Fresh off a 6 game losing streak, the Golden State Warriors enter Salt Lake City with their tails between their legs. Last week was bad, punctuated by the utter dominance of Lebron James last Friday, who made Bill Simmons (who made his ESPN color analyst debut that game) grunt in approval (very awkward to hear over the television when no one else is talking).
After reeling off a 7 game winning stream towards the end of November, the Jazz have been hot and cold, winning 2 of 5. Deron Williams, during this span, has been averaging monsterous stats: 25 points, 8 assists, and almost 2 steals a game. Al Jefferson has struggled with his shot lately, but averaging nearly a double-double in the last 5 games (15 and 9). Him and Paul Millsap (18 points, 8 rebounds) provide a tough front-line for the Warriors to match-up against on the defensive end.
But with the return of Louis Amundson and the healthy body in Ekpe Udoh, the Warriors have some reinforcements in fouls to give in case Andris Biedrins and David Lee get into foul trouble (most likely). Amundson has provided great minutes off the bench and Udoh looked remarkable in his one shot attempt. But at least he's officially in the books!
Golden State of Mind's Atma Brother #1 has the right attitude as we enter deep into the holiday season. With holiday cheer clearing coursing through his veins, AB1 talks about the "good news" going into tonight's game which includes highlighting Stephen Curry's tremendous free throw shooting (not his turnovers), Dorell Wright as one of the league leader in 3-pointers made per game (but shoots below 40% from the field for the season), and their league leading 9.5 steals per game (and perhaps their league leading fastbreak points given up to opponents).
No matter what the outcome, we have to be thankful for what we got. The Warriors are number 1 in the league...in the least number of free throws MADE per game at 14.7 and least amount of free throw ATTEMPTED per game at 20.0.
The Warriors are number 1! The Warriors are number ! The Warriors are number 1!