Posts tagged ‘hornets’

Opening night wasn’t supposed to be this close.

After all, without Baron, Monta, a banged-up C.J., an unhappy Al and the youngest squad in the league, the Warriors would be lucky to hang with the 2nd best team in the Western Conference by most accounts.

But close enough isn’t enough to get a win, and without a real closer in crunch time, this game could be an indicator of things to come.

There is a lot of fight in this year’s team. That’s one thing we uncovered in the Dubs 108-103 loss to New Orleans at the Oracle. Now if only they can get their offense in gear, they could surprise some people.

The Warriors were paced by Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette, both of whom will have to have big starts to this season if the Warriors are to going to stem the tide before Monta returns. Jack played all 48 minutes, but tired out in the 4th and ended up with 26 points, knocking down five treys.

Corey scored 27 and showed why the Dubs will have an inside game this year, getting to the line 10 times (knocking down 9 of them).

Unfortunately, the turning point of this closely contested game was when Andris fouled out with three minutes to play. ‘Dre played well, scoring 14 and grabbing 12 boards. But once he was gone, the Hornets kept scoring and outrebounding the Dubs down the stretch. Add a few critical Warriors miscues on their final possessions to the mix, and GSW is now 0-1. Chris Paul had a quiet 21 & 11, but made his presence felt when it counted, scoring twice with under a minute to play.

A hard fought game, but one that a more seasoned Warriors squad would’ve likely put away. Whether that seasoning take place during this season remains to be seen.

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Al Harrington
Corey Maggette
Kelenna Azubuike
Stephen Jackson

Warriors basketball at its best.

Box Score

It seems that the addition of Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and the return of Don Nelson has added an unseen element to the Warriors that too many lineups from the recent past have lacked — some freaking pride. Over and over again, this team bounces back from a disappointing loss with a gritty, all-out performance. For the most part Baron and the boys refuse to lose back-to-back games and this game was no exception.

This may have been the best win of the season to date. The Hornets were well rested, while the Warriors had participated in a bruising loss the night before. The Hornets were red hot and sitting on top of the Western Conference, while the Warriors were recently bounced down to ninth place. The Hornets had won nine straight in dominating fashion against some of the elite teams in the league, while the Warriors had been scrambling like crazy to beat teams like the Knicks and the Nets. All signs pointed towards a blowout loss for the Dubs, but the signs were pointing in the wrong direction.

Baron and Chris Paul pulled out all the stops and battled back and forth all game. Paul looked unstoppable in the first half. He was Nash-like in his control of the ball and was shooting lights out. Chris Paul is no longer on the rise, he’s here. Baron played his guts out after battling the flu and heavy minutes the night before. He responded to the ire of his old home crowd with multiple cold blooded 3-pointers, bowling ball drives and smooth step back jumpers.

Monta Ellis was an absolute highlight reel. His lightning fast drives, sky high rebounds and newly discovered passing prowess (including a no look, behind the head dish to Beans) had the hostile NO fans oohing and ahhing.

Al kept whatever shooting mojo he found late against the Rockets and hit one three after another early on.

Beans seems to be getting stronger and stronger on the boards and on D. After watching David West feast on Pietrus and Harrington all game, Nellie finally put the one big man he trusts in and Andris was able to (comparatively) shut him down in the fourth.

BWright got two minutes of playing time to end the first half and got himself a rebound, a tip-in and two made free throws.

Jack is back, big time. The man played a beautiful game. He did hard work on Tyson Chandler and anyone else he was stuck with on D and couldn’t miss, going 10-16 from the field and 3-6 from deep.

The list goes on and on, it was a magical night for the Warriors. I think the most impressive thing to take from this exhilarating game is the consistent effort. There were no lulls, no sustained offensive apathy or defensive disintegration. They kept their foot on the gas until the finish line.

There’s no way the Dubs can shoot this well every game, but they couldn’t have picked a better time to get unconscious.

Go Warriors.

JRich is coming home wearing some strange colors, Bobcats on Friday.