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This Friday night the Warriors are at home to take on Kevin Durant and OKC Thunder at Oracle Arena in a showdown of Western Conference foes. With the Warriors recent struggles this will surely be a tough game, but with Stephen Curry now back in the lineup this might be a better game than people are expecting.

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Not a good start to a six game homestand. Two losses with four more games to go. And these were supposedly the easy teams. Well I suppose if you count as Sacramento as an easy win, I wouldn’t take it for granted. These losses could have been wins and the Warriors could be closer to .500. Good news is that Stephen Curry seems to have shaken off a lot of rust and came to play. He finished with 18 points while David Lee continues to provide mediocre production. He had another nice double double with 13 points and 10 boards but the Warriors clearly need more production from him. Monta Ellis again led the Warriors with 20 points while chipping in with other stats. The other two starters Dorell Wright and Andris Beidrins are doing what they do best which is nothing. Beidrins attempted no shots, no free throws, only grabbing two rebounds while having three fouls. When Dorell Wright can’t score, he can’t do much either. Sure he grab three rebounds but he also committed four turnovers and only had two assists. He also had four fouls. Beidrins and Wright are deadweights to this team. The Warriors need to find a way to dump these two players for either more cap space or better players. They aren’t even good role players. Role players have job and to say they defend well is an understatement. They also don’t rebound enough to make up for their lack of scoring. Basically, all they do is take up space and money. The Warriors need to get rid of them ASAP.

The Memphis Grizzlies needed a 39 point fourth quarter to win. They were down by 20 but never gave up. The Warriors couldn’t sustain the pressure and caved in. They shot well from the field and behind the arc. But once again, the lack of getting to the line proved costly. Again, they had only eight free throws compared to Memphis’ 23. In every statistical stat, minus the shooting percentage, the Warriors were out hustled, didn’t take care of the ball, and lost every hustle play out there.

With this loss, the Warriors are 0-6 against teams in the Western Conference. Next up for them is against Portland on Wednesday at home.

Nothing has changed. Monta Ellis continues to be the hot hand and the consistant for the Warriors. Literally taking his team on his back, Ellis led the storm back as the Warriors tried to knock off the hot Indiana Pacers. Too bad George Hill decided it was time for him to step up. All night, Ellis burned him. He played great defense, but Ellis had better offense. Basically, last possession for the game and Ellis makes one mistake. Hill took advantage and converted a three point play which sealed the game. Both teams played ok. There was a lot of lead changes (25) and head to head, the Warriors shot the ball pretty good. The most staggering stat is the difference between free throws. Just looking at the stats, it looked like the Warriors were on the road only shooting eight for the game, but made seven of them. The Pacers got to the line 21 times and made 16. That is pretty much the game right there. The difference of 13 free throws is huge. And it wasn’t like the Warriors weren’t being fouled, just weren’t getting the calls.

Ellis continues his leadership by pouring in 25 points and dishing out six assists. Dorell Wright (yes the same one I’ve been angry at for his lack of scoring) came alive with 18 points, connecting on four threes, but again it seems like there is a lack of effort in his part as his other stats have big donut holes. David Lee looks to get going another double double streak with 10 points and 15 rebounds. While those are decent numbers, Lee needs to score more to help balance the offense. Stephen Curry in his first game back had a so-so game. He scored 12 points, but need 15 shots from the outside and only hit two threes. He also had three assists and three turnovers, so basically they cancel each other. Rust was apparent, but hopefully with one game under his belt, he’ll get into basketball shape.

The Warriors are at home against the Memphis Grizzles tonight.

Another night game, another loss. After coming off a two game road win streak, the Warriors were bounced from their winning ways and sent packing with a loss. Statistically, the Warriors were pretty much even with the Nets. I mean come on, the NETS!!! They are offensively talented right now and I don’t think that they are very good on defense. The one big area that the Warriors had problems on was boxing and rebounding. The Nets out rebounded the Warriors 45-25 with the Warriors giving up 16 offensive boards. That with the combination of shooting only 67% from the charity strip, it almosts guarantees a loss.

Again, Ellis had a great night. He dropped 30 points, 6 steals and 5 assists. David Lee had a quiet night with only 12 points and 10 boards, even though he had another double double. Dorell Wright is starting to come alive on the offensive end, contributing 17 points but not much else. Off the bench, it has been a roller coaster ride with Klay Thompson as he tries to find some consistency in his game. In 23 minutes, he scored 12 points and was playing in tight situations.

Something needs to get done about Andris Beidrins. The guy may have bulked up, but the guys is awful. Can the Warriors look for a place to dump him? Even if the Warriors don’t get much back (aka just salary cap space), it would be best to get rid of him. In 23 minutes he only scored six points and grabbed three boards. This is what you are getting from your STARTING center. I understand the guy is no Dwight Howard, but seriously, these numbers are pathetic. Looking around the league, there are other guys in different positions that are rebounding better than he is. In a quick look around the league, Beidrins is ranked behind fellow teammate Kwame Brown (25), who is out with an injury, at number 27 (ranking Centers only). The other 26 guys ahead of him aren’t necessrary younger, but they are hungrier. And it is apparent. I wrote a column about how it would be nice to have Samuel Dalembert. Like Beidrins, he is offensively challenged by has a much better defensive presence than Beidrins. He is ranked at 18 and averages about 7+ rebounds per game. He is more than double on O boards compared to Beidrins. And overall, I think he is more athletic than Beidrins, which is a plus for this team.

But one can only dream. The Warriors head home for six games ( or seven if you want to include Sacramento as a home game since it is literally two hours away) starting with the Indiana Pacers this Friday.

@ Charlotte (L) 112-100
@ Detroit (w) 99-91

First two games of a four game road trip is done. The record. A do-able 1-1. A convincing win against the Pistons and a poor showing against the Bobcats. With a team that is somewhat reliant on the 3pt game, it is difficult to win when you shoot 20 threes and only make five, while the other team shoots 13 and makes seven. Statistically, the Warriors dominated almost every category including 25 fast break points and eight steals. But they gave up 38 points in the first quarter and did not take advantage of the height differential. David Lee continues his impressive complimentary role, scoring 24 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Monta Ellis only had 18 points on a dismal 6-26 from the field and 1-4 behind the arc. He also did dish out 6 assists. It seems that Dorell Wright finally has the lightbulb fixed and contributed with 12 points but not much else. Again, Nate Robinson continues to carry the offensive load from the bench, this time scoring 12 points.
The Warriors did not look like they were ready for the game and it showed as the first quarter was dominated by the Bobcats. The lead ballooned up to 22 points but the Warriors chipped at the lead and fought their way back to a six point deficit. But lack of focus and determination by the Bobcats, they managed to erase the comeback effort and grew the lead back up to 10, sealing the deal.

The second game of the back to back was a trip to Detroit. Like the Warriors, the Pistons have been floundering and only managed to snap their six game losing streak to the Bobcats, who just defeated the Warriors the night earlier. With a chip on their shoulder, the Warriors looked in control both sides of the court. Again, David Lee led the charge. His streak of doubles doubles was halted at six games. But he dominated inside the paint, scoring 17 of his 24 points in the first half, while collected six rebounds. And when they needed some scoring punch in the second half, Monta Ellis awoke from his slumber and shouldered the responsibility. Ellis finished the night with 22 points and seven assists. Dorell Wright continues to fill his complimentary role rather well scoring 11 points and collecting 11 boards. From the bench, Brandon Rush, Nate Robinson and Ekpe Udoh gave contributing efforts with 12, 10, 10 points respectively. Shooting 50% from the field certainly helped for the cause as the Warriors only shot 20% from behind the arc. But their defense showed up, virtually outscoring the Pistons in nearly every quarter but the second.

There is a rumor that Stephen Curry may be back on Tuesday. But I wouldn’t read into too much as it is a rumor. Also, it won’t help that fact that last time Curry had this much rest, he just sprained it again, twice. It will take more than rest to help him get back on his feet and be comfortable on how he moves again.

The Warriors conclude this road trip with a stop in Cleveland and New Jersey before coming home.

Magic (117) – Warriors (109)

Dwight Howard broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record of free throws in a game without actually trying. The “hack-a-Shaq” routine became common throughout the league, once it was widely known that Shaq couldn’t be relied on in the end to make free throws to seal the deal. Howard, similarly has this same reputation. Though he connected on 21 of 39 free throws, his free throws are usually up and down depending on the game. Lucky for the Magic, he was on last night. As for the night, Howard finished the night with 45 points and 23 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu was only a side show, as he contributed with 20 points and nine assists.

Mark Jackson used an interesting technique that has yet to be seen this season. Although, Jackson is a little short handed of late. Starters Stephen Curry, who missed his fourth straight game, and Dorell Wright, who has some type of injury to the knee, both were unavailable. Kwame Brown, is also out for at least three months with a torn pectoral muscle.
Warrior starters Monta Ellis and David Lee both gave double double efforts. Ellis finished with 30 points and 11 assists and Lee added 26 points and 12 boards. Coming off the bench, Nate Robinson and Klay Thompson each flushed 14 points.

But it wasn’t enough to stop Howard. He still managed 24 points without the foul shot and the game got boring for both fans and the players (minus Howard, who was shooting up a storm).

“I can understand people thinking, `Why?’ But don’t get caught up in the free throws,” Jackson said. “Think about when we didn’t foul him. It was dunks, hooks, at the rim. He’s a great player. And he’s a bad free throw shooter. Giving ourselves the best chance possible, we tried to mess up their rhythm, take their 3-point shooters out of it, which we did. They made plays.”

In a sense the Warriors just did that. Overall as a team, the Warriors outshot the Magic by 14 shots and shot over 50% from the field. They were even in the three point department, essentially eliminating that stat. They also have the same amount of assists, but the Warriors had 11 less fast break points. Going against a notoriously known shot blocker, the best way to score is on fast break, not giving the Magic a chance to set up their defense. Which is what the Magic was able to do with all the free throws. Color commentator, Steve Kerr, noted that while it the “hack-a-Shaq” technique might give the Warriors a better chance to win, it also eliminates their fast break since the Warriors would be unable to get going after the free throws. But it was a decent idea, since Howard dominated any defender that was in sight (did you see Ekpe Udoh get bounced?!?!)

For the Warriors, it is a quick turn around as they are flying to Charlotte for the first set of back to back nights. It will be good to get the road trip off to a good start by beating the Bobcats.

* Source: ESPN

Well, limited big men just got more limited. Kwame Brown was diagnosed with a torn pectoralis major, the chest muscle that attaches to the right shoulder. He had hurt it in the fourth quarter during the outstanding win against the Miami Heat. His surgery should be soon and he’ll be out for three months. With a shorten season, this could hurt the Warriors a big time. Andris Beidrins was already out, but his return now maybe rushed with the lack of big men.

Brown was the best interior defense and provided the Warriors with a defensive presence that was needed. His patrolling around the rim will be missed greatly.

Wow. By far, last night’s game was pretty good. I mean real good. The crowd was great. People started standing with five minutes left in the fourth quarter and never sat down again. It was a good 45 minutes of standing, cheering, jeering and screaming. The Miami Heat have sustain as one of the most hated teams in the NBA and anytime anyone beats them (as the Warriors cane back from 17 points down to overtake them in OT with an impressive, 111-106 win) the feeling is great! It’s a marquee game, even if its against a lesser opponent. And let’s be real here, the Warriors are not in the same class as the Heat. But they sure showed what everybody knows. You can buy talent, but you can’t buy chemistry and you can’t buy any heart.

It looked like a typical Warrior game in fashion. The played well through the first two quarters, but when half time ended and the third quarter began, the Heat began to pull away with authority. A few impressive (but equally irritating on how 2.5 superstars can even fathom to play on one team cause they can’t handle the pressure themselves) scores by the Big Three and the Heat had the Warriors back on their heels, leading 76-61. It seemed like an early night for the Heat and another dreadful loss for the Warriors. But new Warrior, Nate Robinson, provided the energy that was needed for a comeback. The Warriors cut it to six several times before Robinson hit one of his two threes to cut the lead to three. Then after a (controversial, it could have been a foul if it was Dwight Howard) no call led to Robinson beating LeBron to the basket for a lay-up. The Heat called a time out and Udonis Haslem was still heated on the no call and ran his mouth. His foul leaking mouth led to a technical which Robinson calmly sank. New ballgame, game tied, down to the last minute or so.
The Heat draw up a play but great defense on Dwayne Wade and Monta Ellis grabs the rebound before getting fouled by Wade. With a foul to give, the Warriors take the ball up court and Brandon Rush drives to the middle, leaves his feet before throwing an errant (and stupid) pass that Shane Battier intercepts. Robinson races down the court and fouls LeBron, which stops the clock and I personally think is a good foul. In the past, if LeBron had any real weaknesses to exploit, it was his foul shooting, despite him shooting at about 80% this year. And a good foul it was, because LBJ clanked the second free throw and the Heat were only up by one.
But again, a hurridly pass by Monta to David Lee is another turnover and the Heat now have the ball back. They rush down the court and Wade is fouled. Unlike LBJ, Wade sinks both. Warriors move the ball up the court and with the shot clock winding down and no one else willingly to take the shot, Robinson shoots one. Unfortunately, he misses, but hustle and determination led Dorell Wright to grab the offensive board. The Warriors move the ball around a few and as most of the Heat are focused on Monta, he swings it to Wright, who has Battier rushing at him full speed, who steps in and knocks down one of his six threes for the night. Tie game, new ball game again!

Miami goes down and draws up a play, but great defense on Dwayne Wade again and his misses his jumper. The Warriors grab the defensive board and calls a time-out. I’m not sure what the play was drawn up but the execution was horrible. The Warriors didn’t get a shot up as Monta waited too long to make his move and Wright just stood in the corner so that his man (LBJ), could go and double Ellis. But overtime is a new ball game.

It’s pretty much a one point game in OT, with each team leading every 30 seconds or so. But then Wright hits his final three pointer of the game putting the Warriors up by one. The very next play, the Warriors put on a great defensive stop and Nate Robinson steals a bad pass from LBJ while Wright leaks out for the dunk. With the Warriors up by three, the Heat had great chances to cut the lead to one or tie the game. Both of their game changer (Wade and LBJ) both miss shots and they were forced to foul Robinson. He sinks both. The Heat call a time out and everyone knows that a three is going to launched. Somehow during the play, David Lee is switched onto LBJ. LBJ, knowing he’ll have to shoot a three, doesn’t do much and throws up a brick. Warriors grab the rebound and the come-back is complete. 17 points down against the best NBA team out there, the Warriors show grit and determination.

As I was complaining in earlier posts, the Warriors needed other people besides Monta to step up and contribute. Last night was a great indication they heard me (yeah right!). Four Warriors finished with double digit points while the bench provided a great lift. Monta finished with 22 points, three steals and three assists. But he also had nine turnovers. Not his best stat game, but he was a presence out there and he made the Heat think twice before manning him up. David Lee had a solid double-double and finished with 20 ponts and 14 rebounds. Eight of those rebounds were on the O-boards as he kept the ball alive enough so the Warriors could have another chance to score. Finally, after all those post of complaining about Wright, he finally woke up. It was fitting that it was against the team that drafted him and let him go to make room for LBJ and Chris Bosh. He lit up the score sheet with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Finally productive and confident, Wright knocked down six threes, which was four more than the Heat knocked down as a team. And as for the bench, Robinson showed how valuable he still can be if in the right situation. He was the leading scorer for the Warriors as he provided the spark off the bench and finished with 24 points, five assists and four steals. He was 14-14 on the free throw line.

Both teams had a pretty awful shooting night. In the fourth quarter alone, Miami had 12% shooting percentage while only scoring 12 points. They shot only 18& from the three while the Warriors shot 33%, connecting on nine while the Heat only managed two for the entire game. The difference was the free throw percentages. While the Heat shot 10 times more free throws and both teams made the same amount (26) the Warriors only missed four giving them a 86% while the Heat struggled at 65%. I always believe in tight games, free throws are where you win and lose points, which equals, where you win and lose games. In the other categories, the Warriors were pretty much even with the Heat, even beating them out in the assists category (23-16). The only real difference is in the fast break points where Miami out ran the slow footed Warriors (looking at you Lee!) and killed the Warriors 30-14. But it wasn’t enough to overcome their scoring drought in the fourth the infectious confidence that Robinson brought all night.

The Warriors played without Stephen Curry (third game in a row) and are limited in the Big Men as Andris Beidrins is out and it looked like Kwame Brown injured his right shoulder last night on a hard foul. While the Warriors are sitting with a 3-6 record, their three wins are impressive. They’ve beat three playoff contending teams (Heat, Chicago Bulls and NY Knicks) but sustained losses to mediocre teams that they can beat. If they can find a way to channel that energy and confidence from last night’s game moving forward, they will have a great chance to be a surprise team of the West. They play against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday before embarking on a four game East Coast trip that sees two back to backs. It will be a good momentum builder to get a win on Wednesday before heading out.

Back to back games are going to be rough, even if you’re a young team. But the Warriors did come out and play. Coming in from LA the night of/morning of, the Warriors were bound to be tired. And if they were, they didn’t show it. The game was a great defensive battle until the fourth, when the offense decided to catch up with the D. Statistically, the Warriors did ok. They shot 41% from the field, hit 36% from the three while hitting 92% (22 of 24) of their free throws. But, they did lose the battle of the boards and gave up five extra offensive boards to the Jazz. The nearly doubled the Jazz’s turnovers (17-9) and had six less assists and steals than the Jazz.

Monta Ellis again led the Curry-less team with 32 points, three rebounds and six assists. David Lee had a monster game on the boards, collect 15 while scoring 13 points. Kwame Brown did a better job than last, grabbing seven boards but only managed eight points. I’m really giving up on Dorell Wright because he averages about 20 minutes again and sometimes he can contribute and sometimes he can’t. Against the Jazz, he scored only three points while only grabbing two boards. Nate Robinson and Brandon Rush, both off the bench, gave 11 and 14 points respectively. Both Rush and Robinson had more boards than Wright. GS wonder rookie had a bad night, shooting 1-6 and only finished with two points.

Next up for the Warriors is Tuesday night where LBJ and the Heat come visit for their only appearance in the Bay Area.

The two losses from this weekend put the Warriors far from .500. In fact, the Warriors have won about 33% of their games. Eight games, six losses, two wins, hardly a turnaround from past ghosts. Up in Sacramento, former Warrior coach, Keith Smart, seems to have found a way to connect with DeMarcus Cousins and but are in no better shape than the Warriors. Is the California coast a curse to the NBA. Only the Lakers have reigned supreme, but their other fellow CA teams have often disappointed.

Speaking of the Lakers, one of the losses from this weekend were at the gracious hands of the Lakers, 97-90. Coming off a beat down by the Portland Trailblazers, you knew the Lakers looked to bounce back and unfortunately it was against the Warriors. ESPN’s article on the game focused on how tired the Lakers were and how injury depleted the Warriors are. And the Warriors are very depleted, especially the scoring front.

No matter how small or lack of size Stephen Curry is, the presence of him out there does cause a concern for opponents. You leave him open, I’m betting he’ll hit a couple wide open threes for you to watch. Try to double on the pick and roll, he’ll hit the big man, and if anything, his ability to take someone to the rim will cause other defenders some hesitation in whether to help or stay with their own man. Because Curry can hit the three (and beyond, this year in five games he’s at 41%) so well, that it will give room for Monta Ellis to operate and score.

And it was Ellis who took the burden of lack scoring on his shoulders. Monta was phenomenal against the Lakers. With little help from his fellow teammates, he basically took on the whole Laker team. And he wasn’t even getting any foul calls. The tv commentator said it best, whenever someone looks at Kobe wrong a whistle is blown and a foul is given. But when Monta drives to the basket, gets knocked down, the refs swallow their whistle and the action heads the other way. I can’t even blame Monta for getting a “T.” The calls and the blown calls were a little ridiculous.

The Warriors were called for ten more fouls (28/18) than the Lakers, resulting in more free throws for them (29-19). Both teams were atrocious from the line as the Warriors only sank 52% of their FREE throws. Those nine misses could have won the game.

Ellis finished the game with 18 points, 10 assists, three rebounds and five steals. David Lee contributed with 15 points and 11 rebounds but also had seven turnovers. As a team, the Warriors had 20 turnovers, only one more than the Lakers, so they relatively took care of the ball well. Kwame Brown, who was inserted into the starting line-up, did well on the offensive end scoring 13 points but only grabbed three rebounds. A big guy like him will have to own the boards a lot more, especially the defensive end. The Lakers grabbed 15 o-boards. Finally, Dorell Wright wants to contribute to this Warrior team. He finished with 10 points, but that is basically it. He grabbed three boards but so did two Warrior bench players who played 1o less minutes then him. He’ll need to step it up soon or Klay Thompson is about to grab his starting spot.

Thompson has been a nice surprise to a weak bench. The addition of Nate Robinson was to add a little sugar to Thompson’s punch (although it was more cause Curry has been injured like no other this season). In both losses to San Antonio and the Lakers, he’s shown he can score, no matter the situation. He posted another double digit effort in contributing with 14 points and hitting two threes.