Posts tagged ‘Hawks’

Webber’s knee ain’t happy. The big guy is going to be watching the rest of the road games on the tube like the rest of us - I can’t say I’m too broken up about this development. MTII covers the situation:

“The Warriors’ forward will stay in Atlanta to have his left knee checked out, skipping tonight’s game at Charlotte and the following games at Miami and Orlando. He wasn’t in attendance for the Warriors’ 135-118 win over the Hawks on Tuesday at Philips Arena.”

Don Nelson has been publicly stating that he thinks 50 is the magic number of wins needed to make it into the Western Conference playoffs. GL has a detailed breakdown of the Dubs’ remaining games and how that number might be achieved:

“We know that 50 wins is definitely what it’s going to take to get in, and we’re on pace,” forward Al Harrington said. “So we’ve just got to find a way to get it done.”

Nelson said Golden State’s remaining schedule is “as hard as anybody’s.” It features 14 road games and 10 at home, with seven instances of games on consecutive nights. In five of those situations — at Orlando, at Phoenix, at the Los Angeles Clippers, home versus Dallas and then in Dallas — the Warriors will be playing for the second day in a row while the opponent has had a chance to rest.”

Lastly, just for fun, here’s what it looks like on the other side of a Warriors blow out win. Sekou Smith provides us with a Hawks’ eye view on last night’s game:

“The Golden State Warriors lured the Hawks into deep waters in the first half Tuesday night, tricking the home team into thinking that they could keep up a blistering pace.

But in the second half, the NBA’s most explosive team feasted on the Hawks en route to a 135-118 victory, snapping the Hawks’ modest two-game winning streak at home with a mesmerizing offensive showcase that left even those who watched a bit tired from all the back and forth.”

Your Warriors got it cooking in Hotlanta, bagging another win and gorging themselves on points.

Box Score

The Dubs won another shootout in decisive fashion. The first half was a gluttonous offensive orgy with both teams shooting lights out and no trace of D on either end. Joe Johnson led the way for Atlanta, scoring 29 points in the half on 11-16 shooting and looked unstoppable going to the basket as well as from downtown. Baron was automatic, putting up 18 in the first quarter and 24 in the half. The Hawks were not shy about playing at the Warriors’ reckless pace and pushed the ball as well if not better than the Dubs, ending the second with a slight lead.

In the second half the Warriors turned up the heat and the Hawks wilted. After only turning the ball over 4 times in the first, Atlanta completely fell apart when the Dubs got up on them, coughing it up 14 times in the second half. Pile on absolutely merciless shooting from Captain Jack (22 points in the half/29 total), and Peety, as well as more excellent work from Monta (20 points, 7 boards total) and you’ve got a blow out win.

Things are clicking for the Warriors at just the right time. They seem to have been able to shed their lacadaisical attitude when playing lower level competition and the role players are chipping in big time. Peety looked fantastic again, hitting his threes and snatching 12 boards. There hasn’t been much work for CJ Watson, as Monta and Jack have been handling the point well when Nellie rests the Boss.

Tonight was the fourth win in a row for the suddenly dependable Dubs and they’re sneaking up on the Mavs for the 7th spot in the West. Let’s see if they can keep the energy high against J-Rich and the Cats tomorrow.

Brandan Wright’s ’send it in’ moment was the only highlight from what was an otherwise miserable night at the Oracle.

The Warriors once again looked flat in the 1st half, allowing Atlanta to get off to a 68-50 lead, which proved to be insurmountable.This pattern of lousy first half play is something both Nellie and Baron couldn’t explain after the game, but it’s clear that if the Warriors want to make the playoffs, they have figure out a way to just stay relatively competitive early on.

Their poor starts are hampering what has been a fantastic, exciting season.The Warriors expend far too much energy in their comebacks, and as we saw once again in this game, they couldn’t muster up enough of it to thwart the young, nimble and very underrated Hawks.

Baron was terrific, pouring in 35 points to go with seven assists, but he concedes he “didn’t think that we [GSW] came with a sense of urgency early.”

Monta scored 26 points and Wright’s eight points and eight boards opened up Nellie’s eyes, as you will hear in the postgame audio, but they are mere footnotes in what was a truly disappointing effort.

In addition to the lackluster start, the Dubs once again allowed an average NBA guard to get off. On this night, it was Salim Stoudamire’s turn to make the W’s perimeter defense look bad. Like Chris Duhon and Roger Mason Jr. before him, Stoudamire recorded a season-high 18 points and looked as if he was reliving his days as a stud guard at Arizona.

Joe Johnson is truly a beast. He ripped the Warriors for 27, 8 & 8, and was the point man in the low post that facilitated wide open shots from downtown for any Hawk so inclined.

I may be going over the deep end on this post, considering how thrilling the Warriors win versus Boston was, but if the boys don’t get it together during this very winnable stretch of games - Seattle is next - then it really would be difficult to expect them to sneak into the playoffs. Somehow, they’ll have to pull together while Webber continues to get into shape and Andris recovers from surgery.

If there’s any good news to report, I overheard Stephen Jackson in the tunnel say he will be back for the game Tuesday versus the Sonics. His emotion and firepower is just what the doctor ordered.

exclusive postgame audio

Don Nelson

Monta Ellis

Brendan Wright

Baron Davis