Golden State: 110 Atlanta:117

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. This years version of the Golden State Warriors are perhaps the most fustrating and at the same time unperdictable team you will see in a while. However this game was just one of those utter fustration losses. The Warriors just let Atlanta take them to the house with horrible defense, turnovers (14 of them) and a lacksadical shot selection. Indeed Golden State were without emotional anchor Stephen Jackson and rebounding specialist Stephen Jackson but the inability to rotate whenever Joe Johson or Mike Bibby was open pretty much confirmed even if Beans and Captain Jack had been there it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Boxscore



The depressing bit about theis loss was the Hawks tried to hand the game to the Dubs. They had 20 turnvovers somethng the Warriors never captilized on. Perhaos you could tell this from the jump. The theme seemed to be relexation with several of the jumpers falling short plus overthrown passes, passes to no one, majorly clanking shots etc etc. You can't consider yourselves a playoff contender team if you beat the likes of the Celtics but play to Atlanta's ability. Thats not making fun of Atlanta in anway they were just too athletic and skilled for the Warriors tonight. Josh Childress practically got every offensive rebound in existence and Zaza Pachulia was a match for Crosshere inside

Had it not been for Baron Davis and his constant efforts to keep the game as close as possible this would have been an embarrassment. He took a record high 27 shots most of them coming off drives off Salim Stoudemire. Chris Webber also showed why he has a reputation for being a terrific passing big man. He still had 3 TO but I'm giving the Philly and seattle game to see is he really a worthwile contribution instead of Brandon Wright.

Wright to be honest showed how to play non garbage time minutes. He held his own perfectly against Smith and Hortford and his mid-range jumper looked smooth. There were no awkward shot attempts by Wright to take his man off the dribble. His rebounding were vital in not giving the Hawks second chance points. He might be able to build on this game and become a regular contributor much like Monta and Barnes did when J-Rich got injured during the stretch run.

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This pretty much reminded me of why didn't the Warriors get someone like Artest to help out on the defensive glass. Much like what the Lakers did when Bynum went down they immediately went out and got Gasol. I'm not saying we can easily do such a thing but not making a trade for a solid role player when your starting Center is out indefintely hurts. Even though it's encouraging to see Wright get his 8 points and finally look like someone we got rid off Jason Richardson for the lack of depth when you compare it to someone like New Orleans will hurt us long term.



Simply put like they do coming off a win over the Eastern Conference's top team Golden State lacked urgency and played down to the level of their opponents. Even though Denver lost Houstons win essentially means games like this can't happen anymore if we want to make another playoff appearance. On the other hand a bad performance is usally followed by a good one. If thats the case watch out Seattle!