5 Takeaways from Golden State Warriors Winning in Houston

The Kraken Has Just Been Released

Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Haven’t had the chance to ask, but I’m pretty sure Festus Ezeli had surgery this offseason — and by that, I mean it seems he somehow found a doctor that was successfully able to surgically remove those stone hands of his that DubNation has shed far too many tears over for far too long. He held his own against Howard, finishing with nine points, seven boards, and two swats last night as he started in place of the injured Andrew Bogut.

My main takeaway from Ezeli’s game last night (and the night before) is his confidence level seems to be at an all time high. Whether that’s because he’s in a good place with his basketball development or because he’s eligible for a contract extension come next summer, it’s impossible to know, but he’s proved himself to be much more comfortable on the court than in recent years.

Many of us may remember the amount of times Curry had an awesome pass to Ezeli inside and he was unable to catch the ball because he just couldn’t catch the ball or wasn’t paying attention. We remember the missed dunks, the missed jump hooks, the missed opportunities for defensive rebounds and the ill advised passes. But this year, this appears to be a whole new Ezeli, and he’s ready to play like the NBA champion he is.

He’s not yet shown a reliable capability to pass the ball like Bogut is able to do, but if he can be the guy of the Warriors that defends at a high level and throws down whatever lobs come flying his away, he’d give the team an invaluable asset moving forward.

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