Without Curry: Warriors 115-Memphis 109

Move to Thabeet

The Warriors were in control for the whole contest–if by that you mean they were leading. Golden State’s offense sputtered without Curry, the fulcrum. They narrowly escaped by the grace of Fts, threes and Thabeets. It was like watching the ocean slowly creep to a sand castle, only to be whisked back by a teasing tide. The Dubs held tight, and they’re now two games over .500 for the first time since “Fear the Beard” was about basketball.

Fun moment: When Hasheem Thabeet first entered the game

Ellis’s eyes lit up. Monta started jumping at him like Thabeet was a pile of autumn leaves. All the Warriors joined in on what looked to be a conscious, choreographed kamikazee attack.

(Leap at the foul machine, reap his sweet, sweet fouls)

In half an eye-blink, Thabeet was bench-bound, dragging three fouls hooked to his uniform. He would later come back to play passably.

Speaking of Monta

He was a controlled blur. Has Ellis ripped off the “overrated” tag from his jersey? The sample size is small, but Monta looks to be squeezing efficiency out of talent. I am not a fan of Ellis at point guard, for reasons that were muted this evening. He takes contested two-point shots, and–though he sees what’s in front–Monta lacks the peripheral sense to probe wider than the paint. Anyway, he created within the narrow confines of his drives, tallied eight assists, then used the fourth quarter to simultaneously thrill and calm the Oracle crowd. His shotclock-inspired  fadeway with one minute left, left Memphis bleeding from the throat.

Good luck chucks

Admire Dorell Wright’s performance, just don’t expect it to happen frequently. He hit seven threes, only one of which was a high-percentage corner shot. Wright also provided great closeout D and a disruptive presence from the wing.

Very Important Notes

• Pick and roll defense is always an adventure when Monta and David are involved. On the rare occasions when they play it right, I wonder if they both made the wrong choice en route to unintentional synergy.
• Rodney Carney is stomach-roiler in the Tony Allen mold. Odd to see him start the game, stranger to see how he started it. Carney was completely unbridled, unpolished, unwise athleticism.
• No Lin?
• The boxscore says David Lee shot poorly, rebounded well. That’s because he kept poking offensive rebounds at the iron.
• Why didn’t Lionel Hollins run a frequent press? Other than Curry, no one on this Warriors team can dribble or pass.

Also Very Important Notes

I was at Oracle tonight and finally got a taste of the surreal pre-game introductions. I love how the jumbotron displays giant player heads that hover behind a golden bridge. A glum Biedrins photo made him look like a massive sea monster, disenchanted with human snacks.

(Should I eat this windsurfing yuppie? Meh, so much effort to be the Loch Ness Biedrins)

Twitter: @SherwoodStrauss

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