It was too much San Diego Clippers for the Santa Cruz Warriors on Sat Nov 14, 2026 at Kaiser Permanente Arena in downtown Santa Cruz on Sat Nov 14, 2026 (Santa Cruz Warriors image)

By Michael Roberson

SANTA CRUZ. Calif. — The Santa Cruz Warriors (1-2) had their Home Opening Weekend spoiled by the San Diego Clippers (4-1)  116-114, as they dropped both the Friday and Saturday Night games at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

The Southern California visitors started the game off with the fist two baskets of the contest, and managed to lead by as many as 13 points within the initial 12 minutes of play.

With the Clippers jumping all over them right away, the Warriors had to fight back and protect the KPA home court.  That advantage lasted until the end of the first quarter, and the mood of the raucous crowd was subdued.

After the first quadrant, the Clippers possessed the lone player to be in double-digit scoring.  DeAndre Williams came off the bench and provided 10 points for his squad.  No Warrior or anyone else was able to hit that mark.

In the second stanza, San Diego was able to increase their lead to as high as 16 points, which seemingly frustrated Santa Cruz.  It boiled over for the Warriors late in the second quarter.

Santa Cruz forward Dalen Terry committed a Flagrant 2 foul on Nick Martinelli, resulting in an immediate ejection.  A man down, the Warriors went into the half down by nine points, 59-50.  That was a result of the Warriors outscoring the Clippers by four points in the second quarter.

At recess, the Warriors still had no players in double-figures, while the Clippers had two.  The aforementioned DeAndre Williams had 15 points and Fletcher Loyer chipped in 12 points.

In the second half.the Warriors were able to cut into the deficit significantly.  In the third quarter, the Warriors forced the first tie (65) of the game at the 8:08 mark of the segment.  That was accomplished with the assistance of a 9-2 run.

However, the Clippers were still able to lead by six after 36 minutes of action, 84-78.  The crowd was engaged and it was a competitive game, as opposed to 24 hours

In the final stanza, San Diego opened up the lead again, only to have the Warriors make another valiant push.  The Warriors actually came all the way back to tie the game again, and eventually take their first lead of the game, 11-110, on the free throws of  Tyler Burton,

San Diego responded and took the lead back for good.  Although the Warriors had multiple chances to win the game on a three pointer, because of the Clippers inconvenient free throw misses.

On the final play of the game, an inbound play, with the Warriors trailing by two, ended on an intercepted pass, thwarting a dramatic three-basketpoint game-winning basket.  After 48 minutes of G-League action, the Clippers survived and escaped with a 2-point victory, 116-114.

Six Warriors eclipsed 10+ points,  Tyler Burton and Alex Toohey( 9 rebounds) both led with 21 points.  Jacksen Moni added 18 points and 8 rebounds, while Nick Boyd (15), Deivon Smith (12) and Miles Kelly (12) offered their contributions.

The Clippers presented five hoopers with the same criteria.  Nick Martinelli and Fletcher Loyer both tallied 23 points each.  Hunter Sallis scored 16 points, while both DeAndre Williams and Blake Wesley added 15 points apiece for the team.

The Warriors will next be in action Friday, November 20 in Portland, OR, as they take on the Rip City Remix 5 PM PT.  The Clippers head back to San Diego to host the Valley Suns on the same date at 7 PM PT on the NBA App.