Monta Ellis looks grouchy. After scoring points and sitting down on the bench, he doesn’t look happy with the way things are going. Maybe he’s working on his Michael Jordan look of intensity. Or maybe he’s just pissed off.
Ellis has every right to be. The Warriors always get close on the verge of blowing this away until their mental errors, like turnovers cost them. Or getting the ball tapped out of your hands after a rebound. Just really poor court awareness. Monta Ellis included. He is definitely leading the Warriors in hustle with 4 steals already, but he also has caused some problems for his own team as he leads the rest of them with 6 turnovers ALREADY.
Running into rookie Gordon Hayward and veteran center Kyrylo Fesenko has helped the Warriors stay close in the third quarter. David Lee, unable to get anything going from the floor, has decided to charge into the paint to get to the line, netting 4-6. Reggie Williams is oddly better from the field than he is from the line (1-3). But the point is that they’re actually getting points from the line. They are shooting as many free throws as the Jazz, but unfortunately are making less than 50% of them (7-15).