By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

I didn’t see the game live (hence, no live blogging last night) but quickly watched the tape this morning. As Rusty Simmons pointed out, it’s the Warriors’ third victory against an opponent with only one win of their own. So while the 121-107 outcome against the Knicks is nice enough, it shouldn’t be used to prove anything other than Golden State can properly beat one of the four teams that definitely rank below it in the NBA firmament.

** On the one hand, Don Nelson deserves credit because the supersmall lineup with a frontline of Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson and Kelenna Azubuike paid handsome dividends. Now, the fact that it was against a frontline of Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington and David Lee probably should be taken into account, but when you’re 3-5, you don’t argue with what works.

This was an instance where the absence of Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf actually helped the Warriors; those were the guys who simply couldn’t defend the high S/R in last season’s debacle of a loss to the Knicks, and without them as targets, the Knicks weren’t able to turn Chris Duhon into a Steve Nash clone. In a callback to the 2007 team, with the true centers off the floor, the Warriors were able to either switch or at least show hard on every S/R the Knicks did run, limiting the damage New York could do.

** One reason why the Knicks are so horrible right now: In one first-quarter sequence, Danilo Gallinari leapt over Kelnna Azubuike to secure an offensive rebound, then took two dribbles to the right wing, turned on the second one, went up at a 30-degree angle to the hoop, finished twisting in midair to square up to the basket and let fly from 18 feet.

The fact that Gallinari made the shot should in no way absolve him from the fact that it was a ridiculous decision, emblematic of the Knicks’ shot selection right now.

Read the rest of this entry…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

For more than a half century, the Serenity Prayer has been a cornerstone of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

The Warriors accepted the things they cannot change about themselves Friday night, and in doing so become something greater than they previously had been.

By forcing Chris Paul to shoot, shoot and shoot some more, the Warriors were able to control the Hornets’ All-Star point guard in a 111-103 victory.

At first blush, the fact that Paul went off for 43 points and nine assists doesn’t look like a victory. But seven of Paul’s nine dimes went to David West, who finished with 31 points. That’s a nice number, but what the Hornets need from Paul is to get the rest of the roster involved with some spoon-fed buckets, especially since Peja Stojakovic is battling through a bad back and James Posey and Tyson Chandler are on the bench with injuries.

Instead, Hornets not named Paul or West shot 10-for-38 on Friday.

Read the rest of this entry…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — That the Warriors were repeatedly gashed by Orlando’s pick-and-roll play in the Magic’s 109-98 victory Monday should have come as no shock. Golden State hasn’t defended the play well for most, if not all, of this season — most famously in the David Lee/Chris Duhon massacre at Madison Square Garden — and even with Dwight Howard out, Jameer Nelson was just too savvy for the Warriors to handle.

What did raise eyebrows was the way coach Don Nelson called out center Andris Biedrins for his handling of those plays.

“Screen-and-roll’s been very difficult for us,” Nelson said. “(Ronny) Turiaf handles it better than Goose and he’s just really struggled this year to keep guards in front of him, on the blitzes. They split him. We try about everything we can try to help him out. And then when they have 3-point shooters, it takes your weakside help away, so then they hurt you with the roll man, and (if) you cover that, then they have the 3-point shot open.

So, I asked, has Andris regressed this year on the screen-and-roll?

“Um, you know, I’m not sure. I think we had more veterans around him a year ago and they helped cover some of his issues,” Nelson said. “We were bigger and quicker and had more years under our belt. Now he’s more exposed. There’s other mistakes that happen and guys aren’t where they’re supposed to be and they’re not used to different coverages. So it’s harder on everybody.”

I thought therefore that I’d take a look at the Magic’s screen-roll usage and see what we could glean from that data.

Orlando used S/Rs against the Warriors’ man-to-man defense on 66 occasions, scoring a total of 50 points on 22-for-39 shooting (6-for-11 3-pointers). The rest of the time either resulted in a turnover, a loose-ball foul on the Warriors or, most likely, a pass to another player who reset the offense or worked one-on-one.

Of those 66 times, Biedrins was guarding the big man in 38 instances, typically Marcin Gortat, who was subbing for Howard. Turiaf got called upon 14 times, mostly versus Tony Battie. And Stephen Jackson pulled big duty 14 times, usually when Rashard Lewis was the screener.

Turiaf fared the best, allowing just four points in his 14 possessions (2-for-4 FG) and nabbing a steal with some quick hands. Those figures may also have something to do with Battie’s pretty severe limitations…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

It was the end of a difficult five-games-in-seven-days road trip. Their captain and team leader was on the bench in street clothes because of a badly swollen and sprained left wrist. They were facing a highly motivated ex-teammate who wanted to prove a point.

The Warriors better hope one of those excuses holds water. Because when Golden State dropped a not-nearly-that-close 138-125 decision to the New York Knicks on Saturday for its sixth consecutive defeat, it wasn’t just a loss.

It was comprehensive surrender. Total capitulation.

So total, in fact, that Lowell Cohn of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat said he saw Warriors coach Don Nelson leaving the bench several seconds before the final horn sounded. Honestly, I didn’t catch that, but I can’t say it would shock me if it was true. Whenever the camera caught showed a glimpse of Nelson on Saturday, he looked to me like a CEO who was stuck testifying before a Congressional sub-committee — someone supremely interested in being anywhere but there at that moment in that time.

New York Knicks guard Chris Duhon drives on Golden State Warriors center Andris Biedrins (AP photo/Frank Franklin II)

Of course, you’d probably look like that, too, if your team was allowing a mid-level talent such as Chris Duhon to break a Knicks franchise record that had stood for nearly a half-century. Duhon had 22 assists, or one more than Richie Guerin notched on Dec. 12, 1958.

“Wow, what a player,” Nelson said. “He looked like Steve Nash out there. Unbelievable performance. Whether we zoned him, switched him, it didn’t matter. He still found a way to hurt us. Really impressive performance.”

The utter inability to even hint at an effective countermeasure to the Knicks’ high pick-and-roll — which David Lee rode to a career-high 37 points and 21 rebounds — was enough to render a Warriors fan nonsensical with rage.

The Warriors consistently tried to stop Duhon (or Anthony Roberson) by having the big man step out on him, either to switch fully, or merely to impede his progress momentarily. But one of two things would happen:

New York Knicks forward/center David Lee in a familiar pose from Saturday: Readying himself for a two-handed jam (AP photo/Frank Franklin II)

A) The smaller defender would fail to properly cover Lee on the roll, providing an engraved invitation for Duhon to find Lee immediately with a pass for a two-handed dunk;

or B) Duhon would sail right around…

Without even a pretense of having something at the top, here’s today’s installment of your faithful reporter’s quest to prognosticate all 1,230 NBA regular-season games this season:

76ers (2-5) at Raptors (4-3), 4:05 p.m.
Pick: Raptors -6
Kevin Garnett? Pfffft. Now, if Jose Calderon can get the ever-placid Elton Brand to wag a finger in his face, that’d be something impressive.

Hawks (6-0) at Celtics (7-1), 4:35 p.m.
Pick: Celtics -10.5
If Atlanta really can be this good for 82 games, I might have to seriously revise my opinion of Mike Bibby.

Pacers (3-3) at Nets (2-4), 4:35 p.m.
Pick: Nets +1.5
I shouldn’t fall into this trap, but I’m going to anyway.

Lakers (6-0) at Hornets (4-2), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Lakers +1
L.A. is 5-1 against the spread this season, and the only loss was by one point (they beat Denver by 7 while laying 8).

Trail Blazers (4-3) at Heat (4-3), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Heat -1.5
Greg Oden comes back, but for how long? Three games? Six?

Spurs (2-4) at Bucks (3-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Spurs -2.5
So, was that win over New York an aberration, or a return to form for the Spurs’ shooters?

Magic (4-3) at Thunder (1-6), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Magic -7
Nick Collison should get paid double for the abuse he’s about to take.

Jazz (6-1) at Wizards (0-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Jazz -4.5
Has a team gone from splashing out huge wads of cash to fighting to keep from falling into inevitable rebuilding mode faster than the Wizards?

Knicks (4-3) at Grizzlies (3-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Knicks +4.5
I hadn’t realized until right now that the Knicks really don’t have a single legitimate shot-blocker. They’re still in single-digits as a team (9), through seven games. Makes me wonder if Mike D’Antoni told Chris Duhon on the day he signed, “Welcome aboard. Don’t ever, ever, EVER, EVER, EVER let your man get by you.”

Kings (3-5) at Clippers (1-6), 7:35 p.m.
Pick: Clippers -7
The Kings disappointed me last night by kicking away what should have been a sure cover in the final minutes. I’m not sure if this is the right response, but so be it.

Rockets (4-3) at Suns (6-2), 7:35 p.m.
Picks: Rockets +3.5
This is one of about four games I’ve flipped back and forth. I’ll be fascinated to watch Matt Barnes and Ron Artest, two of the league’s more combustible personalities on the floor, going head-to-head.

Yesterday: 6-2
Season record: 50-54-1

– Geoff

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