By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

With a 103-99 victory over Boston on Tuesday, the Warriors have themselves just their second winning streak of the season. The first one was pretty impressive, as you may recall; back in November, just after the Stephen Jackson saga resolved itself, Golden State beat Portland (before the Trail Blazers were wracked by injuries) at home, then spanked Dallas on the road.

Read the rest of this entry…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

In 18 months as an NBA player, Marco Belinelli’s stock has gone through more roles than a TV character actor: Summer League star, Jason Richardson replacement, defensive sieve, bench ornament, unhappy camper, trade bait.

So is Belinelli’s latest turn — reborn playmaker — just another phase, destined to vanish like the next full moon?

It’s still too early to tell for certain, but in the 13 games since Don Nelson refocused the Warriors’ attack, Belinelli has already weathered one dip and ridden it out. I figured that after back-to-back poor performances in Florida — combined 7-for-24 shooting with four turnovers against five assists in Orlando and Miami — Belinelli’s run was at an end, and that he would go back to being a pumpkin, metaphorically speaking.

Instead, he had one of his two best games of the season in the Warriors’ 117-111 win over Toronto on Monday: 23 points, 6-12 FG, 5-8 3FG, 6-6 FT, 6 AST, 2 TO.

After that game, Warriors coach Don Nelson said Belinelli was succeeding in the team’s revamped, Euro-style offense — 47.5 FG, 40.0 3FG, 16.0 PPG, 3.3 APG — because “he’s a much better shooter on the move than he is stationary.”

I disagree. Belinelli has tamed the wild leg kick that used to punctuate his shooting motion, but he still often twists his lower body to the left when he fires while moving, both off the dribble and situations where he catches and shoots on a cut.

In the Toronto game, for example, Belinelli was 1-for-6 off dribble-drives, 1-for-2 while catching on the move, and 4-for-4 (three of those from deep) on standing shots. All three of those treys came on plays that began with Stephen Jackson driving and drawing multiple defenders, then kicking out, either directly to Belinelli or through an intermediary.

The bigger surprise on offense has been Belinelli’s emergence as a passer. He’s never going to be a straight point guard in the NBA, not unless he significantly upgrades his open-court ballhandling, but as a half-court initiator, he’s just a half-step behind Jackson and Jamal Crawford in terms of finding open shooters.

The style of Belinelli’s passing makes it seem as though he’s cavalierly throwing the ball around. Just as many Italians would find speech without the punctuation provided by their hand gestures to be unacceptably bland, Belinelli seems to use a two-handed chest pass only as a means of last resort. Witness Belinelli’s behind-the-back…

(aka How To Lose Fake Money And Real Credibility, Part 35, today’s installment of your faithful reporter’s quest to prognosticate all 1,230 NBA regular-season games this season)

As usual, TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott was first on the scene this morning, putting together a list of potential landing spots for Stephon Marbury, assuming he and the Knicks agree to stand down from their current Defcon-1 status.

Personally, I like three options the best:

1) Miami. I am not really sold on Mario Chalmers/Chris Quinn combo at the point, and Dwyane Wade is certainly going to be able to keep any ego outburst in check.

2) Orlando. To me, the Magic are a little too vanilla. It’s one thing to be even-keeled, but if you don’t mix that with a killer instinct (i.e., Tim Duncan and the Spurs) you get a team that’s just not tough enough. I think here, Marbury might bring some swagger with him that rubs off on the club, similar to Stephen Jackson’s effect on the Warriors, or what Ron Artest has brought to the Rockets this season.

3) Philadelphia. If the 76ers aren’t freaking out, they ought to be. They’re 7-10, and three of those wins came at home against the Thunder, the Clippers and the Warriors. They’ve got a brutal roadie coming up before and after New Year’s (Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Antonio, with the Clippers being the only thing standing between them and an 0-5 spot), Louis Williams was MIA for a good three weeks, Elton Brand still isn’t getting shots where he’s most comfortable, and Andre Miller will have to spend the rest of the season living down this:

For what it’s worth, I think the Warriors can safely be judged a Marbury-free zone now that they’ve traded for Jamal Crawford. Even if it would be on a minimum-wage pro-rated deal for the rest of the year, there is still only one ball in use at a time, right?

Onto the picks, and let’s not discuss my record, because I don’t want to jinx anything:

Heat (8-9) at Warriors (5-12), 7:35 p.m.
Pick: Heat -1.5
I don’t think the Warriors are as bad as they seemed on that road trip. I don’t think they’re good enough to win here, however.

Timberwolves (4-11) at Bobcats (5-11), 4:05 p.m.
Pick: Bobcats -3.5
One of the league’s worst offenses (Charlotte) against a weak defense (Minnesota) that just got worse with Corey Brewer’s injury.

Magic (13-4) at Celtics (16-2), 4:35 p.m.
Pick:…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

(Apologies for the delay. Technological challenges while at a family gathering for Thanksgiving.)

“A man’s got to know his limitations.”

We begin our discussion of the Warriors’ 119-111 loss to the Boston Celtics with Det. Harry Callahan, a Bay Area icon in his own (albeit fictional) right. This is not because he blew up Hal Holbrook’s car in the same ruthless fashion that the Celtics mangled the Warriors’ offense when it counted on Wednesday.

It’s because of Don Nelson’s assessment of the performance of his team, which was coming off a 24-point drubbing in Washington just 24 hours earlier: “Compared to our last game, we played about as well as we can play.”

Was this the best the Warriors could play? Well, was it, punk?

To tell you the truth, in all the excitement, I kind of lost track.

In the “Yes” column:

** You can’t reasonably expect Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette to be more efficient on offense than they were last night: a combined 23-for-38 from the floor (5-for-10 on 3s) and 11-for-15 from the line.

Maggette, who started back at his preferred small forward spot and stayed there for his first 23 minutes, was attacking the basket again with some verve. When he wasn’t doing that, he was taking jump shots that made sense in the offense, rather than being obviously forced.

Jackson continues to hit shots of the “no-no-no-yes!” variety; his success with fadeaways from 18 feet out is actually starting to make me wonder if he can knock that down consistently.

** Ronny Turiaf had another strong performance at the defensive end, swatting five shots in 22 minutes although an injury to his right wrist appeared to curtail his effectiveness in the late going.

In the “No” column:

** Jamal Crawford went 5-for-17 from the floor (2-for-8 on treys) with four turnovers and way too many pullup-and-let-fly 3-point misses to offset his six assists. And Rajon Rondo had his way with him at the other end of the floor.

** The young forwards made no real contribution. Brandan Wright started but was yanked early for Anthony Randolph, who tossed out two quick fouls (and engaged in a staring contest with Kevin Garnett) before heading back to the bench, never to be seen again.

** Even after going big for the first 34 minutes, the Warriors were still outrebounded, 47-34. Of course, more than half that deficit was rung up during the final 7 minutes, when Boston pounded…