Keep ya head up!
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SB Nation: Welcome to Loud City | Bay Area
What a game. Seriously what a game. Sure the Warriors wound up losing, but you can't knock the hustle. These guys played with heart and toughness. This game could have easily been over with 2 minutes left in the 4th, but the Warriors fought hard and sent this game to OT. A little luck didn't hurt either.
Tonight was a rare moral victory.
JUMP for just some of the things to like about this outing from the Dubs!
Shots in the Key
- 12 points and 6 rebounds in nearly 40 minutes from your starting center aren't impressive, but Ekpe Udoh had an impressive night. He's a rare NBA player that can't be defined by normal stats. Udoh's defense was really impressive tonight. It was multifaceted- Udoh protected the paint and even extended out to the perimeter to guard superstar Kevin Durant one-on-one and bothered the Durantula with his length (not trivial). Props to Udoh. I don't ever see superstar, All-Star, or anything like that for The Nightmare, but I do see an excellent defender who is going to have a very long career playing a stopper role on plenty of winning teams.
- 30 shots from Monta Ellis with only 9 makes and 0 free throws are worrisome. 11 assists to 1 turnover and a clutch trey to send the game to OT don't exactly cover for that, but it's hard to fault Monta too much. He might not have been playing smart ball (well, I guess he was playing "Smart Ball"), but props to him for the effort at this point in another losing season after logging all those heavy minutes.
- 6 turnovers and only 5 assists from Stephen Curry are very tough to digest. 35 points on red hot shooting (only 23 shots to Monta's 30?! "Smart Ball" needs to go!) were sizzling. If only the Warriors didn't foolishly fire Don Nelson. There wouldn't be this unnecessary sophomore slump from the real franchise cornerstone.
- Dorell Wright also struggled from the floor, but he brought solid defense and excellent rebounding.
- Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka are the real deal.
These are the kinds of moves that are just hard to game plan for!
The WW champ tonight is David Lee. 24 points, 15 boards, and 4 dimes are exactly why the Dubs showed Lee the dinero this past summer.
Stroking it!
Side note- When Lee and Udoh play like this the Warriors are very good. They complement each other well. For example Udoh is a poor rebounder, but he does box out his man and protects the glass which leaves Lee to clean up the glass. The Warriors are going to be a lot happier next season with Andris Biedrins on the bench (or hopefully playing somewhere else) and Udoh and Lee playing more minutes as a tandem.