Golden State Warriors: Week 18 Recap
It was a short week for the Dubs, as NBA games resumed post-All Star break. Some games were epic while others looked like players had a break.
The Golden State Warriors fell into the latter category.
Aside from the obvious roster additions and subtractions, the Dubs also came out of the break with James Harden and crew waiting for them in San Francisco.
The Rockets, a team currently fighting for the third seed out west, played like a playoff team.
The Warriors were clearly outmatched right out the gate. The Rockets jumped out on the young Golden State squad, ending the quarter up 38-17. The Warriors couldn’t make up the ground after that.
With that said, there still managed to be some sort of conflict. And of course that conflict came in the form of Russell Westbrook.
With his team leading by 35 points with six minutes left in the game, Westbrook elbowed Warriors guard Damion Lee while the two were battling for a rebound, and the pair subsequently exchanged words.
The argument somehow then spilled over to the Warriors' bench, where Wesbrook could be seen yelling at the seated Marquese Chriss, Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson, with Chriss and Thompson talking back to the former member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Camera's caught Klay mouthing to Westbrook what looked like could’ve been along the lines of “what you so mad about bro?”. When Westbrook was escorted away from the Golden State bench, he bumped into Kevon Looney and proceeded to yell at the big man, at that point visibly rattled.
He was then assessed his second technical foul of the game, triggering an automatic ejection, and heard some love from the Chase Center crowd as he walked off the court. After the game, he complained that the NBA, the media and fans are trying to "paint him" as the "bad guy."
So, yeah, that was weird. The moment felt like an awkward pause on a big Spot commercial, but it did feel good to see the Warriors band together. Despite half the team being new to the Golden State culture, some being on 10-day contracts, they came together to stand up for Lee-- kind of like a brotherhood. That type of bond is something that creates championship chemistry and is great for television.
Speaking of television, the Dubs ended their week facing off against the must-see rookie, Zion Williamson.
The beloved rookie has averaged 22 points on 57% shooting throughout one month of play and has brought the Pelicans back into playoff contention.
Kerr compared Williamson to NBA Legend and favorite television uncle, Charles Barkley.
“If you look back at Charles when he was in his prime,” Kerr said. “That kind of explosiveness with the strength The ability to kind of get down hill, be a one man wrecking crew. That would be the first guy to come to mind for me"
To combat Williamson, the Warriors signed 7’1 center Dragan Bender to a 10-day contract… not really. The Dub’s signed Bender in hopes to find another big man who can knock down the outside shot. In the G-League, Bender averaged 20 points and 8 rebounds on 38% shooting from three.
In his debut as a Warrior, Bender scores six points on 2-8 shooting. Moreover, rookie Jordan Poole has found his stroke, averaging 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steal in that pair of contests.
The rookie had already been coming on since before the All-Star break, as he had five straight double-digit scoring performances heading into a Sunday night’s matchup against the Pelicans.
Poole finished Sunday night’s game with 19 points on 8-14 shooting.
Moving forward, the Warriors front office will use the rest of the season as an evaluation. Who stays? Who gets shipped out? Who is the future?
More importantly, each day that passes is another day we are closer to the return of Stephen Curry. Besides the most exciting player in the league lacing them up again, Curry’s return will give Warriors' GM Bob Myers a chance to see how each player meshes with the Warriors’ superstar.
Currently, Curry is aiming for a March 1st return against the Washington Wizards.
Moving forward the Dubs have their highway rival the Sacramento Kings Tuesday night then the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night. They finish their week with a back to back that starts in Phoenix then ends in the Bay—hopefully with the return of Curry.
You can catch the Warriors face off with De’Aaron Fox and crew Tuesday night at 7:30 PST on NBC Bay Area.