warriors game day (Photo: @senoritamayra Instagram account)
MORNING SHOOTAROUND
WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — We began the day at morning shootaround for the Golden State Warriors at their practice facility.
It never gets old! That is, Stephen Curry shooting jumpers, as David Lee walks by. Jermaine O’Neal said, “Steve Blake helps Jordan Crawford be at his natural position…Harrison Barnes doesn’t have to bring it up as much and can get into that natural scoring position…”
PRE-GAME
ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — By evening time, it was back to work! Home work! #Roaracle gave away these hats for Filipino Heritage Night.
At the pregame presser, Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said he’s not looking ahead at the Los Angeles Clippers or behind at the Dallas Mavericks in terms of standings-watching, but acknowledges that the Western Conference is “a monster.” Meanwhile, on Oracle’s floor, Curry drilled the art of the pinch post. Oh, and there was the ever-present Brian Scalabrine‘s head.
In the media room, we bumped into Jim Barnett — contact us is you want to petition the Warriors to keep him on for another year! — wearing one of those new Joseph Abboud Warriors-logo-lined jackets tonight. Meanwhile, “The Human Highlight Reel”, Atlanta Hawks announcer and former great Dominique Wilkins was getting ready.
IN-GAME
The Warriors didn’t come out as dominant as they were against the Boston Celtics. With 8:38 to go in the first quarter, the Warrior were up, 14-9 as the Hawks called timeout after an Andre Iguodala steal and assist to a fast-breaking Lee. Speaking of Iguodala, he wore these Nike Kobe IX kicks with the so-called “Prospective” turquoise-ish colorway.
At the end of the first quarter, it was Warriors 32, Hawks 31. Lee had collected 12 points already, while Curry added 5 assists. However, Klay Thompson got injured with a lower back strain and his return was questionable, later termed as “not returning”, although Coach Jackson was informed by Thompson that he could go to start the third, if needed. Jackson would ultimately decide against it, probably having checked his Twitter timeline and seeing this photo!
Right before half, Curry got a layup. The Warriors stretched the lead out to 66-52 at the break. Curry was well on his way to another statistical spree with 13 points and 7 assists, while Lee added 14 points and 3 rebounds.
However, in total team form, Curry and Lee’s stat-collecting would abate and the second unit would once again come out strong as Draymond Green got the steal and assist to an Iguodala dunk. From way up in the rafters, the Warriors were up “just” 84-77 at the end of three quarters. Lee led the way with 18 points and 6 rebounds, while Andrew Bogut got in double-figures for the first time in a long time with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
But the fourth quarter was all Warriors as the Hawks had trouble scoring, literally for seven minutes. While the Warriors added 15 to their point total, the Hawks only managed two points with just 4:36 to go in the game. It was Warriors 99, Hawks 79. Iguodala had 13 points and 5 assists, and O’Neal 15 points and 7 rebounds in the balanced attack. As the buzzer sounded with the score Warriors 111, Hawks 97, five Dubs were in double-figures and O’Neal ended with 17 points, 8 rebounds.
POST-GAME
Coach Jackson said that the Warriors talked about how many guys had ever been 14-15 games over .500 this morning. Only 3 raised their hands: Blake, Iguodala, and O’Neal. Meanwhile, Lee said, “Last year, I remember (around) this time we were really beat up,” speaking to how honed the Warriors play had been lately.
For all of #DubNation complaining all season about Coach Jackson often having five bench players in at a time, Green gave us the explanation. Meanwhile, Iguodala’s locker, next to Green’s, had a whole lot of Nike’s including the ones he wore.
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