(By e.Chang)
Currently: 10-8 for the season; 8th place in the Western Conference.
Last Week:
@ Pelicans (WON)
@ Mavericks (lost)
@ Thunder (lost)
@ Kings (WON)
This Week:
Tue: home against the Raptors
Fri: at Houston against the Rockets
Sat: at Memphis against the Grizzlies
There isn’t much to say with only 18 games under our Thanksgiving enlarged belts, but we can say this: the Western Conference is strong. The Golden State Warriors are currently at 10-8, a record which would place them in 3rd place in the East — in the West, they’re in 8th. In this conference, the Warriors don’t have the luxury of hoping that the seven teams above them will sputter and stall. Nope. The Warriors are going to have to go into their houses and beat them straight up. But they haven’t.
Remember last week when Russell Westbrook nailed a 3-pointer putting the Thunder ahead with only 2.3 seconds left on the clock, just enough time to watch Andre Iguodala float one in to win it for the Warriors? Yeah, Westbrook didn’t make that mistake again. Last Friday, the Warriors were at Oklahoma City, and in overtime, Westbrook again sunk a 3-pointer. But this time, he only left 0.1 seconds on the clock and that was that.
The Warriors, thus far, have yet to prove that they can win on the road against the big boys. They salvaged last week’s road trip with wins over the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings, but only by three points between the two games against mediocre opponents.
Thankfully, the Dubs come home tonight to take on the Toronto Raptors. The 1st place in the Atlantic Division Toronto Raptors. The 4th place in the overall Eastern Conference Toronto Raptors. The 6-10 Toronto Raptors. Seriously, they have won six games, lost ten, and are in 4th place in the East. I had to triple-check that. Then I did a triple eye-roll. Prediction: Warriors win this one. They’ll have to, because they hit the road again, traveling to Houston, Memphis, and Charlotte. At least the food should be good.
*****
The Warriors miss Iggy. Since his injury, the Warriors have won only two games out of six (including the Laker game in which he was injured). In those games, the Warriors went from one of the best defenses in the NBA to one of the worst, giving up 10 more points per 100 possessions. And it shows. Before Iggy went down, only two teams scored more than 100 points against the Warriors. Since the injury, each of the Warriors' six opponents scored in the triple-digits. They say Iggy is coming back soon, but that can’t come soon enough.
