(Introducing Dante Cunningham, tonight's Warrior Killer)
Golden State Warriors (9-22) @ Trailblazers (21-13)
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 650 (7:00pm PST)
Blog Buddy: Blazersedge
Happy New Year Warrior fans. It's day 2 of 2010 and hope you all have been sticking to your new years resolutions so far. One my early resolutions is not to yell at the television before the 3rd quarter of a Warriors game, it's not good for my blood pressure. For the Warriors, their New Years Resolution should be to grab rebounds.
Lets see how that holds up tonight as the Warriors take on the Portland Trailblazers. The Trailblazers have had similar injury woes like the Warriors but have been able to weather the storm in amazing fashion, winning 5 of their last 6 with impressive wins over the Mavericks, the slumping Nuggets, and the Spurs. But what's most impressive is how they've dismantled each team, each team having a pretty meaty front court. With Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla out, I'm amazingly shocked by the Trailblazers ability to adapt to these situations.
This also tells me how much LESS talented (or poorly coached) the Warriors are if the Blazers can still produce wins without their SKILLED big men. What might this spell for the Warriors....?
DOOM!
I know the Warriors had an impressive win over the Blazers last time they met. I was at the game and in awe of how Warrior-like the Blazers played with all their turnovers and poor offensive execution. But Brandon Roy -- shoulder injury and all -- has put the team on his back like old Chinese ladies in Oakland do aluminum cans for recycling. Meaning? STRONG (old Chinese ladies included).
But the Warriors haven't been too shabby with the return of Ronny Turiaf and Andris Biedrins. A lot more rebounds and defense and, more importantly, a lot more smiles among teammates.
So what can we expect tonight?
Predictions:
- Warriors by 4 or Blazers by 9
- Monta Ellis nets 33 points and 6 assists
- Turiaf with 4 blocks
- Dante Cunningham - 17 points
- Lockdown defense by Monta Ellis on Brandon Roy
- Jerryd Bayless with 22 points, 16 of them off freethrows
What are your predictions for tonight's game? And what are your new years resolutions?