. He's the only one scoring more points than him. He's really efficient. Not bad. Can you imagine if he was an All-Star what he'd be doing right now?''Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Marquese Chriss added 12 points and 13 rebounds. Eric Paschall, Jordan Poole and Mychal Mulder each scored 17 points off the bench in Golden State's ninth straight defeat at new Chase Center.Beal - coming off a 42 point-performance in a 10-point loss at Utah on Friday night - has scored 214 points for a 42.8 point average over the past five games for the Wizards, who had lost four out of five. Davis Bertans added 29 points off the bench with eight 3-pointers.The Warriors had their six-game winning streak against Washington snapped and five in a row at home.They were still without Stephen Curry, who had hoped to return for Sunday's game from a broken left hand he injured against Phoenix on Oct. 30. He is scheduled to practice with the G-League Santa Cruz Warriors on Monday before his next step is determined.Wiggins is eager to finally play with Curry and see how ''that's going to open up the floor for everybody else.'' ''It will make a big difference, especially for people who can drive and attack the basket because Steph attracts a lot of attention,'' Wiggins said.New Golden State starter Juan Toscano-Anderson, who was in the starting lineup for the first time in Saturday night's win at Phoenix that ended an eight-game losing streak, had five assists. He is wearing jersey No. 95, the largest number ever used by the franchise.CURRY PREPARESCurry went through an extensive on-court session before heading to Santa Cruz. The two-time MVP missed his 56th straight game.Wizards coach Scott Brooks enjoys watching the West Coast games when his team is done out East - and he has missed Curry.''I'm sure he was intimidated by the defense our team has been playing this year. He didn't want no part of it,'' Brooks joked before the game when asked about Curry's imminent return. ''It would be exciting for not only his fan base, his coaches and organization to have him out there. He's one of the greatest players to ever play, one of the greatest shooters to ever play and causes so many problems for opponents. He makes shots that are almost impossible to go in and you have to be next to him whenever he crosses half court, which opens up the floor for the other players to drive. He's been missed by the whole basketball world. ... You could turn on games at 10 o'clock at night and you get a lot of basketball and he's always been fun to watch.'' HE SAIDAfter the Warriors got back in the win column at last Saturday, coach Steve Kerr had a little fun a day later.''Man, what a great day outside. You guys look fantastic,'' he offered. ''I don't know what's changed, I just feel good today.'' So, how about playing consecutive nights?''We're hot. That's the main thing,'' Kerr continued. ''We are on a run, we just want to keep the run going.'' WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENTThe Warriors honored women pioneers with the San Francisco Police Department and handed out shirts themed ''She Believes'' - a play off the team's ''We Believe'' 2007 playoff team - as part of Women's Empowerment Month.TIP-INSWizards: Washington hadn't beaten the Warriors since a 112-108 victory on Feb. 28, 2017, or in the Bay Area since Jan. 28, 2014 (85-88). ... Washington shot 20 for 30 from deep and converted 24 of 27 free throws.Warriors: G Ky Bowman sat out a second straight game with a sprained right ankle after leaving with 1:11 left in a home loss to the Lakers on Thursday night. ... The Warriors haven't won at home since beating Orlando 109-95 on Jan. 18. They are 7-24 at home overall and 2-8 against the Eastern Conference.UP NEXTWizards: At Sacramento on Tuesday night looking to avoid being swept in the season series. The Kings won i113-106 in D. C. on Nov. 24, 2019.Warriors: At Denver on Tuesday night for the second meeting of the season after losing 134-131 in OT at home to the Nuggets on Jan. 16.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Mar 01, 2020Fans who bought tickets for Sunday's Golden State Warriors home game hoping to see Stephen Curry's return to the court will have to settle for a visit from red-hot scorer Bradley Beal when the Washington Wizards visit San Francisco.Curry, who broke his hand in the Warriors' fourth game of the season in October, had been pointing to March 1 for his comeback.But Warriors coach Steve Kerr squashed that idea Saturday, announcing that Curry would need more simulated game action before returning to the real thing.So the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player will be sent to Santa Cruz, Calif., on Monday to scrimmage with the Warriors' G League affiliate in hopes he can pass a final test before probably returning Thursday against Toronto."He put up a little bit of a fight, but also understood why we wanted to take extra precaution," Kerr said before Saturday's 115-99 win at Phoenix, a game in which Golden State had only eight players available."(The scrimmage) allows for a more natural stepping stone to playing in an NBA game. So I think our training staff was more comfortable with that, coaching staff was more comfortable with that. Steph wanted to play, but we're just going to take the precautionary step and give him a little more prep." The Warriors beat the Wizards 125-117 in Washington on Feb. 3, but did so in large part thanks to a combined 52-point contribution from Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, who are no longer with the team.In their place, the Warriors have added Dragan Bender and Mychal Mulder on 10-day contracts, and both made significant contributions to the win at Phoenix that snapped an eight-game losing streak.Bender, in his first game in Phoenix after leaving as a free agent last July, contributed 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks to the win.Mulder, in just his second game for the Warriors, came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers en route to 14 points to go with six rebounds.Besides Curry and Klay Thompson (knee surgery), the Warriors also were without Draymond Green (sore left knee), Jordan Poole (sprained right ankle) and Ky Bowman (sprained right ankle). It's possible that Green and Poole could return for the Washington game.The Wizards began a four-game Western swing with a 129-119 loss at Utah on Friday, the fourth loss in their last five games.They'll take the court in San Francisco with team and individual goals in mind.The team hopes to avenge the earlier loss to Golden State, after which Wizards coach Scott Brooks insisted to reporters, "We did not come out to play with the right mindset. I don't know what we were thinking, but we weren't thinking the right things." And then there's Beal, whose 42 points went for naught at Utah in the trip opener.He has scored 25 or more points in 17 consecutive games, tying the franchise record set by Walt Bellamy in 1962.Beal led the NBA in scoring in February with 36.2 points per game.--Field Level Media
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