SACRAMENTO, Calif. – At the Golden 1 Center, where Golden State’s 2023-24 season unceremoniously ended last April, the Warriors brought a new starting five to their second preseason game.

Absent, of course, was Klay Thompson, who went scoreless in the play-in loss before leaving for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Warriors want to play faster and shoot more three-pointers, with more athleticism on the court and more defensive flexibility. They have brought in three new veterans and want to play with more structure in attack. Many of the changes head coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors want to make stem from the way last season went.

“I don’t know if it was just that game, I just think the feeling of losing in the play-in and not even making the playoffs is pretty bitter,” Kerr said before the game. “But I think we definitely recognized our shortcomings last year and they were exposed in that game.”

Although the Warriors appeared better equipped to handle Sacramento’s fast-paced style in the first half – when all the regulars played – Golden State entered the second half trailing 68-66. They hit 15 of their 27 3s, with Buddy Hield (4-for-4), De’Anthony Melton (3-for-6) and Steph Curry (3-for-6) leading the charge from long range, but the Kings’ offense matched them by creating points in the paint.

Golden State continued to shoot and drain three-pointers as the game progressed. They hit a total of 28 three-pointers, surpassing the regular-season franchise record of 27. Eight Warriors hit at least two three-pointers, leading to a scorching 53.8% clip from behind the arc in a 122-112 win; as a statistical anomaly, Golden State shot better from 3 than from the floor.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ first preseason game on the mainland, with four remaining for the regular season.

New starters

In the Warriors’ first preseason game in Hawaii, they started Steph Curry, Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton, Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Looney replaced Jackson-Davis at center and Podziemski replaced Melton in the second.

Melton played great next to Curry in the opener, but the offense looked easier with Podziemski in the fold Wednesday (maybe it was Sacramento’s defense, which is expected to be poor). Podziemski is a more natural initiator and playmaker. On one play, Curry’s isolation went nowhere, but Podziemski finished with the ball on the wing and fed Green in for an easy bucket.

Podziemski also missed a pair of open three-pointers that he needs to hit to stay on the floor. With Green, Looney and Kuminga, distance is very important.

Golden State subbed on Jackson-Davis for Looney after five minutes, but the main core of the starting unit tied the Kings, 18-18, in the first seven minutes of the game.

It’s a minuscule sample size and a similar result to the starting unit from the preseason opener, but neither group has jumped off the page yet – they’ve just held their own.

One note on Podziemski starting: without him coming off the bench, the second unit (Melton, Jackson-Davis, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and Moses Moody) was without a point guard. Staggering minutes in the regular season would solve that pretty easily, but the Warriors want to make sure both their first and second units are cohesive.

Podziemski (8 points, 8 assists in 23 minutes) left in the first half after being hit in the face, but returned in the third quarter to lead the second unit at point guard, driving and dishing, while also executed effective pick-and-play. roll.

The preseason is all about experimenting with combinations, and Kerr’s next move could be to put Hield — who finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-9 shooting — in the backcourt with Curry. That would maximize their three-point shooting threat, with as close a motion-shooting facsimile to Thompson as there is.