harrison barnes bobblehead night (Photo: LetsGoWarriors.com Instragram account)
On his own bobblehead night, Harrison Barnes busted out his best game in over a month. In the Golden State Warriors’ game last night against the Denver Nuggets, Barnes finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in 31 minutes. He also shot 4-for-8 from the field, 2-for-3 from three, and 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
Besides his impressive stat line, he also played most of the fourth quarter and finished the game with the rest of the starters, as Mark Jackson decided to sit Andrew Bogut for the end of the game.
Jackson most likely played Barnes over Bogut so that Barnes could potentially get more isolation opportunities for post-ups against the small-ball lineup the Nuggets were using.
Regardless, Barnes had a great all-around game. Throughout the game, Barnes looked much more confident and smooth than in recent games.
In fact, between December 15th in a game against the Phoenix Suns and last night’s game against the Nuggets, Barnes averaged just 7.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. In addition, he shot just 34.5 percent from the field and 67.6 percent from the free throw line.
During that stretch, Barnes didn’t look like the impressive player that Warriors fans saw throughout last season. He struggled with his shooting, and his confidence appeared to be shaken.
His effort in last night’s game was refreshing. He was efficient from the field, he shot the ball well from three, and he showed more of an effort to be a distributor on offense.
On two occasions last night, Barnes drove to the basket, he was double-teamed by the Nuggets, and he then dished the ball to David Lee for an easy dunk.
Everyone knows how athletic and explosive Barnes can be. He puts in a strong effort to get to the basket and create his own shot, but his distribution skills are also a valuable asset to the Warriors. If he can continue to work on those skills, he will have more games like he had last night.
Another reason why Barnes had a strong game against the Nuggets was because Jackson adjusted his rotation. Against the Nuggets, Coach Jackson decided to play Barnes alongside Stephen Curry and some other starters for more minutes than usual.
Recently, Barnes has played with four other bench players, which could explain some of his recent struggles. Although he is the best player off the bench, Barnes does better when someone else can create a shot for him or at least create some space for him to work.
It’ll be interesting to see if Jackson will continue to use this new rotation and if Barnes will continue to play well when Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks join the team.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
