Warriors Reach D-League Finals but Not Ready to Celebrate

Friday night was not a time for celebration for the Santa Cruz Warriors. They still have work to do.

 "A couple guys may go bowling," center Jeremy Tyler said after the Warriors defeated the Austin Toros 103-97 on Friday night before 2,300 delirious fans at Kaiser Permanente Arena to win the NBA Development League semifinal series 2-0 and advance to the D-League Finals.

"But there's no reason to celebrate. it's not needed at all. It's great to come together, but there's two more games to go, and that's a reason to work hard. We need to build on our continuity. Everybody needs to take the initiative so we work as one."

That's how focused the Warriors are in their quest for a title in their first season in Santa Cruz after moving during the offseason from Bismark, N.D., and changing their name from the Dakota Wizards.

Tyler, who played 31 minutes while subbing for starter Hilton Armstrong, was just one of many heroes for the Warriors who came out flat, fell behind 10-0, clawled their way back from a couple of 12-point deficits and then outlasted the D-League defending champs in a game that could be described by the old cliche as "a real barnburner."

Tyler turned back double-team after double-team to score the Warriors-high 22 points while pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds and making 8-of-11 free throws. "You have to make the right decision on the double teams," he said, "whether to go at it or try the backside play. But it's a privilege to be double-teamed. That means they respect you."

The Warriors earned a lot of respect from the Toros, while also  pulling out all the stops to incite the near-capacity home crowd. They borrowed the Warriors Girls and the Flying W's from the parent Golden State Warriors to get the fans going, then the team took over in the final quarter with a dazzling display after starting the period down 74-71.

Besides Tyler -- three other players who also started the game on the bench -- Scott Machado, Darington Hobson and Lance Goulbourne -- had their moments as did the lone starter still in the game when it counted -- Stefhon Hannah, who earlier in the day was named D-League Defensive Player of the Year.

It all came down to the final three minutes after the Warriors had gone down 93-90. After Tyler got a point back by making 1-of-2 free throws, Goulbourne stole the ball and hit Machado for a 3-point 26-foot jump shot that put the W's up 94-93 with 2:37 left. After the Toros' JaMychal Green made 1-of-2 free throws to tie it at 94, it was all Warriors.

Tyler made two free throws and Machado made one of two. Then Hannah got a big rebound and fed Machado who passed to Hobson who made an alley-oop layup to put the crowd into a frenzy, and suddenly the score was 99-94, and there were 27 seconds left in the game, and the Warriors were on their way to the Finals.

"It was lots of fun, playing with all that noise down the stretch," Warriors coach Nate Bjorkgren said. "A couple of moments, the place erupted, and the players could feel it."

Those players included an unusual unit picked to finish.

"I don't call it the second unit," Bjorkgren said, "But the guys that didn't start ... they stepped up on different possessions. We started defensively playing better, and that got our offense going. Tyler and Hobson made some big plays down the stretch.  Goulbourne (who had 9 rebounds) is a good defender, and he got the offense going during one stretch.  Scott made a couple of big shots, and we went with Hannah and Scott together because they were guarding the ball real well ... that group was doing well, so we rode it the rest of the way."

The most surprising was point guards Hannah and Machado playing together when they usually subsitute for each other. But Hannah got into foul trouble, Machado  was playing well, and Bjorkgren wanted the experienced Hannah also on the floor down the stretch.

"Stef mentioned it to Coach the other day, and he went with it," said Machado, who played in six games for the Golden State Warriors this season.  "I just try to play my role and keep level-headed and do what I can."

It was good," Hannah said. "Chemistry is having faith and believing in each other, and it keeps us going."

For one night, it sure did.

FREE THROWS -- The Warriors ran their playoff record to 4-0 and await the winner of the other semifinal match-up between the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Tulsa 66ers ... The Vipers won 107-92 in Tulsa on Friday to grab a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series that resumes Sunday in Hidalgo, Texas. A third game if necessary will be played Tuesday in the Texas city ... If the Vipers take the series, the Finals will begin with a one-game trip to Santa Cruz; if the 66ers come back and win, the Warriors would open on the road and have the possibility of the last two games at home ...  Warriors guard Cameron Jones won the D-League's Most Improved Player Award on Friday for his improvement from the beginning of the year to the end ... The W's missed 14 free throw attempts but had an amazing 43 total (the Toros made 20-of-25) ... the W's also missed 16 3-point attempts (made 8-of-24 to the Toros' 11-of-30 ... both teams finished with 19 turnovers ... Hannah and Hobson finished with 14 points each, Machado and Maurice Baker 13 each and Travis Leslie, who played only 18 minutes, finished with 10 ... Toros guards Tre Kelley and Lester Hudson combined for 44 points with Kelley getting 24.