The Aaron Miles era got off to a dominant start.
Quinn Cook poured in 30 points, grabbed five rebounds and made five assists and six other Warriors scored at least 15 points in Santa Cruz’s 131-98 season-opening victory over the Agua Caliente Clippers at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif. on Friday night.
Georges Niang added 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Center Damian Jones, currently on assignment from Golden State, scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots in 24 minutes of action for Santa Cruz (1-0), which welcomed in its new head coach with a victory.
Playing against their former head coach Casey Hill, the Warriors raced to a 17-point lead midway through the first quarter, only for the Clippers (0-1) to go on a 13-1 run. Santa Cruz then scored 37 points in the second quarter, led by Cook’s 10 and Niang’s 11, to make the halftime score 64-48.
They never looked back.
Tyrone Wallace scored 13 points and Keith Steffeck added 12 off the bench for the Agua Caliente Clippers, who hosted their first game in franchise history.
Clippers rookie center Brice Johnson collected 10 rebounds and notched 10 points, including the first bucket in team history to give the Clippers their first and only lead of the night.
The Warriors travel back to Santa Cruz for their home opener on Saturday at Kaiser Permanente Arena against the South Bay Lakers at 7 p.m.
