With no hoops on the calendar, Warriors Wire is rewinding the tape back through Golden State’s history for memorable matchups, standout performances and everything else in between.
An early November tilt against the Portland Trail Blazers saw the arrival of a breakthrough rookie for the Golden State Warriors in 2019. Along with an intriguing rookie setting a new career-high in scoring, the win over Portland served as a historic moment for Golden State’s new San Francisco home.
November 4, 2019
When the Golden State Warriors initially rolled plans out for their new San Francisco Chase Center, it was easy to assume Steph Curry or Klay Thompson would likely be the players to lead the team to the first victory in their new arena. However, injuries eliminated that possibility.
Instead, Steve Kerr gave the keys to a rookie in Golden State’s first victory at Chase Center.
In the seventh game of the 2019-20 season, second-round pick Eric Paschall exploded against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Villanova product tallied 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field. Paschall knocked down four 3-pointers in his new NBA career-high.
The rookie added 13 rebounds and a block against the Trail Blazers. Paschall’s effort was good enough to lead the Warriors past Damian Lillard’s 39 points for the Blazers.
Paschall wasn’t the only member of Golden State’s rookie class to turn in a solid performance against Portland. Both Ky Bowman (19) and Jordan Poole (16) notched double-figures in the scoring category.
With their rookies leading the way, Golden State was able to enter the win column for the first time at San Francisco’s Chase Center, 127-118.
Paschall’s play against the Blazers helped set the tone for an impressive debut season in the Bay Area. On top of earning votes for the Rookie of the Year, the 23-year-old forward was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team.
Paschall finished his first season averaging 14.0 points on 49.7% shooting from the field with 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.
Watch highlights from Paschall’s career-night via YouTube:
