JRich: Oooh, this is scary! (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Boxscore
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Forget about the 57.1 % on 3's or even the 56.6% shooting from the field. Who cares about the horrendous free throw shooting percentage, too (well, we shouldn’t forget about this one, but the story is getting kind of old)? What about 111 points? This is expected nowadays in the 2nd Nelson empire and his brand of lightening paced small ball. What struck me the most were the 33 assists.
Dizzle led the way with 9 assists, many leading to some easy buckets for A.B.; my interpretation of Atma Brother #1 quote in the open thread, "if this was chemistry class, they would get an A+!" Michael Vick type accuracy and needle threading passes came from Dizzle AND Dun. Towards the end, it almost seemed like players were competing to see who could throw the prettiest lob pass vs. having the most emphatic alley-oop dunk. The Dizzle penetration to Biedrins, Pietrus, Ellis backdoor cut layups in the first half quickly built that lead up to 20+ by the end of the first half.
A real team effort (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
But it wasn’t just all Dizzle. Living out in Michigan, I rarely get to catch Warrior games. When I do, it’s usually against some top tier team, which usually ends up looking like a Harlem Globe Trotter game; the Warriors usually being that random team in green and yellow unis floundering around. Watching them tonite, I almost didn’t believe what I saw on the screen tonite!
If this was the movie "He Got Game", Monta is Jesus Shuttelsworth (though not at as good looking as Ray Allen)! Word life, this dude is the truth! I love his fearlessness and intensity. What I love more is that he doesn’t settle for long J's like the rest of the team. What’s up with all the threes? Especially on 3-2 or 4-2 fast breaks? After a JRich miss off a fast break, the FSN Detroit commentator said, "if you let them, they will take the bad shots." Although everyone shot well in the first half, I was on edge all night knowing that the new look Warriors could easily revert back to their old clanking selves in their usual third quarter disasters (I suspect this is a result of some Smirnoff Loung-ing). Dun’s hitting uncontested shots was a relief as well. I won’t get too excited, because we know that he’s streakier than White boys on a college campus. That might go for the whole team even. Worth noting, I think, was that even with their zone defense in the second half, Detroit could not stop the Warriors’ dribble penetration. They should definitely keep this up.
Here are some statistical highlights too:
Monta’s 4 assists to go with 12 points
Dizzle’s incredible assist to turnover ratio, 9 assists to 1 turnover today!
Dun’s 8 assists, that definitely seems like his strength right now.
Swarming defense. Despite just 4 blocks, they played great team defense today.
Wagner finally getting some playing time: 6 minutes
It is also interesting to hear what commentators from other places have to say about the Warriors play. National television, like ESPN and TNT, usually don’t hold back, blasting into the organization for the lack of talent and discipline. It was surprising though to hear such glowing comments from the FSN Detroit color commentators; they were loving Dizzle’s production and leadership. After several of Dizzle’s great passes, they noted that his unselfish play is helping the young players "grow some confidence." However, there definitely were some follies such as A.B.’s disasterous attempt at bringing the ball up only to be "undressed by Lindsey!" Another good one was when Dunleavy was attempting to post up Lindsay Hunter:
"…trying to post him up, but Lindsey’s got the smarts on him!"
LINDSEY: Did he really think he could score on me? (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Overall, this was probably the best I’ve seen the Warriors in the past decade. I have never seen the Warriors dominate a playoff team for a full 48 minutes like this before. Heck, I’ve never seen them dominate crappy teams like this before!
Anyway, major props to the Warriors!
Sorry Sheed- I think WE got the last laugh tonight (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
In memory of Gerald Levert, the song of the day is "My Body" from the LSG album "My Body."
Update: If you missed this game, shame on you! But don't worry thanks to thecardkid01 you can feast your eyes on these game highlights: