How depressing... The stage was set. Tonight was the Golden State Warriors home opener of what has to be the most anticipated season since the follow up to We Believe, with 500+ GSoMers in the house ready to tear the roof off of the Oracle Arena and help push this team on to victory. It may have started off a little rocky, but the Dubs started to pick up some momentum with Bogut taking a couple charges and blocking a shot, Curry nailing a corner three, and some solid Ezeli D that led to a Landry bucket on the break.
Unfortunately just as Oracle was again becoming Roaracle Rush went up for a dunk on a fast break, got fouled by Zach Randolph, and came down really awkwardly on his left leg. He started grabbing his knee the instant he hit the court, and if it wasn't immediately clear that the injury was serious Rush's reaction made it clear.
Warning: Kinda gnarly...
The air was sucked out of the arena as Warriors fans quietly watched Rush quickly live through some of the stages of grief in the moments following the injury.
- Denial - Right after he went to the court he looked down and saw something was very wrong with his knee. It appeared that it was at least dislocated before he reached down and straightened his leg out. Despite seeing this himself and feeling what must have been some very serious pain, his first reaction was to try to get up on his own and walk it off.
- Anger - After his teammates helped him to his feet he started lashing out at them, grabbing Bogut's jersey and pushing away anyone who tried to help him.
- Depression - When he realized that he was unable to walk he wept as the trainers carried him off the court. It was hard to watch as a fan, and it looked incredibly painful for his teammates.
Honestly, there were some bright spots in this game but there will be a black cloud hanging over this team until we hear about the results for tomorrows MRI.
Living at the line
Aside from Rush's injury the story of the game was the physical play of the Griz and their game-long parade to the charity stripe. Just take a look at their FT's:
Conley 8-8
Gasol 7-8
Randolph 5-5
Gay 4-8
Overall Memphis had 34 attempts to Golden State's 17. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to lay this loss at the feet of the refs. It was the Grizzlies aggressive and physical style of play that dictated the game and helped them to get to the line while playing tough defense on the other end. When your team consistently gets out attempted at the line like the Warriors have in recent years you have to start looking at what you are doing wrong. At this point Landry is the only guy on the roster that can work himself to the line on a nightly basis. Tonight he 10-12 on his free throws and really helped to keep them in the game when the offense just wasn't coming.
(Um, I think we need a new logo for this...)
Honestly, Landry earned it in this game, but I'm going to give this one to Brandon Rush because I think he's the only thing that Warriors fans are thinking about tonight. Get well soon Brandon!!