 |
David Lee, PF 36 MIN | 10-16 FG | 2-2 FT | 15 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 5 TO | 22 PTS | +11Another ho-hum game for Lee. His numbers won’t surprise, but in a game where Curry goes down he was needed to keep the offense going. 22 points is nice, but he shot it with efficiency and 15 rebounds isn’t too shabby either. On the defensive end, Lee had the toughest assignment of the night matching up with Kevin Love. Love, defending Western Conference Player of the Week, is the best PF in the league and Lee did an admirable job defending him. Holding Love to 40% from the field is easier said than done. |
 |
 |
Andrew Bogut, C 16 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 2 PTS | +4It was a short night for the Aussie as Bogut racked up fouls early and often. It’s hard to say he limited Nikola Pekovic considering Bogut was only on the floor for 16 minutes, but his presence was felt in his short time on the floor. |
 |
 |
Stephen Curry, PG 24 MIN | 2-8 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 7 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +3Yikes. Curry was having an awful night on both ends of the floor even before his injury. Ricky Rubio (unintentionally) rolled over Curry’s right ankle near halfcourt after scrambling for a loose ball early in the third quarter. Curry left the game and the trainer was looking not at his right ankle but his right knee. After heading to the locker room it was announced as a left foot bone bruise. His status for this weekend’s B2B is unknown. |
 |
 |
Andre Iguodala, SG 42 MIN | 8-13 FG | 3-6 FT | 3 REB | 6 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 20 PTS | +11Another solid game from the first year Warriors PG/SG/SF/PF. Really, Iguodala was the Warriors Swiss Army Knife tonight. After Curry went down Dre played a lot of point guard and did a solid job of finding teammates and running the offense. It’s clear that he’s the best backup PG option on the roster currently. |
 |
 |
Klay Thompson, SG 37 MIN | 11-21 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 30 PTS | +8As if his stellar defense wasn’t enough, Thompson once again proved why he is not only starting, but why he is one of the best shooting guards in the league. He turned up in the second half, more importantly after Curry went back to the locker room with the injury. Coming off screens or off broken plays, Thompson is deadly. He might’ve gotten lost on the floor at times last season, but those days are numbered. He’s a threat every time he touches the ball. |
 |
Three Things We Saw
- Harrison Barnes made his season debut and impressed in his 13+ minutes on the floor. 6-for-8 from the field and six rebounds isn’t bad for your first action of the season, and Barnes seems cemented as the Warriors sixth man at this point. Barnes made his first attempted shot of the season — an elbow jumper — and hadn’t seemed to miss a beat. Expect to see a gradual increase in minutes as the games progress.
- I can understand wanting to feed the big men, especially if their backing down an inferior defender, but the numerous plays set for Jermaine O’Neal was painful. O’Neal wasn’t backing down JJ Barea, he was backing down Nikola Pekovic, one of the more ferocious interior bodies in the league. I’m not saying completely eliminate the Andrew Bogut or Jermaine O’Neal post-ups, but they shouldn’t be the first look on offense. Not even close.
- It’s early, but Toney Douglas doesn’t seem fit to run this offense. He can make the occasional three and be feisty on the defensive end, but running an offense to maximum efficiency isn’t one of his strengths. Iguodala is far more experienced and composed as PG in this league. With Douglas only playing 8+ minutes tonight, it seems that Mark Jackson agrees with me.
Toney Douglas should not get any minutes on a contender … I’d rather have Bazemore in there.