It was a good loss in my opinion. Mark Jackson agrees as well. It was something to build on. Something to gain confidence. Two games without Monta Ellis and the Warriors look like a much better team than when they had him. The more I see the Warriors play, the more I like the trade. Yes, you traded of the team leading scorer. You traded a scorer. Someone who could put up points and put them up quick. Someone who could give the opposing team fits on the offensive end. You traded a face that the Warriors have known for the last seven years and was supposed to be the heir when Baron Davis left. But the Warriors only made it to the playoffs one time when Ellis was here. And guess what? Davis was here as well.
But you gave away a guy who doesn’t know when to pass and when to shoot. You traded away a guy who didn’t want to play any defense. You traded a guy who gambled on defense. A guy who was clearly undersized against other 2 guards.
So what you get in return?
Two guys who are already injured. Neither are expected to suit up anytime soon for the Warriors. And how did the Warriors respond? With two convincing days of great basketball.
Night one. The Warriors came out flying and never looked back. Any notion that the trade had disrupted the quality of basketball was soon thrown out the window. The Warriors flew into scoring mode. They beat the Sacramento Kings 115-89.
Night Two. The Warriors, not showing any signs of being tired, stuck with the Celtics all night. They were even in the contention of winning with about 5 seconds left to go in the game. Back and forth the game went. 13 lead changes. None of them came in the fourth, but the Warriors hung around. It was disappointing though because the Warriors had mulitple chances to take the lead and extend it. In the fourth quarter alone, they forced nine turnovers from the Celtics. But whenever they had the chance to take the lead, they couldn’t do it. A key turnover by Nate Robinson, in an otherwise great night for him (20 points, 11 assists, 4 steals) late in the fourth sealed the deal. And, making it worse, it came right out of a time out.
Klay Thompson had another fantastic night. The kid finished with 26 points in another long night for him (40 minutes). David Lee had another good night with 22 points and 8 boards. Dorell Wright ( who has been rumored that he is unhappy that he didn’t get traded with Ellis) had another decent night with 16 points and seven boards. Inserted into the starting lineup again, Beidrins didn’t get any points and only had three rebounds. Lucky for him, the one thing that I did see him do well is play Paul Pierce very good after a switch and forced Pierce to pass out to Kevin Garnett who hit the game winning jumper. You’d give that shot all day if you were the Warriors.
The Warriors were only one of five teams to score more than 100 on the Boston Celtics and dominated the paint, outscoring them 60-42. They also shot 50% from the field, which is rare since the Celtics lead the lead in FG% against at under 30-something %.
Robinson shot a three for the winner, but it fell short and to the side. When asked if Mark Jackson was going for the win or tie, he responded:
“Going for all the marbles,” coach Mark Jackson said. “I thought it’d be asking a heck of a lot to try to go into overtime with all the minutes that the guys have played. We were rolling the dice.”*
I don’t think the that was a bad idea. In fact, Robinson had a very good decent look at the basket. Shot just didn’t fall.
The Warriors look to rebound against their former teammates, Monta Ellis and Ekpe Udoh when they take on the Milkwuakee Bucks Friday night at the Oracle.
It’ll sure look weird with Monta wearing another jersey.
Will you boo or cheer him?
*Source: ESPN