NBA Japan Games open pre-season slate for the 2022-23 season
The NBA’s Japan Games, featuring the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards, officially opened the pre-season slate for the 2022-23 season.
The 2022 NBA Japan Games are here and the first game between the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards is in the books. In other words, the NBA’s pre-season slate for the 2022-23 season is officially underway.
In the league’s first pre-season game, the Warriors outlasted the Wizards. Because it’s pre-season, the result doesn’t really matter all that much. Though, there were some interesting tidbits that took place in the first pre-season game between the Warriors and Wizards.
A couple of takeaways between the Warriors and Wizards
The Warriors won 96-87 in what was a rough game all around. In fact, at the end of the first quarter, the score was 16-12. It wasn’t the prettiest basketball but that’s often the case in pre-season. Players are still trying to play their way out of the offseason and a rusty start for any team is not exactly surprising.
Though, there was one player that looked really good in their first outing of the year – James Wiseman.
The Warriors’ big man was extremely impressive in his return to the floor (he missed all of last season recovering from injury). In 24 minutes played, Wiseman finished with 20 points and nine rebounds on 8-11 shooting from the field.
He looked great coming off a knee injury and like a player that was ready for a bigger role on the team. It’ll be interesting if he can continue to play this dominant throughout the pre-season but it was absolutely a great start for the young big.
For the Wizards, Rui Hachimura flashed a couple of times when on the floor and finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. If the Wizards are going to make a move up the Eastern Conference standings and possibly compete for a playoff spot, Hachimura will need to step up.
Washington’s first-round pick Johnny Davis played 22 minutes but went 0-5 from the floor. He did finish with four points, three assists, and three steals.
The NBA pre-season is officially here. That means the regular season is one step closer to beginning.
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The NBA Japan Games will conclude Sunday, October 2 when the Warriors and Wizards meet one more time before returning back home.