Posts tagged ‘Mickael Pietrus’

The Warriors redeemed themselves in grand fashion to cap off their road trip.

After suffering a brutal loss at the hands of J-Rich and the Bobcats, GSW ended their roadie with back to back wins over flameless Heat and a solid Magic squad. The Warriors have won every road trip longer than three games this season, ending this trip 3-1, while keeping pace in the absurdly competitive Western Conference.

The Dubs’ defense, non-existent for stretches of the road trip, magically appeared in time to stifle Orlando’s stud center Dwight Howard. He torched the Warriors for 19 points in the first half, but Superman was “held” to 26 and 12.

Credit Nellie and the staff for sending double-teams to attack the big man in the second half before he got in too close for easy buckets.

Baron poured in his standard 33 and 9, MP nearly had a double-double again and Jack hit three treys, on the way to 20 points.

After a win like this, against a team that beat them on their home court, it’s hard to find much to complain about.  As you’ll hear in our latest effort, Adam Lauridsen of the San Jose Mercury News and I gush over the successful road trip, the stellar contribution from the bench and whether the Dubs are officially an elite squad.

Some interesting games against the Raptors and the Suns await.

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.

• Pietrus is telling everyone who will listen that he wants out - now. Geoff Lepper of the SJ Merc tells the world of Peety’s woes:

“I want to be moved,” said Pietrus, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season and has no plans of returning to Oakland. “I want to be traded.”

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Pietrus said he was frustrated at having to play out of position at power forward and even occasionally at center since Stephen Jackson took over as the starter at small forward in January 2007.

• The Warriors’ hype staff has a very active YouTube account. They added this Monta Ellis feature yesterday. Being interviewed by FSN Bay Area’s Matt Steinmetz, Monta answers questions about his ascension, his preseason injury and refers to himself in the third person like a real pro.

• Jerry Brown of Phoenix’s East Valley Tribune ponders on why the Warriors are a bad match up for the Suns tonight, as well as letting us know about Shaq’s status (no debut until Thursday):

“They are really the small-ball team in the league right now,” Nash said. “We’re not the same anymore, if we ever were. They’ve taken it to another extreme. If we were way liberal, they’re even more liberal. They’re getting red.”

• Speaking of Shaq, here’s a video of him and Bill Walton putting each other on blast about injuries, hypocrisy, and being “an insult to people who think” as found by Ball Don’t Lie/The Basketball Jones’ JE Skeets.

• Finally, in a mortal enemy may be getting stronger news, Marc Stein of ESPN reports that Jason Kidd is most likely headed to the Mavs:

“Although sources say that the teams are still sorting out final details, this deal was described as “imminent” by multiple sources close to the process after negotiations moved to an advanced stage Tuesday night. The deal — salvaged from talks on a three-way trade with Portland that developed and fizzled quickly two weeks ago — has Dallas sending 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the expiring contracts of center DeSagana Diopand swingman Devean George and guard Maurice Ager to New Jersey for Kidd and forward Malik Allen.

Sources say Dallas will also add the league-maximum $3 million in cash and send its first-round draft pick this June as well as a first-rounder in 2010.”