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Oct31
Thoughts on Game No. 2: Raptors 112, Warriors 108 (OT)
Filed under: News; Tagged as: Al Harrington, Andrea Bargnani, Andris Biedrins, Anthony Parker, Brandan Wright, Chris Bosh, Corey Maggette, Don Nelson, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Jermaine O'Neal, Kelenna Azubuike, Ronny Turiaf, Sam Mitchell, Shaun Livingston, Stephen Jackson, T.J. Ford17 CommentsBy Geoff Lepper
48minutes.netDon Nelson always said he’d go with the lineup that gave him the best chance to win.
He never said anything about giving it any rest, however.
The King of Smallball went big for once Friday, and it worked for 44 1/2 minutes. Then came the inevitable fatigue, and a 112-108 overtime loss to Toronto.
Stephen Jackson once again played point, Corey Maggette moved to the 2, Al Harrington to the 3 and Ronny Turiaf — who a couple weeks ago was slated for only for backup center duty — manned the 4.
But for all the great work that group did in staking the Warriors to a 93-88 lead, it all came crashing down in the final 3:30 of regulation, when Golden State scored once — a 3-pointer from Harrington that came only because of a fortuitous bounce after Jermaine O’Neal spiked a drive by Maggette.
“Everybody had their shot at it,” Nelson said. “We didn’t deliver that much, but we got the ball where we wanted it when we wanted it. We were 3-for-16 in the fourth quarter. You can’t do that and expect to win.”
A typical possession came with 46.5 seconds left and the Warriors clinging to a 93-92 lead: Maggette gathered in a pass on the right wing and turned to face Raptors swingman Anthony Parker. After three ineffective jab steps elicited no movement from Parker, Maggette settled for a 17-foot jumper that came up short.
At the other end of the floor, Chris Bosh practically sprinted past a gassed Andris Biedrins — one of four Warriors to play more than 40 minutes Friday — for an uncontested dunk.
“In the preseason, we weren’t playing 40 minutes,” said Harrington, who was already sucking wind in the classic hands-on-knees position midway through the third quarter. “Right now we are, so it’s something we’ve got to get used to, get adjusted to, and quick.
“The preseason is usually a time where you’re resting. It seems like we should have been playing a little bit more so we’d be prepared for now. It’s going to take us a couple of games to get adjusted to and then we’ll start knocking our shots down in the fourth.”
** Going big worked defensively because the Warriors were able to dominate on the glass even though Sam Mitchell went with Nelson and tried to out-muscle him by using a combination of Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani combo.…
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