Last Night:

Finally the sleeping giant woke up. I was waiting to see when Boozer might actually try to pound it down in the paint but he’s been absent the first two games of the Lakers – Jazz series. But last night (the only game of the night) the Jazz beat the Lakers 104 to 99 in Utah. Boozer came up big with 27 points and 20 rebounds and Deron Williams finally had a nice game with 18 points and 12 assists. You can tell the home court was very much needed for Utah’s confidence. Let’s hope they can make this a series now.


Hit the jump for tonight's matchups.

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Lebron Finishes it, Tmac does all he could, and the Hawks, are you kidding me?

 

Last Night:

Why some idiot would call Lebron overrated is beyond me? 3 straight years of getting booted out of the first round by Lebron should tell you something! Lebron had his 3^rd playoff triple double with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists to lead the Cavs past the Wizards and close out the series 4 to 2.

Are the Hawks last year’s Warriors? They are an 8^th seed taking the best team in the league to game 7 when they beat the Celtics again at home 103 - 100. Who on earth saw this coming? Holding the Celtics to only 18 points in the 4^th, the Hawks now have a chance to make history when they play game 7 in Boston on Sunday.

I honestly feel sorry for Tmac. Here’s a guy who takes so much punishment from the media for not making it past the 1^st round of the playoffs, and it happened again. Scoring 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists wasn’t enough to propel them past the Jazz and they lost 91-113. He didn’t have Yao, and unfortunately he didn’t have their MVP player in Rafer Alston when he got injured in the first half of the game last night. The Jazz close out this series and head on to LA to play Kobe in the next round.

Hit the jump for tonight's matchups.

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How did the Hawks pull off a win? Are the Raptors and Sam Mitchell just about done? With THAT much talent and (perceived) swag (on paper), how is George Karl (or his players) not making this even competitive? Is Tracy McGrady forever playoff jinxed for ditching Vince Carter in what might have been for him in Orlando if Grant Hill hadn't gone down with those catastrophic ankle injuries? Despite all the fire and star power on the bestcoast, I mean westcoast, it seems like we're seeing the same teams dominating night in, night out. Will this be re-runs of last season? We'll see...

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Rockets are going to need all the chemistry they can get tonight!

Last Night:

I know my eye sight is getting worse over the years, but are the 76ers really leading the series against the Pistons 2 to 1? Did they really beat them by 20 points last night? I guess so. I was watching the game and I have to tell you I was impressed. Yea the Pistons played with no heart, over confident, and poorly. But being a genuine Pistons hater, I’ll take it.

On the other end, Dallas came around and finally beat the Hornets on their own court. Trailing the series by one game, the Mavs are still going to have to win their next game to stay alive. The Hornets pummeled the Mavs in New Orleans for the first two games so it was nice to see the Mavs make some kind of effort.

And finally, the last game of Friday night had the most exciting series turn into a bust. The Spurs beat the Suns in Phoenix by 16 points. This looks to be a sweep. I have to say, the Spurs are incredible. After watching this series so far, I’m really going to have to rethink who I have going to the finals!

Hit the jump for tonight's matchups.

 

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He scored more than 1 point in the 4th! Hurray!

 

I wouldn't say TMac "took over" in the 4th yesterday but he did have one nice little burst of good play as he hit 2 jumpers, 3 free throws, had a key block and rebound. Outside of that 3 minute span it was the same 'ol do nothing Tmac. Here's the thing. As he was struggling to get a good shot off in the 4th, I was wondering why they don't run him off a bunch of screens and then pass him the ball. Make AK-47 fight through screens to guard him rather than on just a pass. Then what do the Rockets do? They run him off a bunch of screens and he goes for that little spurt. Then what do the Rockets do with under a minute to go? They stop running him off screens prior to getting the ball and he doesn't score again. Note to Adelman, make AK-47 work on defense before and during the time TMac has the ball.

I could write about the other 2 games, but I really don't care about those 2 blowouts.

Hit the jump for my hero and tonight's matchups.

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Whatever you do, don't play horse against this guy. In fact, some playoff team should bring this guy out during halftime for entertainment.

 

So far these playoffs have been very entertaining. That Spurs-Suns series is just a ton of fun to watch. Watching Chris Paul absolutely dominate Jason Kidd and the Mavs has been one of the many highlights. And lastly, the t-shirt giveaway in Orlando yesterday with one half of the arena in blue and the other in white, was one of the more creative things done by an NBA franchise for its fans.

Hit the jump for the matchups.

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Good god I hope we aren't holding this sign in 2020.

Warriors (W-L): Lottery Bound
SuperSonics (W-L): Lottery + Oklahoma Bound?
Time: 7:30pm PST
TV: None
Radio: KNBR 680

It's funny how things work out. This game marks the 3rd final regular season game of a Warriors season that we've covered on GSoM. After one of the most frustrating Warriors seasons 2 years back my main man Fantasy Junkie had the "honors". He called it a nightmare. I'd have to agree. I was in full out "93 til Infinity" mode back then and the only thing we had going for us was the legendary Yi Movement. (If you got those references you're just "Unstoppable Baby!")

As you all hopefully remember I had the honors for the very last game of the 2006-2007. It was just special. 1 Dub. 1 Luv. To tell you truth I really couldn't believe what I was typing that night. The Warriors were going to the playoffs?!

But this final regular season game of the 2007-2008 Golden State Warriors season? Well, we're back to the "honors" with the quotes.

 

I'm hoping the Roaracle will be packed and bumping just like the good old days. I'm talking pre-gentrification of the Warriors fan base. Even though I'll be rolling with FJ to the game in the luxurious GSoM season tickets (thanks again to all the long timers for helping us finally reach our goal this season) I'm thinking about going back to my roots for this one. Maybe for old time's sake I'll hustle the ticket scalpers on the BART skybridge for some discounted Warriors tickets that only the craziest of Bay Area hoops junkies would want. I'm talking about the good old days when the Warriors sales department and the poor souls trying to scalp tickets on the skybridge couldn't pay people to go watch the team play. I'm thinking I can even get some 2 for 1's. Just like the drought baby.

It's odd, but part of me really misses that feeling where everyone in the world thinks I'm crazy for scraping up some change to go watch the Warriors ("Who?") or blogging about them ("Are you NUTS?"). We Believe things have really changed, but is former Warrior Gilbert Arenas going to call me tonight and ask "But you're not a fool are you?"

 

As for the actual game against the SEATTLE SuperSonics (S.O.S.), well it's completely meaningless. Monta Ellis could go 1 for 20 and it means nothing. Marco Belinelli could duplicate his fool's gold summer league game and go off for 37 points again. It still means nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Anyhow thanks to that worldly flex schedule, ESPN has dropped this game from their NBA Wednesday coverage. The game won't be televised, so if you want to see it you're going to have to fight your way through some rush hour 880 traffic or push your way through some packed BART trains alongside some stompin' A's fans. See Traffic Alert: Wednesday, April 16- Warriors vs Sonics [Warriors.com]

Still here's 3 reasons to roll to the Roaracle or listen to game on the radio:

1. Gone till November like Wycleff. Can you believe the next time we'll see or hear a Warriors game that counts in the standings it'll be November 2008? That's days- months actually. Enjoy the Dubness for one last night.
2. If you're in attendance you can... Holla at yo folks! Fantasy Junkie (Justin) and I (Shailo) will be in Section 109 row 27. We ran out of GSoM goodie bags to hand out at our last party, but come by and we'll shake your hand with our foam fingers. Just look for the super good looking version of Harold and Kumar. 
   
3. It's GSoMers Appreciation Night! Last year I asked everyone to drop a quick line in the guestbook (the comments section) to record the fact that they were part of history. Well this time it's a different type of history. Make sure to drop a line even if it's a quick "Unstoppable Baby!"

Prediction:  We celebrate GSoMers Appreciation Night with a whopping and never seen before ONE THOUSAND COMMENTS in this open thread!

[smwong photography]

ONE. THOUSAND.

Originally posted by YaoButtaMing: I had to hijack the Open Thread from YBM while working out the nuances of the system. His preview is below.

 

Warriors (W-L): 48-32
Suns (W-L): 53-27
Time: 07:00pm PST
TV: CSN Bay Area Plus
Radio: KNBR 1050

Hey Baron … if you guys need motivation for tonight!

Tonight will determine if we will have one last shot at this or if we will have the next 7 months to argue who was more deserving to get into the playoffs. From my standpoint if we really wanted it we should have beaten Denver in our own house last week. I don’t care if Houston lost it for us last night; we are the only ones to blame for our own destiny.

But before I weep in the dark corner of self pity, what do we have here? A shadow of a hope? A chance for history to repeat itself? Weren’t we in the EXACT same position last year when it went down to the very last game of the season? When the Clippers lost an easy one, sending us to the joyride of the playoffs? Coincidence, conspiracy theory, the same ol’warriors trying to make us fans sweat?

Well before I get into the hyperbole of what’s at stake … we have to first beat one of the best teams in the league … the Phoenix Suns in their own house.
Can we do it?

I always say … if there’s a will there’s a way! And we have a way. Do we have the will?

Tonight we have one of our toughest challenges. Denver beat Houston and is half a game ahead of us. So technically speaking the only way for us to make the playoffs is if we beat the Suns tonight and the Sonics on Wednesday, and if Denver loses to the easiest team in the league … the Grizzlies.

This is all shaping up to be yet another excruciatingly exciting game with two of the top offenses battling it out. With Shaq’s presence now making Stoudemire a likely MVP candidate for next year, they will be difficult to stop. Throw in a little Steve Nash and I bet a million or so Warrior fans are ready to throw in the towel. But not I! We can do this! We Believe! We are going to win tonight … and Hollywood couldn’t set this up for a more dramatic Wednesday!

 

GO WARRIORS!!!

YaoButtaMing's Corner: Tell me the combined total score of tonight's game. If tie, please tell me who has more fouls, Baron or Nash?

Warriors (W-L): 47-32

Clippers (W-L): 23-56

Time: 7:30PM PST tip off

TV:CSN Bay Area

At this point, will and skill alone can't get the Warriors into the playoffs.

Sitting at 47-32, one game behind the current 8th playoff seeded Denver Nuggets owning the tie-break and not to mention the Warriors during the season, the Warriors needs more luck than picking a four leaf clover, rubbing the belly of a buddha statue, and a billion heads-up pennies could bring combined.  Since halfway through the season, tonights game counts as much as the game before and the game before that one... basically the Warriors need to win and the Nuggets need to lose!  

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Warriors (W-L): 47-31

Nuggets (W-L): 47-31

Time: 5:00pm PST

TV:TNT

Radio: KNBR 1050

Reminder: Game time is EARLY at 5pm. Don't be late!

I'm sure I don't need to tell you how important this game is. Even my mom was asking for tickets! It's the BGOY - Biggest Game of the Year. If you're going to the game, show the Dubs the same support we showed them last year in the playoffs. Get in your seat before warmups. When the Nuggets come out, boo like crazy. When the Warriors roll through the tunnel, get the "Lets Go Warriors" chants started and don't stop making noise until the final buzzer. You know how big the game is. You know what to do.

This is an early open thread to get the comments flowing. I know y'all got plenty to say.

Jump.

Update: Check out fellow SB Nation hoops site Pickaxe and Roll for more Dubs-Nugs coverage.

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