look at the big picture,” head coach Anthony Vereen said. “I don’t know what the next plan will be, but I know they’re competitive guys. If you give it up to them, they’re gonna play…It’s been a pleasure to coach them, and I hope I get to coach them a little bit more.”
Golden State fell behind early, but Podziemski keyed an 11-1 run to help them take a 24-23 lead after the first quarter. In that run, the point guard assisted on a Kevin Knox II corner 3 and canned two triples of his own.
Back-to-back buckets from Podziemski in the last 26 seconds of the second quarter sent the Warriors into halftime with some extra rhythm, up three. At half, Podziemski had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists — including an alley-oop dime to Summer League standout Daeqwon Plowden.
Triple-double watch continued for Podziemski. Although he said postgame it wasn’t on his mind, it was clear the guard put an emphasis on setting up his teammates. He opened the second half with an assist to Plowden and a perfect outlet pass for a fast-break dunk off a rebound. Then he found Trayce Jackson-Davis on a no-look pass underneath for an easy jam. That brought his totals to six boards and seven assists.
“I’m not mad if you’re hunting assists,” Vereen said. “If you’re hunting points, I’ve got a problem.”
Podziemski wasn’t hunting his shot, but he did find pockets of the game to get buckets. He dropped in a baseline fadeaway at the end of the shot clock, displaying the level of calm an established NBA player like himself should in Summer League play. As the Warriors earned a double-digit lead, he looked even more comfortable.
In the fourth, Podziemski canned a catch-and-shoot 3, then drove the baseline off a pump fake for a one-handed jam. The last time he dunked like that, Podziemski said, was last year in his hometown of Milwaukee against the Bucks.
“I’ve been putting in work the last 10 weeks on my body,” Podziemski said. “So I figured I’d make it work.”
Podziemski was efficient, going 8-for-14 from the floor, but he also committed seven turnovers.
“A bunch of them were just stupid,” Podziemski said. “Like, why would I do that? A lot of them were in transition, hit-ahead passes. But I feel like in the regular season, I’m going to have guys in different spots. Just our spacing was a little jacked up, but that’s on me to get that organized.”
Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis surged in the second half, draining several tough shots against smaller defenders. The 6-foot-10 wing recorded 28 points on 10-for-22 shooting.
Jackson-Davis provided a force inside, getting to the line for 13 free throw attempts. The coaching staff told him to be more aggressive after Saturday’s game, and he heeded that.
Their shutdowns aren’t official, but it’s fair to consider Podziemski and Jackson-Davis graduated from Summer League.
“I think me and BP grew as players, just leading a team,” Jackson-Davis said. “Defensively, on the floor, I think we were better. And just going out there and competing, I thought we both did that. We got two Ws. Scored (28) combined points. I thought we did our job.”
