SANTA CRUZ — The guard-heavy Santa Cruz Warriors came out guns blazing, but they were unable to match the firepower of Rio Grande Valley, owner of the NBA G League’s top offense, at Kaiser Permanente Arena on Friday night.
Jerome Robinson made seven of Santa Cruz’s 18 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 25 points, but the Warriors dropped to 0-3 against the Vipers after falling 127-115 in the teams’ final meeting during the regular season.
The Warriors, 2-8 in their past 10 games, are confident that they’ll emerge from their recent funk and become a playoff-caliber team.
“I think in this league, things change pretty quickly,” Warriors coach Seth Cooper said. “As long as we keep getting better, we’re going to have a chance to put some wins together, like we did earlier this year. At that point, you can get right back in it, pretty quick.”
Despite battling injuries and a revolving door roster, Cooper said that he’s seeing improvement from his squad, despite having just three players — Kalob Ledoux, LJ Figueroa and Selom Mawugbe — who have been with the team for the duration of the year. Mawugbe, sideline by injury for a chuck on the season, only recently returned to the lineup and is on a minutes count. Two-way guard Quinndary Weatherspoon and Elijah Pemberton were among the players unavailable Friday.
The Vipers (8-4), who lead the league in average points per game (123.7), heated up late in the first quarter and eventually built their lead to 18 points. Santa Cruz cut the deficit to eight but RGV closed strong at the free-throw line.
The Vipers overtook South Bay Lakers (7-4) for the best record in the Western Conference with their win, combined with the Lakers’ loss to Salt Lake City on Friday.
Things don’t get any easier for the Warriors (5-8). They host the South Bay on Sunday at 6 p.m. before embarking on a three-game road trip that includes two more games against the Lakers.
The Warriors (118.1 ppg) are ranked No. 3 in the league on offense, behind the No. 2 Lakers (119.1 ppg).
Santa Cruz shot 47% (45 of 96) from the field against RGV and 38% (18-47) from beyond the arc, finishing one 3-pointer shy of matching its season-high total of 19.
It was the Warriors’ second game without center Jordan Bell, who was traded to the The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers’ affiliate, on Jan. 31. The move left Santa Cruz with Figueroa, listed as a 6-foot-6 guard, and 6-10 center Mawugbe as its primary post players.
Mawugbe got in foul trouble early and played 17 minutes, 59 seconds.
RGV dominated with 60 points in the paint to the Warriors’ 46 and outrebounded Santa Cruz 61-36.
“I think the biggest thing is communication as a team, on the defensive end,” Ledoux said. “We’ve got stretches where it’s really good and stretches where it’s not so good. As a whole, I feel like if we get better at that, it help fix a lot of problems.”
Santa Cruz competed with its long-range arsenal, but was unable to slow the Vipers in the interior. RGV also found its way to the free-throw line 23 times, making 19 of those attempts. Santa Cruz was 4-of-7 shooting from the free-throw line.
Ledoux scored 22 points in 32 minutes off the bench for the Warriors, Kendall Smith and Jacob Evans each scored 16 points, and Ryan Taylor drained four 3s for 12 points. Smith also had 11 assists to complete his double-double.
Gerald Green scored a team-high 20 points in 16 minutes off the bench to lead the Vipers.
Mfiondu Kabengele and Marcus Foster each scored 18 points for RGV. Anthony Lamb had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Trevelin Queen had 16 points and nine rebounds, Tyler Bey had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Daishen Nix had 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
“We pushed the ball and we attacked the paint,” Lamb said. “The Warriors run really well, so we tried to get back in transition. We took all their best punches.”
Despite the loss, it was an eventful game for 2,476 fans, many of whom received a Klay Thompson Kayak bobblehead at the outset of the game.
The Santa Cruz Seahawks football team, winner of the 12U Division I Pop Warner national title in December, was honored on the court during a timeout in the second quarter.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr showed at halftime and was quickly surrounded by fans eager to get a picture taken with him, before he settled into a courtside seat. Kerr’s son, Nick, one of his three children, is an assistant for Santa Cruz.
THE SCORE
Vipers 127, Warriors 115
Up next: South Bay at Santa Cruz
When: Sunday, 6 p.m.
TV: NBA Sports Bay Area
NBA G League standings