|---THE WARRIOR ZONE---|Warriors Report: February 22-February 28, 2010February 28, 2010, 1:34 AM - Mediocrity continues to be the name of the game for the Warriors, who post yet another 2-2 week, capping a 7-6 month. We finish the second trimester hanging on to the eighth seed, after being leapfrogged by the red-hot Nuggets and Clippers. The month started out promisingly.
Steve Nash had another exceptional game as the Warriors blew out the slumping Celtics 107-92.
Anthony Randolph's beastly game against
Chris Paul and the new-look Magic was not enough however, as they lost 104-97, thanks to
Peja Stojakovic's season-high 30 points. The disappointment was followed up with a blowout loss in LA to the Lakers. Golden State stayed afloat with a ten-point win over the Nets to close the month.
Ricky Rubio has played very little as of late, due to the emergence of Nash and
Anthony Morrow. He has been primarily utilized as a defensive stopper, and only averaged just under two points last week. Fellow Spaniard
Rudy Fernandez went down with a strained Achilles in the Nets game that will keep him out two weeks, possibly opening up playing time for Rubio.
Anthony Randolph finished the month on a roll, averaging 22.7 PPG and 12 RPG in his last three games. His three-game run as top-Nelliepoint earner gave him a comeback victory over Steve Nash for monthly winner. Unfortunately, the above-average Western Conference has caught up to us, with the Nuggets and Clippers hitting their strides, taking the sixth and seventh seeds respectively. We are still 1.5 games above Dallas for the eighth seed, but for how long?
It turns out that this month is 13 games after all. Sorry to all misled prediction game players. I forgot to write the Thunder game in the schedule. 7-6 and 6-6 record predictions will get full points for team record.
Boston 92 @ Golden State 107February 22, 2010 - The Celtics posted a losing record in the month of February, thanks to a 1-4 Pacific Division road trip that included a loss in Golden State.
Paul Pierce was injured,
Kevin Garnett was ineffective, and
Steve Nash schooled young PG
Rajon Rondo as the Warriors blew out the visitors 107-92. The game was fairly close at first, with the Warriors taking a narrow 25-21 first quarter advantage. However, a scoring explosion by
Stephen Jackson helped Golden State cruise to a 61-44 half-time lead. The lead would prove insurmountable, as Boston would fail to make a run to get back in the game. The win gave the Warriors their thirtieth win, thus officially improving on last season, in which they went 29-53.
Player Of The Game: Steve Nash (25 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds)
Nelliepoints
1. Nash: 25/4/8
2. Jackson: 23/3/5
3. Biedrins: 13/10/2
RECORD: 30-25 Orlando 104 @ Golden State 97February 24, 2010 - The Warriors took out one division leader, but they wouldn't be so fortunate against the Magic. Despite a 57-48 halftime advantage, the Magic would make a large third quarter run, and hold off the home team in the final period to eke out the win. While the usual suspects (
Chris Paul,
Rashard Lewis and
Dwight Howard were sensational as usual, it was
Peja Stojakovic who stole the show. The man who New Orleans traded CP3 to
get rid of had a huge night, putting up a season-high 30 points on very efficient shooting. He outshined
Anthony Randolph who had 24 points and 15 rebounds, as well as
Anthony Morrow, who had a team-high 26.
Note: Joel Przybilla made his return from injury in this game. He scored 6 points on 3-3 shooting, and also had 4 rebounds in 14 minutes.
Player Of The Game: Peja Stojakovic (30 points, 6 rebounds, 11-16 FG, 5-8 3PT)
Nelliepoints:
1. Randolph: 24/15/4
2. Morrow: 26/5/2
3. Nash: 17/1/8
RECORD: 30-26 Golden State 97 @ Los Angeles Lakers 114February 26, 2010 - The Warriors have no answer for
Kobe Bryant. Their blowout at the hands of Bryant's Lakers made them regret the declining of Charlotte's offer of
Raja Bell for
Stephen Jackson somewhat. Despite
Anthony Randolph's second straight 20-10 game, the Warriors couldn't stop the Lakers, who shot a phenomenal 61% from the field as a team. The game was a blowout from the start. Kobe scored 18 of his 43 in the first quarter, and
Andrew Bynum contributed 22 points and 13 rebounds of his own. With the loss, the Warriors fell to eighth place, with the consequence being in position for a first-round playoff series with the Lakers. Uh-oh.
Player Of The Game: Kobe Bryant (43 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists)
Nelliepoints:
1. Randolph: 21/10/2
2. Fernandez: 20/1/5
3. Morrow: 18/3/1
RECORD: 30-27 New Jersey 99 @ Golden State 109February 27, 2010 - The Warriors beating the Nets at home wasn't a big surprise, but how they did it was. Abusing the Nets' soft frontcourt of
Brook Lopez and
Yi Jianlian, the Warriors had a 57-41 rebounding edge, helping them overcome a poor shooting night (41% to the Nets' 47%) to get the win. The Nets started the game out hot, jumping out to a 31-18 first quarter lead. Golden State tightened their Defense (again, wtf?), and shut down Nets leading scorer
Vince Carter in the second quarter to close the game. That momentum transferred into the third quarter. Lopez retreated to the bench with foul trouble, and the Warriors jumped out to a fifteen point lead going into the final period.
Chase Budinger had a career-high 12 points in garbage time as the Warriors capped the month with a 109-99 win, improving to 31-27.
Player Of The Game: Anthony Randolph (23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 9-11 FG)
Nelliepoints:
1. Randolph: 23/11/4
2. Nash: 19/3/9
3. Jackson: 20/3/6
RECORD: 31-27Nelliepoints StandingsFebruary:Randolph: 24
Nash: 23
Jackson: 19Morrow: 7
Fernandez: 3
Biedrins: 2
Overall:Randolph: 84
Nash: 62
Jackson: 61[/b]
Morrow: 19
Fernandez: 15
Biedrins: 12
Rubio: 7
[+] Rudy Fernandez | Strained Achilles | 2/27/09 | Out Approx. Two WeeksPacific Division Standings:(1) Lakers 40-19 | GB: 0
(5) Kings 36-24 | GB: 4.5
(7) Clippers 32-26 | GB: 7.5
(8) Warriors 31-27 | GB: 8.5Suns 26-35 | GB: 15
Playoff Picture:1. LA Lakers 40-19*
2. Portland 38-20*
3. Houston 37-21*
4. San Antonio 37-21
5. Sacramento 36-24
6. Denver 33-25
7. LA Clippers 32-26
8. Golden State 31-27----------
Dallas 30-29 | GB: 1.5
Oklahoma City 29-30 | GB: 2.5
New Orleans 26-31 | GB: 4.5
---Around The NBA--- Brad Miller was waived by the Phoenix Suns on February 23, then signed to the veteran minimum by the San Antonio Spurs on the 25th. Miller, 34. averaged paltry averages of 5 points and 3 rebounds on a predominantly young Phoenix Suns team. He joins a contending team where the only competition at his position is
Matt Bonner and
Ian Mahinmi.
Andrew Bogut is expected to miss six weeks with bone spurs. The injury is a major hit the the Bucks, who are barely hanging on in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. The Center is averaging a career high 16.3 points per game, and also averages 9.1 rebounds. Veteran
Kurt Thomas is expected to start in his place.
The 40-19 Lakers top NBA.com's Power Rankings at the end of the month. The new-and-improved Magic are placed second, the league-best Celtics are third, the 38-20 Blazers fourth and red-hot Denver Nuggets fifth. The Warriors are currently ranked 11th.
A six-game winning streak has the Denver Nuggets back in the spotlight, and the playoff picture. Undefeated since acquiring
Rasheed Wallace from the Pistons, Denver has risen to sixth place in the competitive Western Conference, holding a 33-25 record. They are Charles Barkley's dark horse team to make a deep playoff run. Shouldn't he have more faith
in his own team?
After playing just 11 minutes per game in the first half of the season,
Brandon Jennings has become the Nets' starting point guard. In ten games as a starter, he has averaged 15 points and 6 assists in 34 minutes per game. The smallball lineup consists of Jennings at the 1,
Devin Harris at the 2,
Vince Carter at the 3,
Yi Jianlian at the 4 and
Brook Lopez at the 5. The Nets are 4-6 with this lineup, but had a point differential of +1.7 in those games.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have hit a rough patch, and have fallen out of the playoff picture, and below .500. The Blunder went 4-8 in February, and some pundits cite the
Paul Millsap trade as the cause. However, the Thunder had a 6-8 January, and all-star
Kevin Durant referred to the defeats as "growing pains".