By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

If you’ve already signed up with Twitter, you probably already know that it is fast becoming the NBA’s social network of choice. There are more than 100 active players on board (although some have not posted any information there in months) from a pool of roughly 425.

Some of the NBA Tweets are amusing, such as the back-and-forth bickering between former Warrior teammates C.J. Watson and Marcus Williams. Some cause concern, such as Michael Beasley’s famous “baggie” photo and ensuing messages (“Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done”).

But none of them carry the heat of Nets swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Douglas-Roberts was a second round pick in the 2008 draft who didn’t quite fall far enough for the Warriors to snatch him up (he went No. 40; Golden State got Richard Hendrix at No. 49, and we saw how that worked out). With Vince Carter offloaded to Orlando during the summer, Douglas-Roberts has become a starter in essentially a three-guard set with Courtney Lee and Devin Harris.

And when the Nets dropped games to Orlando and Washington on Friday and Saturday, respectively, falling to 0-3 to begin the season, Douglas-Roberts let loose on his Twitter account (@cdouglasroberts). None of this “Oh, we’ll get ‘em next time” stuff.

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — In his pregame talk Monday before facing Miami, Warriors coach Don Nelson acknowledged the obvious: “Your small team has to be better than the other team’s small team. When it’s not, that’s not going to work that much.”

He forgot to mention: Your small team also has to be able to rebound. Or else that’s not going to work that much.

Yes, it’s time to dust off that old Warriors chestnut, the rebounding deficiency storyline. Because it cost Golden State a victory that the Heat snatched up in overtime, 130-129.

On this seven-game losing streak that shows no sign of ending soon, the Warriors have been outrebounded in every game but one (they managed to tie Chicago, 39-39). Golden State is dead last, and by a wide margin, in terms of defensive rebound rate.

Even so, Monday’s numbers were especially painful down the stretch, when Nelson finally gave in to the allure of small ball.

The Warriors led 94-93 when they went small for the first time all night at the 11:03 mark of the fourth quarter. Golden State had been alternating Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph at the power forward spot up until then, and the youngsters had given the Warriors this combined line: 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting (3-for-4 from the free-throw line), seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

But when Wright threw up an ill-advised runner with his off hand — a shot that crashed high off the glass and never had any chance of going in — Nelson immediately sent Corey Maggette into the game in Wright’s place. With the exception of a 91-second stint after Maggette sprained an ankle in overtime and some last-second offense-defense exchanges, the Warriors stayed small the rest of the way.

The move was somewhat defensible in context. Miami went small first, moving 6-7 Shawn Marion to the 4, which meant that Maggette was not being asked to guard a man with 2 or 3 inches and 20 or 30 pounds on him, as he had been doing in previous games.

Nevertheless, the Heat managed to pound Golden State on the glass when it counted. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Miami had 20 rebounds (eight offensive) to the Warriors’ 13 (10 defensive). The Heat also notched 11 second-chance points to the Warriors’ four.

Included in those 11 points was Miami’s game-tying bucket at the end of regulation, where Miami utilized not one, not two…