Warriors Rewind: 10 thoughts on Warriors 103, Kings 94

Having just finished a game less than 24 hours earlier against Denver (and at the end of 3 games in 4 nights), the Warriors, predictably, came out flat and couldn't get their offense going against their Nor Cal neighbors in Sacramento. Fortunately, they were able to rely on their quick-twitch defense, jump passing lanes (21 Kings turnovers), and get just enough offense in the fourth to stay unbeaten (7-0) against the moribund Kings.

(On a side note, there was a moment in this game where I really started to wonder what it is I'm doing with my life. Instead of watching the Dubs play the Kings (sans Demarcus Cousins), wouldn't my time be better spent volunteering at a soup kitchen or helping an old lady cross the street or something? If our time on this earth is ephemeral, is Ws-Kings in early November really how I want to be using it? NBA basketball games really shouldn't lead to an existential crisis but, whatever -- Dubs Fo' Life!)

Here are 12 thoughts from the game:

• Rajon Rondo finished with a triple double (14, 12, 15), while Curry shot 2-10 from threes and had a bunch of silly turnovers. Two years ago I don't think you'd get an argument that Rondo had the better game between the two but, in 2015, with "pace and space" dictating modern NBA offenses, I'm not so sure. Rondo's non-shooting allowed the Ws to play off him and basically keep a "free safety" defender a step outside the lane (like when Bogut was switched onto Tony Allen in the playoffs) which, in turn, allowed the other Warriors defenders to stay home on Kings shooters (which led to an awful lot of Rudy Gay long-twos with a hand in his face). Rondo's complete inability to hit a jumper clogs up their offense so bad that he wasn't even on the floor going down the stretch last night when the Kings made a mini-comeback against Houston. Contrast that to Curry who, on one play (two minutes left in the fourth), drew two Kings defenders out with him to the three point line freeing Thompson for a wide open layup. And this was on an off night! Curry's offensive gravity pulls so many defenders into his orbit that the rest of his teammates get free for open threes and dunks. It's not a perfect stat but Rondo finished with a 0 in plus-minus. Curry, on a night where he missed 8 threes, leveraged that shooting ability to a +6. Pace and mofo-ing space.
• The Warriors shot 8-39 from three-point but still managed to get the win. This is remarkable in that, even last year, I think the Ws would have given up somewhere in the fourth, and consoled themselves with, "just an off night. We'll get the next one." That's what most NBA teams do. But when your team has a chance at 70 wins, you have to pull these games out. Even when your jumper isn't falling and your best player has two times the number of turnovers (6) to assists (3), you can't lose to Sacramento in what is essentially a home game (judging by the clearly audible MVP chants for Curry at the free throw line). Oh, it helped that the Dubs were playing the Kings, who are not good at basketball.
• The PA announcer for the Kings just says "Willie" after Willie Cauley-Stein made baskets. Is that because "Cauley-Stein" is too long to say? Is this like when Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo just became "Mutombo." If it is, I'm all for it. Someone tell Karl Anthony-Towns he's just "Towns" now.
• Maybe Festus heard all that talk about his vast improvement since being inserted in the starting lineup because he definitely looked like he was feeling himself on offense taking 4 shots in the game's first 4 minutes, including a jumper (albeit with the shot clock winding down). I'm not sure a Festus feeling-himself-on-offense is what I want for the Warriors. I want blocks and quick rotations on D and dunks on O and that's it. If Swagzeli can manage to shoot over 50% on free throws, even better, give him a trophy with Dwight Howard's bust on it.
• After a Harrison Barnes breakaway dunk early in the game, the entire Warriors bench stood up and flapped their arms in unison to soar with the Black Falcon. I like this. NBA benches should openly and facetiously mock their own teammates more.
• I don't think enough was made about the Kings disaster of an off-season. Sacramento, with a giant hole at point guard, had the number 6 pick in the draft, and ample cap space from an ill-advised trade with Philadelphia. But all they came away with was Willie "dont call me Cauley-Stein" to be their backup big, and Rondo as their starting point guard. We just watched Emmanuel Mudiay (the 7th pick) start for the Nuggets last night. The kid can play. He's big, strong, can already get into the lane at will, and was mature enough to handle playing one year professionally in China at the age of 18. I spent a month after college backpacking in China and that almost made me insane (though I do think Taiwan and Hong Kong are slept on as travel destinations). I don't know what Mudiay will become for the Nuggets, but I know he'll have a long NBA career. Rondo? He might be playing for the Guangdong Southern Tigers (Mudiay's former team) team in 24 months. But, okay, let's say Rondo hits the rejuvenation juice hard and is able to ressurect his career with the Kings. What then? Because the Kings' GM, Vlade Divac (say that out loud and try not laugh) signed him only to a 1 year deal, even if Rondo has a great season the Kings would lose him to the highest bidder this off-season when 20 teams will have max-level cap room. That or the Kings will have to give him a giant contract that they'll probably end up regretting since the guy is playing on a rebuilt knee, will be in his 30s, can't shoot, and is afraid of free throws. Why didn't the Kings add a plus-one team option on that $10 million deal? Does Vlade Divac know you can add a plus-one team option on contracts? What other team was going to offer Rajon I-quit-on-the-Mavs-in-the-playoffs Rondo $10 million?Sacramento had all the leverage and somehow managed to only come away with a one year rental with no upside. I'm incredulous. I feel bad for my friends who are Kings fans.
• That was a nice gesture by the coaching staff to put Jason Thompson in the game early in the first quarter against his former team. Good team harmony is a nebulous thing, but I think giving shine to bench players in early November can make that holiest of intangibles a little easier to form.
• With about 2 minutes left in the fourth, Harrison Barnes drains his first free throw. He steps forward to dap both Green and Iguodala. He then reaches only his left hand back without looking to get a dap from Steph. No one was behind him on his right for a dap. How did HB know no one would be there? He didn't look. Klay was the Warrior who didn't offer the show of support. Does Klay have a rep for being an anti-dapper? Are Klay and HB having a falling out? Someone get Ethan Sherwood Strauss on this quick.
• Stephen Curry, like Kobe and MJ used to, is clearly in that stage of his career where he uses any perceived slights or passive-aggressive comments from opposing players/coaches as fuel for the game. Oh what, former-coach Alvin Gentry said AD is the best player not named Lebron James? Here's 24 points in the first quarter on opening night. What? James Harden still thinks he should've won MVP? Here's a quick 25 points in 27 minutes. So when Seth Curry was announced out of the contest before tip-off, I thought Steph would probably take a back seat coming off a back-to-back, and playing against a weak team, and let the supporting cast do the heavy lifting. But had Seth played, like any decent older brother, Steph would've want to destroy his little brother on TV. Too bad for us, the viewers.
• There was a point in the first half where the Warriors had gone 2 of 18 on threes but were still up 40 to 30 on Sacramento. Again, the Kings are not good at basketball.
• I watched the game on League Pass via the Kings' telecast. When Marco Bellinelli makes a three, their color-man (Grant Napear?) yells out, "Marco from the beyond the Arco!" This is not great. It lacks any wit or creativity. That's like me finding a simple rhyme-scheme and, when Curry of Thompson drains a three, yelling "Steph from depth!" or "Klay from the Bay!" Again: not great.
• Thompson fouled Bellinelli on a 3-point attempt three times. That's 9 free throws. Usually I'd say those are ill-advised plays on Klay's part (he sure loves silly fouls), but I'd rather three Bellinelli free throw attempts than another "Marco from beyond the Arco!"