How LJ Cryer plans to step in for injured Brandon Williams off Warriors' bench

LJ Cryer How LJ Cryer plans to step in for injured Brandon Williams off Warriors' bench Golden State Warriors guard LJ Cryer will look to help fill the void left by Brandon Williams injury. By Dalton Johnson • Published 3 hours ago • Updated 3 hours ago HOUSTON – After sweeping a six-game homestand to extend their win streak to eight straight, the Warriors on Wednesday will begin a strenuous five-game road trip without one of their most important bench pieces. Watch NBC Bay Area News free wherever you are WATCH HERE Backup point guard Brandon Williams scored four points on three shot attempts in only one minute and 39 seconds during the first quarter of the Warriors’ 51-point blowout against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night. But he exited the game as quickly as his speedy first step because of feeling something wrong in his left hamstring. Luckily for him and the Warriors, the worst-case scenario was avoided. An MRI on Tuesday revealed Williams has a mild left hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated in one week. Williams is averaging 10.4 points in 16.1 minutes per game. He scored 14 points in his team debut and has reached double figures in five of the nine full games he has played. Without Williams, the Warriors will turn to another undersized point guard, LJ Cryer, who is in his second season on a two-way contract. But, the two are much different players. “A little bit of maybe less layups, more threes,” Cryer said Wednesday during Warriors shootaround at the Toyota Center ahead of their game against the Houston Rockets. “But at the end of the day, he puts the ball through the basket driving, and I put it through on the perimeter. So it's a different dynamic, but as long as the ball is going in, it's all good.” Golden State Warriors Warriors Analysis 6 hours ago Gritty, joyful identity Warriors creating has them built to last highs and lows Golden State Warriors 21 hours ago Draymond Green says potential Jordan Poole-Warriors reunion a ‘non-issue' Williams can put the ball on a string, blow by you and jelly a highlight reel layup in a flash. He’s shooting 50 percent at the rim this season (7 of 14) and 47.9 percent overall within 10 feet of the hoop (23 of 48). Listed kindly at 6-foot-1, his game is in the paint and not beyond the arc, where he’s shooting 30.4 percent (7 of 23), which is an improvement from his 23.2 3-point percentage last season with the Dallas Mavericks. The opposite can be said for Cryer, who is generously listed at 6-foot. Cryer has appeared in eight of the Warriors’ 11 games for a total of 50 minutes this season. The 25-year-old has taken 25 shots and 16 of them have been 3-pointers. He has taken just one shot at the rim, two within 10 feet and four inside of 16 feet from the basket. Despite their differences, Cryer says he has learned a lot watching Williams this season. He isn’t trying to be him, but he is trying to impact the second unit like Williams has now that he will be given a bigger opportunity. “He has a really good burst, and I feel like I have a good burst too,” Cryer said. “I may not be as fast as him, but it's just about using my speed as a more of an advantage to get to the paint a little more than I usually do.” In 20 minutes Monday night, Cryer scored 10 points off the bench in place of Williams, including two threes and two floaters to showcase his all-around game as a scoring spark plug. Starting the road trip in Houston will be special for Cryer, too. He starred at Morton Ranch High School 27 miles from the Rockets’ home court and finished his college career at the University of Houston his final two years, where he was a First Team All-Big-12 selection and Wooden All-American as a fifth-year senior. Cryer’s immediate family and a handful of close friends will be in attendance for Wednesday night’s game, and he plans to be the same player he always has been in front of them. Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast This article tagged under: LJ Cryer