golden state warriors road trip (Photo: USA Today)
[NOTE: This post covers the first three games of an upcoming six-game road trip, starting tonight in Detroit.]
Off of a three-game winning home winning streak after the All-Star break, the Golden State Warriors are about to embark on their longest remaining road trip of the season.
Six games in ten days against the Eastern Conference present the Warriors with challenges and opportunities to gain a little separation from the last playoff spot.
Monday, February 24, 2014 at the Detroit Pistons
Detroit has a 2-4 win-loss record since firing Maurice Cheeks. They are still as much of a mess as they were before the coaching change. Detroit comes in with the 17th ranked offense and 21st ranked defense.
Off-season addition Josh Smith has been a disappointment at small forward, proving what most thought: he couldn’t play that position. Smith is shooting 23% on threes, while point guard Brandon Jennings is only shooting 34% from beyond the arc, while still taking nearly six per game.
Key Player: Andre Drummond.
Despite Detroit’s shooting woes, rebounding has been a strength. They are the #1 offensive rebounding team, led by 2nd year big man, Andre Drummond.
Drummond is 3rd in rebounds per game (12.8) and first in offensive rebounds. In addition to Drummond, Greg Monroe and Smith crash the glass well.
Key to victory: Keep Detroit off the glass.
What they lack in shot making ability, the Pistons try to make up by putbacks. If the Warriors can neutralize Detroit’s rebounding, they should win.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at the Chicago Bulls
No Derrick Rose? No Luol Deng? No (insert player name)? No problem.
If there were an award for a team with most attrition, the Chicago Bulls would win it.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a team who has better coaches or works harder than Chicago. Despite trading their best wing defender in Deng, the Bulls still rank 2nd in defense
Key Player: Joakim Noah
Noah has played great for Chicago with his trademark defense and all around intensity. There’s never get an easy basket when Noah is on the floor.
However, it’s his new role on offense as Chicago’s point-center in 2014, which has really helped turn Chicago’s season around. He is deployed with the ball often around the high or mid-post and asked to run the offense.
Since January 1, 2014, Noah has been averaging 13.3 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game.
Key to Victory: Keep turnovers low.
Noah has done a nice job as a facilitator on offense for Chicago, but they simply lack offensive fire power to keep up with the Warriors, whether the Warriors outside shots are falling or not.
However, if the Warriors are careless, Chicago can get easy baskets in transition and then it becomes an issue of trying to score against one of league’s best defenses.
Friday, February 28, 2014 at the New York Knicks
With only two wins and eight losses in February, the Knicks are as big a mess as ever, leaving Carmelo Anthony in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in his career.
The Knicks’ offense is currently ranked 12th, but it’s defense where most of their woes are. They rank 26th in defense, allowing 108.7 points per 100 possessions.
The struggles have been more pronounced at home, where the notoriously difficult New York crowd has regularly booed their own team.
Key Player: Carmelo Anthony
The Knicks are truly a one-man team at this point. Any chance for victory is related to Anthony getting hot on offense.
For reference, in wins, Anthony has shot 48.9% from the field, 49% on threes. In losses, he’s shot 43.1% from the field, 37.5% on threes.
Key to victory: Make Anthony a volume scorer.
We’ll take a look at the remaining three games of the road trip in a follow-up post.
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