Warriors and Bobcats - Recap

It’s definitely not fun to write about a Warriors team that loses. It’s even worse to write about a Warriors team that loses to the Charlotte Bobcats, but that’s what happened tonight as the Warriors fell 115-111. For the third time in the last four games, the Warriors started the game off sluggishly and dug themselves into a giant hole that they were not able to climb out of. Once again ,they found themselves down double digits at halftime to an inferior team. Not only did the Warriors shoot very poorly in the first half, but their defense was nonexistent. To me, it seems a little strange that one player’s injury can be the difference between a top defensive team and one of the worst in the NBA. Since the Andre Iguodala injury, the Golden State has been one of the worst defensive teams , including last night where they allowed the Charlotte Bobcats the highest point total of their season. Not only was the defense poor, but the Warriors were very careless with the ball, recording 15 turnovers. The Warriors were able to tie the game at 88 early in the fourth quarter, but three turnovers in a row lead to a 7-0 run by the Bobcats. It was too much to overcome, and they lost on a night where Steph Curry scored 43 points.

Despite this putrid loss, there were a few things that I liked on both sides of the ball. In the second half of games this season, the Warriors have been a very good three-point shooting team and it showed tonight. They went 1-12 from behind the arc in the first half and 10-25 in the second. Both Steph and Klay Thompson struggled in the first half and turned it on in the second as the Warriors sparked a run. It was also nice to see a confident Harrison Barnes, who has looked very strong on the offensive end since the Iguo injury. I also noticed solid stretches on the defensive end by the Warriors. It’s almost like Golden State has been playing with an off/on switch of late. When they need to get back into games, they just seem to turn it up a notch on the defensive end. This always creates offensive opportunities for them. When the Warriors are playing solid defense they are almost unbeatable. Let’s move on to Matt’s home improvements.

Matt’s Home Improvements

1. Cut Down on the Turnovers

I wrote about it a bit already, but this and offensive rebounds continue to hurt the Warriors. The Warriors didn’t have to worry about offensive rebounds tonight because they let the Bobcats make everything; but it is still a glaring issue for them. Again, tonight for them the key was turnovers. They were outscored by 17 on points off turnovers. It wasn’t just the sheer number of turnovers that killed the Warriors either but the times they “decided” to turn the ball over. The biggest was an offensive foul by David Lee as Klay Thompson popped open to shoot a wide-open three to take the lead in the fourth.Then the next two that followed gave the Bobcats a 7 point lead. When the Warriors keep turnovers and offensive rebounds down they are tough to beat.

2. Start the Game with an Aggressive Mindset

The Warriors started the game slow and it made it very difficult for them to win. With teams like Toronto and Charlotte, the Warriors need to attack early. If they can build an early lead, they can cruise the rest of the way. It is very hard for the Bobcats to put any offensive possessions together and they know this better than anyone (as most bad teams do). Getting up on them early kills their confidence and diminishes their effort. Allowing them(or bad teams) to lead or hang around just gives them extra confidence and makes it more difficult for you to win. The Warriors have already proven they are a great second half team, so if they come out strong it will make it that much harder for every team to beat them.

As I stated earlier this is a tough loss to swallow if you are a Warriors fan. The good news is they play five of their next six at home. The bad news is all of those games are against Western Conference opponents and finding wins will be tough. On a side note, since no one is coming out with any new about Andre Igoudala’s injury I would have to say that he won’t be back until after Christmas. If there is no news about his immediate return two weeks in than odds are it’s a grade two tear, since reports have come out that he doesn’t need surgery. A grade two tear takes about 4-6 weeks to heal and this means he should be back right after Christmas. If the Warriors can stay a couple of games over .500 until he returns it will be a big win for them. With that said, Josh and I will be meeting for a running commentary on the Mavs game this Wednesday, which means it should be a great game. Until then, let’s just sit with this pitiful loss.