It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Golden State Warriors did three things during their season opener against the Suns that you usually don’t see from this team. One, their two “stars”, Curry and Lee, shot a combined 4-30 from the floor. Two, their bench outscored their starters by a count of 46-41. And, three, they actually won the game despite all of the sloppy offensive play by getting some critical late defensive stops and rebounds.
The final score was 87-85, but at times it seemed like the Dubs might not even hit 70, let alone 80 points. They shot terribly from the field, turned the ball over way too much, and couldn’t get plays initiated at various times during the second half, but despite all of that, they won. Not only did they win, but the game concluded without having to mention anyone’s ankle being sprained or broken – double win.
So, what did we learn after game 1 of 82? Probably not a whole lot as the game was that ugly, but there were a few things that stuck out:
- Mark Jackson trusts his bench – possibly more than he trusts his starters. Landry was huge in the 4th quarter and the coaching staff rewarded him by drawing up the final play for him.
- If Bogut stays healthy, his presence will certainly lead to some wins for the W’s. He played 18 mins getting 8 points and 6 rebounds, but his big frame paid immense dividends on the defensive side as he changed shots and cleared boards.
- Steph looked good in terms of health, but he needs to do a better job at protecting the ball if he’s going to continue to be the crunch time point guard – 4 turnovers to 3 assists in 30 mins of play is not good.
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