Friday, November 2, 2007

Warriors Lose Again 120-114

The Golden State Warriors lost tonight to the Los Angeles Clippers and are starting off on the wrong foot again. They have given up 237 points in two games already to the Jazz and the Clippers. Things might not get better on Saturday as they face the Jazz again, but this time in Salt Lake.

The Warriors were a dismal 7-28 shooting three pointers tonight and the worst culprit was Baron Davis who was 1-9. The leading scorer in the game was SG Kelenna Azubuike with 33 points on 12-17 shooting. Golden State was outrebounded again as they lost the rebound battle 53-36. The Warriors had no one who could stop C Chris Kaman in the middle. Kaman led the way for the Clippers with 26 points and 18 rebounds. He got help off the bench from SG Cuttino Mobley who had 21 points.

Based on two games, it is clear that the Warriors really miss Stephen Jackson. He is an asset on both sides of the court and an emotional leader. Until they get Jackson back in the lineup, Don Nelson must do with more playing time for Monta Ellis and rookie Marco Belinelli. Center Patrick O'Bryant played only five minutes tonight but was effective on the floor on the defensive end against Kaman. Nelson should think about playing him more but O'Bryant is still raw offensively.

Nelson wants to limit Davis to under 35 minutes a game but tonight, Davis played 45 minutes. It will be interesting to see how many minutes he plays tomorrow against the Jazz. Davis's backup, Troy Hudson, played zero minutes tonight but should get a lot of playing time on Saturday night. The Jazz seem to own the Warriors and there is a strong possibility that the Warriors will be 0-3 after tomorrow night.

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