That was just pathetic. On the road or not, there were so many chances for the Warriors to run away with this game it was ridiculous. Was it getting us getting out rebounded 60 to 32? Yes. Was it the Jazz's superior distribution of the ball vs. the Warriors' one-on-one style play? Yes. Was it the better high percentage shot selection of the Jazz, leading to easier buckets inside the paint? Yes!
Was it our horrific display of free throw shooting in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, displaying to the world potentially the most un-clutch display at the charity stripe ever?! Yes! YES IT WAS!
How we even managed to get into overtime tonight is beyond me.
To: Jazz
From: Warriors
Before we get into the deeper dissections of what went wrong tonight, I think it is only fitting that we address the biggest tragedy on the floor tonight. I think everyone from Warriors Nation and GSoM can join me in keeping Dee Brown in our thoughts. Opponent or not, there is nothing pretty about seeing a kid like that, in his rookie year no less, fall victim to a serious neck injury and get carried off of the floor. We can only hope that it isn't half as serious as it looked.
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Stay up Dee. Our prayers are with you.
Now let's get to the second, third, fourth, etc, place tragedies. What the hell happened out there tonight?! I'll be honest. Despite my pleas to our boys to employ some Windex on the glass tonight, I didn't really expect for the Warriors to out rebound the Jazz by 20 or anything. But I CERTAINLY didn't expect the Warriors to allow the Jazz to nearly double our boards! Man we even had Dick Stockton commentating on our inability to grab a rebound. And he doesn't even know who has the ball half the time!
Going small is obviously a contributing factor. No one is so naïve to suggest otherwise. The Jazz are literally beating our guys around down low. Not only in boards but with respect to points in the paint; they were scoring at will on us! This bleeding needs to stop. We need to up our physical game when we are confronted down low, yet I'm not really sure of a substitution that will allow us to retain our offense while getting this done. I suppose it's simply a matter of will...
Think about it. So far the Warriors have shattered every stereotype placed upon them stemming from the regular season and continuing to these Western Conference Semifinals.
Hey, I'm no fan of the excessive threes myself, but when push came to shove, their style of raining game tuned up nicely. When their inside game dries up (more than I would like), their threes are what bring them back from the dead.
I don't need to talk to anyone here about what the Dubs did at the close of the season. Road. Home. It didn't matter. It was playoffs or bust. And bust wasn't an option.
Man if only I had slapped down some cash on that series. Where's a flux capacitor when you need one?
You sure about that...?
The Warriors have done the unthinkable so many times this season. I sincerely hope that in Game 3 on Friday, they step out onto that Arena floor with the belief that they can be stronger, more confident, quicker, and more physical than arguably one of the most physical teams in the NBA. And if they don't believe it, I'm still not worried.
They'll have 20,000 people there that do believe.
The Jazz are coming to our house this Friday. Let's show them how we do it in Oakland.
Despite an epic missed free throw, this one has to go to Boom Dizzle. As clutch as the free throw would have been, it was the only one that he dropped tonight, and a game like his can not be ignored. 36 points, 7 dimes, 4 jacks, 3 boards... I love that Baron is getting the media spotlight during this postseason. I can only hope that his heart carries over to the rest of the team on Friday.
Also see: Playoff Open Thread - Game #2: Warriors @ Jazz - A Change in Fluidity