Monday, December 3, 2007

Golden State:117 Orlando 123: OT

Davis acknowledges how missed this opportunity was

It was bound to happen. A superb six game winning streak came to a harsh ending at the Oracle where this really was a winnable game that slipped out of Nellie and the teams hands. The shooting percentage was horrific 38% and warrior fans everywhere will be wondering just how Montas decided to take a 3 rather then drive in the games final poccession and a costly missed Free throw. Silly mental mistakes were the downer on Foyle's return night.

Boxscore

It almost seemed at the start that the Warriors were deliberately throwing the game away in the 1st quarter such was the awful performance. Davis played dumb playing lazy Defense and taking ridiculous shots which never helped. Why he kept shooting when they weren't falling is a mystery? They didn;t stay composed enough as a team something which has been evident in Philly, Toronto and Washington. Perhaps it had something to do with Dwight Howard who was very bit as good as advertised he finished with 23 points 18 Rebounds and 7 blocks but almost cost the Magic the game with his stupid technical foul for punching the standard underneath the basket. Hopefully Beans will take a lesson from this. It also didn't help our cause that Van Gundy's Offense constantly executes screen and rolls which means their Guards kept screening leaving Jameer Nelson open (boy could he shoot)and Keith Brogans and the rest of the supporting cast. Not many warrior fans expected major contribution from the rest of the Magic team but thats what happenned.



On the other hand as to be expected Jackson is ice cold. Seriously he dropped 25 points in the second half after remaining scoreless in the 1st. I would go as far as too say he gave us the resurgence to let us get back into the game. Defensively he wasn't the player we had seen against Phoenix or Washington but thats ok. Major props to his scoring contribution something which made the games as close as it was. Also credit to Monta despite the choking at the end with the missed Three he was just a couple of assists short of a Triple double. He's looking more confident out there. As for Beans considering who he was going against I didn't expect much but he pulled down a Double double an achievment. We also tied the Magic on boards 54 each so a minor victory indeed.

And lastly Foyles return. No he didn't have the numbers he put in LA in fact he obligingly had zero points but his contribution will be remembered for his block on Davis. To wrap it up despite the loss I'm optomistic. We took the hottest team in the East to OT and really all we need to fix is the dreadful 3 point shooting 9-40 and the odd mistakes to win our next two home games Bucks and the Heat. Would also like to gice credid to Matt Barnes who once again didn't have a huge boxscore stat but he managed to get open on Offense something which others struggled with. I'm worried about the rest of december. Yes the Bucks don't have the variety of inside options that tonights opponents do but they have a lot of outside ones. The Heat should be interesting in the fact it should be a Running game. And lastly in LA is a perfect dress rehearsal for San Antonio later that week. Both teams we have difficulties against more so the Lakers but should we win both we'll have moved on from this tough loss

No comments: