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Damion Lee hit the shot.
Stephen Curry, who didn’t even shoot well, poured in 36 to keep the Warriors from slipping too far back.
And yet, some of the loudest praise from Golden State involved players whose statlines ranged from fine to foul.
There was a lot of deserved joy from the Warriors after their 129-128 breakthrough in Chicago on Sunday, leaping in front of the Bulls with Lee’s last-second 3 to notch their first victory of the season and instill hope that it is not over as soon as it has begun.
That hope will begin with Curry, whose jump shot has abandoned him though his slashing has not, but it will not end with him.
The first contributor to step up — and we do mean that literally — was Juan Toscano-Anderson, the two-way forward who no longer was coming off the bench but stepped into the Golden State starting lineup.
DAMION LEE GAME WINNER pic.twitter.com/L1NYlQyYc8
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 28, 2020
Eric Paschall had struggled in the opening pair of games, both Warriors embarrassments, and he was put on the bench. Toscano-Anderson’s energy immediately was apparent, the closest the Warriors had to Draymond Green on another night Green was absent with a foot injury.
He was active defensively, grabbed five rebounds, was elbowed in the gut, shot 2-of-3 for five points and played all of 19 minutes. And yet, he was one of the postgame stars.
“Juan’s great,” Steve Kerr said over Zoom after Lee’s 3 made the Warriors’ start much more palatable. “He knows how to play, and he makes really good defensive reads, he’s flying all over the floor, he’s communicating. And then he has a good way of generating offense for us. It may not show up in the box score, but he sets screens at the right time, he swings the ball at the right time. He just has a really good feel for the game.”
Toscano-Anderson, an Oakland native, is close with Lee — Lee said it felt, upon meeting, as if they were lifelong friends — and has followed Lee’s path from unknown to NBA contributor. Lee was undrafted out of college, was waived by the Celtics’ G-League team and had to earn 10-day contracts with Atlanta before asserting himself with Golden State.
Toscano-Anderson, also undrafted, played all around the world before cracking the Warriors’ roster last season.
“I just love Juan’s energy, his IQ,” said Lee, who finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. “His stats may not be the sexiest; he may not score the ball … but capable shooter, a great defender, is smart as hell, extremely high IQ. And he is an NBA basketball player.”
The domino effect of putting Toscano-Anderson in the starting lineup pushed Paschall to the bench and made him an anchor of the second unit — which proceeded to lead the Warriors’ best quarter of the short season, a 36-point second-quarter explosion.
Paschall is built similarly to Green and thus has been compared with the talented, do-it-all star, but their games are very different. Paschall emerged last season as a scorer, best with the ball in his hands and attacking the rim.
“I liked the rotation better,” Kerr said, “because the way we played tonight allowed Eric to get going offensively and be more aggressive with the ball.”
With 15 points on just eight shots, Paschall looked more like the rookie find he was last season. His game does not mesh perfectly with Curry’s, and especially when Green returns, his offensive burst will be needed off the bench.
“Eric Paschall was phenomenal,” Kerr said, before cautioning that his answer as a bit influenced by Paschall sitting right beside him.
And then there is Kelly Oubre Jr., who may be the spiritual successor to D’Angelo Russell as the most polarizing Warrior. His shooting struggles continued, now 0-for-17 from deep and surely not living up to the shoes Klay Thompson is not filling.
And yet, there was plenty of praise for the 25-year-old as well. He’s long, he’s fiery, he’s athletic, he plays solid defense. On a night he shot 3-of-16 for eight points, he was a plus-9 while on the court.
“It takes a lot for a guy to have the energy on defense and impact the game on that end like he did in the third quarter — a bunch of steals and deflections,” Curry said of Oubre, whose box score was filled with four steals, 11 rebounds and three turnovers. “No matter how he shoots the ball, he can always find another way to impact the game. And eventually, he’s going to figure it out.”
If the Warriors figure it out against a team better than the 0-3 Bulls, they’ll need further contributions from the heroes and unsung heroes alike.