Apparently the Golden State Warriors like to play top-shelf Eastern Conference teams.
Coming into their meeting with the Orlando Magic, the severely depleted W's would be without as Stephen Curry, Dorell Wright and Kwame Brown due to injury, but have limited Dwight Howard and the Magic
The W's opened up with a 9-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as the Magic struggled for offense for most of the first half, aside from a nice run at the end of the haf to close the gap, playing most of the second quarter down double-digits.
David Lee and Nate Robinson have led the way thus far for the W's, with Lee dropping 17 and six boards while Robinson has 10 off the bench, as does Monta Ellis. Brandon Rush has played well in Dorell Wright's absence as well, scoring 8 on 3-4 shooting, though Andris Biedrins has only 2 points and three fouls thus far.
Golden State utilized the 'hack-a-Dwight' method towards the end of both quarters, deciding to take their chances at the line with the 40% or so free throw shooter instead of letting Orlando run offensive plays; and it's been working, kind of. Howard already has a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, though is shooting 5-11 from the floor and 9-18 from the charity stripe. Hedo Turkoglu has 10 points.
The Warriors are trying their hardest to keep Howard contained, who should have many more points than he already does. But if the W's can turn it on offensively in the second half and keep on sending Dwight to the line, they may get out of Dodge with a win.
For more on the Warriors, head over to Golden State of Mind.