Timberwolves 110 Warriors 113 (OT)

Thoughts were running through my mind near the end of the fourth quarter about how I would start this blog entry. Admittedly, I even started typing a sentence or two before I realized we were making a run. Within a few moments I had deleted it all as the Warriors capped the 4th on a 9-0 run to send them into overtime and ultimately win the game 113-110 in OT. The bottom line is this game was nearly a HUGE disappoint to another weak opponent, and there is no way we will have any shot to the make the playoffs if we keep playing this way, but since we won the game I think some celebration is in order so I'll try and stick to the positives:

I think the obvious key to this game was defense down the stretch. Yes, we certainly had our troubles earlier in the game, particularly in the 3rd quarter when we allowed 37 points (and only scored 25 points ourselves), but what allowed us to make a run in the final minutes was a thing taught back all the way in middle school: ZONE DEFENSE. Desperate to make get any type of momentum on his side, Don Nelson went with a very effective zone defense down the stretch that allowed the Warriors to end the game on a 16-1 run. If I'm not mistaken he also went to the zone late in the 2nd quarter and I found it to be just as effective. Whether it was because of the opponent's lack of offensive ability (I mean, it was the T-wolves), or the zone's actual effectiveness, one way or another it was huge for the Warriors tonight and ultimately led to the win. I don't think it'll work as effectively as the top dogs in the Western Conference, but I think if Nellie uses it every once in a while it can be quite effective.

The Warriors don't have many wins this season, but it seems like every time they get one, they live at the line. I remember a game earlier this year when (with Maggette) the Warriors went to the line 52 times. Tonight, they went to the line 37 times and hit a very respectable 29 of them (78.4%). What kills this team in their losses is a lack of ball movement offensively and when they settle for the long range jump shot. When they are able to penetrate and get to the line, it frees up their outside shot later in the game and makes it more effective. Not only did this team rack up 37 FTA's but they connected on 42% of their threes. This tells me that they were very balanced offensively, and it's something I would like to see more of, particularly when Maggette comes back from his injury.

The youngsters simply came up huge tonight so they need to be mentioned. Brandan Wright played a major role tonight, and was impressively in the game for the Warriors for every crucial late minute of the ball game. I thought his defense was solid, and his presence led to some shot changes and even pass changes that were key for this team tonight. He and Anthony Randolph actually had the biggest +/- tonight with +8. I really enjoyed watching Randolph grab a board and push it on the break. It's really impressive, and it will become even more lethal once he learns what to do with it once he gets to the other side of the floor more consistently. Both our shooters, Anthony Morrow and Marco Belinelli also had huge performances in limited minutes tonight. Morrow seemed very confident, and Belinelli actually played with a lot of aggression tonight. It seemed like every time he touched the ball he wanted to show Nellie something. I don't think that will work every night as it will lead to a few bad shots but it certainly worked tonight for an impressive stint.

All in all, take this win with a grain a salt. We barely beat a weak team at home, and until that last 9-0 run we looked pretty bad. This team isn't healthy yet but hopefully by Thursday Maggette will be back and we'll get a better understanding of where we stand in the NBA.

Top Performances
1. Stephen Jackson- He hit some big shots, and carried us in Overtime. I didn't like that we ran so many ISO's to him but he hit some clutch jumpers and they were huge. He finished with 30 points and 5 assists

2.Andris Biedrins- Another stellar performance. I don't think we gave him the ball enough tonight in the post but regardless of how much we look at him, he still gets his numbers. He finished with 13 points and 15 boards.

3. Kelenna Azubuike- He had a few charging calls that got me pretty frustrated but the fact is he got us buckets when we really needed them. He finished with 22 points and 8 boards