Golden State Warriors Defeat Washington Wizards in Japan, 96-87

The Golden State Warriors defeated Washington Wizards at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo early morning this Friday. The NBA champions and the Wizards met in the NBA Japan Games 2022, and in the very first appearance following the NBA Finals, the champs managed to post a triumph, starting the preparations positively.

The final result of this exhibition, yet a very competitive event was 96-87 for GSW, who was more or less controlling the situation on the field properly.

Golden State took a double-digit lead midway through the second period, yet, they would allow the Wizards to come back and flip the situation. As time went by, the champs gradually became more and more aggressive, and in the essential moment, their shots went in, while Washington missed its chances for scoring.

The percentage of shooting on both ends was awful. GSW was 29-for-79 from the field, while the Wizards hit 31 shots in 84 attempts. They were 6-for-35 from behind the arc, and the Warriors made only seven shots in 26 tries. These percentages aren’t good for two shooting-oriented teams, especially the Warriors. Though, traveling to Japan, changing time zones, and playing the first competitive game after a few months isn’t easy, which is why such stats appeared in the first place.

The Warriors’ big guy, and the former second pick in the draft, James Wiseman, dominated in this game, posting 20 points, the most of all the players, adding nine boards with one block. Wiseman, who had massive troubles with injuries, hopes to finally have a season without bad luck, during which he can show all of his extensive talents.

The slick forward/center is among the most promising players of the generation, but for the moment, the injuries prevented him from fulfilling his goals.

Wiseman was the only player in GSW with a double-digit number of points. Head coach Steve Kerr, wanted to give a chance to all of his players, and he didn’t allow any of his guys to spend too much time on the court.

Steph Curry ended the night with six points, Andrew Wiggins had five, while Draymond green scored four with eight boards. Donte DiVincenzo had a solid role with nine points and seven rebounds, all defensive.

James Wiseman dominated in the Warriors preseason game vs the Wizards 😤

This young man has an EXTREMELY bright future.

20 points
8 rebounds

8-of-11 FG pic.twitter.com/LejG2nvWXM

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 30, 2022

On the other side, the crowd favorite, Rui Hachimura delivered 13 buckets and was the leading scorer among the Wizards. On top of that, the strong power forward would add nine boards.

For the first time, the Wizards fans had a chance to see Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis playing together. Neither of them had some particularly efficient performance, with Porzingis scoring seven points, but he was all over the floor with four boards, assists, and steals. The big guy missed all of his six three-point tries.

Beal scored nine points and looked well in his first appearance following rehab. Monte Morris also scored nine buckets, while Daniel Gafford dropped eight, the same as Taj Gibson.

The Warriors and the Wizards will play one more game in Japan, on Sunday, October the second, one hour after midnight Eastern Time. The venue is the same, the Saitama Arena, which is Saitama Stadium, with a capacity of 63 thousand spectators.