The Week that Was:
Even though the Warriors played four times since my last column, this truly boiled down to one game. Chicago played their full complement of players and the United Center had all of the intensity of a big game. Despite all that pressure, Golden State rode a career high in points from Draymond Green (including seven threes) while forcing an astonishing twenty-two turnovers to extend their winning streak with a double-digit win.
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Beyond that, they escaped with a narrow win against Orlando after a clutch Stephen Curry three, manhandled a clearly inferior Pelicans bunch and cleaned Minnesota’s clocks despite Andrew Bogut leaving the game in the first quarter.
This Warriors team is legit and deserves all the big talk after decades in the wilderness.
The Soapbox: The Essential Bogut
I said on Ted Ramey’s show on KNBR 1050 last Friday that I would have a healthy Warriors team favored over every other NBA team except the Spurs and this week showed why. They dominated Anthony Davis and the Pelicans, outplayed the Bulls on the road and won two games where they did not play particularly well. As Andrew Bogut excitedly said after they beat Orlando, winning games despite playing badly is what good teams do.
Sadly, Monday’s game against Minnesota showed just how invaluable Bogut has become to this team. While many will focus on the defensive side of the ball (which makes intuitive sense because Bogut is a Defensive Player of the Year contender), I noticed a huge difference in the offense. While Mark Jackson woefully underutilized the Aussie, he has become a pivotal cog in Steve Kerr’s offense. While Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights are talented players in their own right, neither comes close to replicating Bogut’s skill set. We sometimes forget that Bogut was the #1 overall pick in no small part because of his offensive ability even though injuries have sapped some of that away over the years.
While the Warriors ended up getting a clean win and putting together a decent offensive performance, they were much sloppier and discombobulated on both ends. Of course, losing a key player of the course of a game will have that effect but it will be worth watching moving forward.
Any good NBA team suffers when one of their top players misses time but even what turned out to be convincing win over Minnesota clearly showed Andrew Bogut’s central role in the team’s unprecedented start.
The Week to Come:
No wiggle room this week as the Warriors face three legitimate challenges. Even without Dwight Howard, Houston has played incredibly well behind James Harden. Having that game at Oracle should be a huge help. After that, the Dubs start a three-game road trip against the NBA’s #1 offense in Dallas and then travel to New Orleans to face Anthony Davis and the Pelicans on the tail end of a back-to-back.
Without knowing the severity of Bogut’s right knee irritation, making a prediction is tough but I will go with 2-1. The loss could come either Wednesday or Saturday since both games are challenging but entirely winnable.