SANTA CRUZ — Jabari Brown, with his overwhelming self-confidence, believes every shot that he takes is going to go in.
So when he stepped to the free throw line with 3.5 seconds left after missing his first of two attempts, he had no doubt that the second would be true.
“I wasn’t worried,” Brown said. “I just knew I had to make the second one. You just clear your mind of it. Can’t carry it into the next one.”
Clear eyes, full heart, can’t miss. Or something like that.
Brown, who Santa Cruz Warriors head coach Casey Hill called the missing piece, poured in 36 points on 10 of 16 shooting and his final make from the charity stripe proved to be the difference in Wednesday night’s first round Game 1 win over the Oklahoma City Blue.
Oklahoma City’s Reggie Williams hit a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left, which drew “oohs” from the capacity crowd of 2,473, but all it did was make the 121-120 victory a little more nerve racking.
The Warriors, who had a 14 point lead midway through the fourth quarter, escaped by the slimmest of margins. But at this time of the season, where every playoff series is a best-of-three affair, they’ll take any win.
“I think every game is a must win at this point,” said Brown, who also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while making four of six shots from deep. “Especially when you have to go and win two in a row on any team. That’s hard.”
The Warriors, winners of their last seven, will head to the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City for Game 2 today. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tip. Game 3, if needed, is set for Monday at 5 p.m. in OKC.
Hill said his fourth-seeded Warriors have the advantage but that could change quickly if the top-seeded Blue steal Game 2 in Oklahoma City, where Santa Cruz has yet to win this season.
“We can’t let our guard down. We have to respect this team for what they are,” said the fourth-year head coach, who impressively guided the Warriors to the playoffs after a 2-7 start to the season — something only two other teams have done in the history of the league. “They’re one of the best defensive teams in the league. They execute at a high pace. We got a lot of help from our fans here. We’ve got to win one of two, that’s the focus right now.”
Santa Cruz looked to be heading to Oklahoma City with a blowout statement win up 106-92 with 7:35 left to play but Oklahoma City, which had beaten the Warriors four times during the regular season, was not ready to pack it up and head home for Game 2 just yet.
The Blue held the Warriors scoreless for a little less than three minutes and exploded for a 15-0 run, which was capped by a trio of 3-pointers.
Williams’ triple with 4:36 left gave Oklahoma City its first lead since the first quarter and silenced the crowd, forcing many of them to put their hands on their heads in confusion of how the lead had evaporated. The lead switched hands six more times before Brown found a cutting Chris Obekpa for a dunk at the 1:30-mark of the final stanza to give Santa Cruz a 114-113 advantage.
Obekpa split a pair from the charity stripe and Phil Pressey’s driving layup seconds later made it 117-113.
Brown, who is 10-0 with Santa Cruz since joining the team via trade last month, scored the Warriors’ final four points and they needed all of them to hang on.
“I think our fans had something to do with it too, maybe,” Hill said, when asked if Brown was the difference between the first four meetings with the Blue and Wednesday night’s game. “They avoided playing us in this arena the whole year. But, yeah, absolutely, he’s the missing piece.”
Brown’s big game helped carry the Warriors while a couple of their other heavy hitters struggled.
Golden State Warriors assignee Damian Jones was in foul trouble throughout the night, picking up his second foul of the game at the 7:56-mark of the first quarter, and played a little less than 18 minutes. Still, the 7-foot-tall center made an impact while on the floor, finishing with 14 points and six rebounds.
Jones was one of six players that scored in double figures for the Warriors, who stumbled out of the gates to open the game but took off on a 10-0 run toward the end of the first quarter to grab a 23-18 lead.
Jones returned in the second quarter and quickly made an impact on the game. He hit a turnaround jumper and then had an impressive full-court sequence in which he blocked a shot, hustled down the floor, grabbed an offensive board and laid it in to give Santa Cruz a 37-28 lead.
But Jones picked up his third foul just seconds later and sat for the rest of the frame.
Santa Cruz did well without its big man, however, as the 3-pointers finally started falling. Wood splashed home a pair of shots from beyond the arc and Southerland also sunk a triple to put the Warriors up 50-36 with 4:47 left before the half.
Everything was working for Santa Cruz over the final four minutes, as they cruised into the locker room up by 14.
The lead dipped to two points early in the third quarter but was back up to eight heading into the fourth.
Alex Hamilton finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Obekpa stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks. Wood and Southerland each added 11 points, while the latter also recorded eight rebounds and three assists.
