The Warriors return home to face the last team they beat. 7 losses later, the Warriors need a pick-me-up; Monta Ellis needs to go Deron Williams on someone else. Reggie Williams, a left like CJ Miles, needs to throw down two-handed dunks in traffic and then hack someone's head off on the other end. There is a lot of pent-up frustration that needs to be released. The Warriors need to get their swag back.
Oracle, the "palace" that the Warriors have been typically unstoppable, has become an unhappy place as the Warriors are now .500 at home. The Warriors were able to steady the offensive firepower of Kevin Love and Michael Beasley last time they met. Since then, however, Darko Milicic has come on steady in the middle. Love is average a ridiculous 20 points and almost 16 rebounds a game. Beasley, averaging 21 points a game, has been a nice complement to Love -- both prime candidates for Most Improved Player of the Year. Though, someone needs to tell Beasley that he and Udonis Haslem might be the only two players left in the NBA that still rock braids. Seriously Beez, that's so 2005.
The Warriors have been trying a new offensive game plan, which has been to get Andris Biedrins and David Lee more involved earlier on. Unfortunately, that had terrible results yesterday as both shot a collective 7-25. The problem has been both have been over matched on the block in one-on-one situations -- either getting blocked or just taking heavily contested shots. But one of the benefits has been that they were able to draw fouls, with the Warriors collectively ATTEMPTING more free throws than their opponent. Problem is, they missed 11 of 31. I suspect both will shoot a little bit better...at least an 40% tonight.
The margin for error against the T-Wolves is a little bigger tonight. But with the way the Warriors have been playing, tonight, probably, will still be quite a challenge.