The wounded Warriors snapped their 5 game losing streak tonight with a dominant win over an even more wounded L.A Clippers squad. The Clippers missing, most notably, their two superstar players: Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Nevertheless, a win is a win and the Warriors needed one badly. My last post talked about the Warriors when they were on a mere 2 game losing streak, and after that they proceeded to lose the next 3. In the third game of that losing streak, they were defeated in their rematch against the Mavericks (score: 113-122) where Luka dropped a cool 41 points. The main takeaway of that game for me was the lack of defense. Even with the team's defensive anchor Draymond Green missing, the defense should not look as bad as it does, especially this specific game. A couple bright spots though were: 1) Jordan Poole breaking his slump this game, scoring 23 off the bench. 2) Moses Moody breaking out with 14 points in the 4th quarter. The Warriors in the 4th game of their losing streak looked like they were going to pull off a win against a struggling, Anthony Davis-less Lakers team...that is, until the 4th and final quarter when non-other than the GOAT himself, LeBron James, took over and wielded his team to a comeback victory (score: 116-124). LeBron scored a season-high 56 points this game! Now, pause for a second, if Luka scoring 40+ against the Warriors one game and then LeBron scoring 56 against them in the next doesn't show how bad the Dubs defense has been as of late, then I don't know what does. In my opinion, the Warriors truly had this game in the bag, despite LBJ catching fire, but they opted to get a little careless with the turnovers and shot selection. Then in the 5th game of their losing streak the Warriors traveled up to a highly elevated city (Denver), to take on a highly elevated team, the Nuggets (won 9 of their last 10). Golden State played this game without more than half of their team; Curry, Wiggins, Klay, Dray, Wiseman, Payton II, Porter Jr, and Iguadala were all out. And even though the Dubs looked extremely overmatched, only having a 9 man rotation and playing such a hot team. The Warriors stayed with it. This was mostly due to Denver committing a bunch of careless turnovers and players such as Poole and Moses Moody shooting red hot for most of the game. It was clear the Warriors didn't come into the game expecting to have a chance as they played pretty sloppy themselves and Denver ended up winning, Jokic posting a triple double and further solidifying his bid for MVP. I thoroughly enjoyed this game despite the loss because I had the pleasure of witnessing the breakout game of rookie Moses Moody. That man is a problem. Period. End of story. He scored a career high in this game, 30 points, and along with the 14 points in the 4th quarter against the Mavericks a few nights before, I am officially buying his imaginary stock. Poole also had 31 points this night and while its great to see these two young talented players show out in a way that you can confidently say isn't due to luck, it still makes me worry a bit about how the future looks. To me, it can only go three ways for Poole and Moody. They continue to come off the bench, and occasionally start, as guard/wing peices, and they are still able to shine and be the players they can be while in that role and contributing to the success of the Warriors in the now. Or, they continue to find their role as bench/occasional starters at the guard/wing spots for the Warriors, but their potentials are stifled because their roles have confined them. Or, lastly, they become disgruntled with their roles in Golden State and decide they want to go to another team where they have more oppertunity to shine. Of course, I would love for them to stay with the Warriors while also reaching their full potential. But, as a basketball junky, I know that isn't usually how it plays out. Who knows though! The Warriors are a fabulous organization all around and maybe this doesn't evolve into anything. One thing I know for sure though is, however Kerr manages these minutes, egos, budding potentials, and roles, is what will define him as a coach. This brings us to the good news! On March 8th, 2022, the Warriors won their first game after 5 straight losses. As I mentioned briefly before, one of the biggest problems plaguing the Dubs recently has been their defense. But tonight they held the Clippers to just 36 points in the first half. Watching this game though, I can't sincerely tell you that this absymal scoring by the Clippers was due to any improvement in the Warriors defense. I don't think the Clippers could of put the ball in the basket tonight if they were playing against a 5th grade CYO team. Jackie Mooooooooon showed up pre-game. I think this is one of the things that reveals Steve Kerr's brilliance as a coach. With Klay Thompson still struggling after his post-injuries return and the Warriors on a 5 game losing skid, Kerr bringing in Will Ferrell (Jackie Moon, one of Klay's favorite fictional characters) for a strange pre-game warmups, I think warrants Kerr an even greater share of the credit for the Warriors win. As a huge believer in the impact that psyche has on a team's winning, I think Kerr doing this for Klay (who proceeded to drop 20 points), and the team is a very under-appreciated move. Even Curry, when asked about having Will Ferrell in pre-game, said: "I think we fed off the energy". On a final note, I would like to shout out Poole, for his recent streak of great games, but also his 20 points tonight. Also, Kuminga's 20-bomb tonight. Get excited Warriors fans because Wiseman and Green are set to return in the coming days now!
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Author19 Years Old, Hoops Fanatic, Knowledgeable in everything Warriors. Archives |