FanPost

The Effort Again was there for the Warriors, but execution on the Defensive end was lacking

Golden State Warriors roster

Coming into tonight's game the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas has been a house of horrors for the Golden State Warriors. In fact the Warriors have no won a game in San Antonio since 1997 a span of 22 games and tonight was no different.

Again the Warriors came out with an exceptional effort against the Spurs and stayed close until towards the end of the third quarter. The problem though for the Warriors was that Monta Ellis was the only Warriors who was able to score consistently against the Spurs.

In the first half alone Ellis had 28 points on 12-15 shooting. He finished the game with 42 points which tied his career high and on the night he went 16-25 from the field.

Other then Ellis there's really not much to say. Anthony Morrow was non existent throughout the game and committed a careless turnover that really cost the Warriors a chance to build the lead up from just one point, yet that was the key turning point in the game and really got the Spurs going.

Corey Maggette came off the bench for 14 points and Anthony Randolph chipped in 12. The only other Warriors in double figures was Stephen Curry.

Looking at the game though you can see why in the third quarter the Spurs were able to blow the game wide open. The Spurs increased the defensive pressure near the end of the third quarter as well and the Warriors were not able to break that pressure very well. Turnovers and questionable shot selection hurt as well during the Spurs run.

In the first half Ellis was the Warrior player who was able to create scoring opportunities, but in the second half Curry was used and he struggled tonight. In the third quarter he made some careless passes that lead to easy points for the Spurs.

In the fourth quarter the Spurs started pulling away from the Warriors, which was understandable considering the fact that the team played last night, but the Warriors team didn't give up and made a run to get the game back within 10, but the Spurs brought back in their starters to finish the 14 points victory tonight.

What really hurt the Warriors tonight throughout the game was the lack of defense. They did alright if the Spurs didn't pass the ball too much, but when the ball was moved by the Spurs it ended up in either free throws or an easy layup for the Spurs.

As I mentioned before Ellis was the only one who really scored for the Warriors. Well the Spurs had Tony Parker who was constantly getting by the defense of Curry, George Mason caught fire in the second quarter, and Tim Duncan had his way with Mikki Moore and Vladimir Radmanovich defending him.

While I didn't believe the Warriors were going to defeat the Spurs tonight, I thought the effort for the most part was outstanding. I've also seen some comments about the reason the Warriors lost tonight was that Maggette played.

Maggette was not the problem for the Warriors, the problems were turnovers specifically the ones that allowed for easy layups for the Spurs, taking questionable shots specifically Ramdanovich and Curry, and the lack of defense as a group.

What was most disappointing about the loss tonight though was the ineffectiveness of Anthony Morrow. He only took seven shots tonight, that's not acceptable. If Morrow wants to become a better scorer he really needs to work on his ball handling and being able to create a shot for himself.

I do agree with Morrow on the technical foul call he was definitely fouled on the play in question and why there was no whistle? Who knows!

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!