The Golden State Warriors are batting it out with the New Jersey Nets tonight as the Nets have a 51-49 lead at the Prudential Center in Newark.
The Warriors had a one point lead with 5 seconds to play but an untimely Steph Curry foul of D-League call up Sundiata Gaines put the Nets ahead late. The Warriors played a pretty good half as a team, shooting a decent 41% from the field and 50% from downtown, while committing only three turnovers for the entire half.
Reggie Williams was hot off the bench, scoring 10 points in the quarter including going 3-3 from downtown. Steph Curry had 7 points on 3-6 shooting, David Lee had 8 points and 6 boards, and Ekpe Udoh added 6 and a block off the bench. Monta Ellis was inexplicably absent from most of the second quarter, and it is uncertain if he is injured or if it was Coach Smart’s decision to give him some rest (something Monta almost never does). Hopefully we see him in the third quarter, the time he usually starts to take over.
The Nets had three players in double figures in the first half; Sasha Vujacic had 12, Brook Lopez had 12 with 7 boards, and former Warrior Anthony Morrow had 13. They shot about the same as the Warriors did in that half (41%, 50% from 3) but out rebounded the W’s 29-23.
It’s shaping up to be an excellent second half, let’s see which team wants it more.