If ever the “tale of two halves” cliché applied, it was in the Golden State Warriors’ 117-101 ambush of the Brooklyn Nets Thursday, their sixth straight win.
The Warriors trailed by 16 at the half before eventually winning by that same margin. When their defense finally showed up, the Nets were no match for it.
“They played defense!” savvy veteran Andre Iguodala explained of his teammates in the second half. “Just locked in. They got their act together.”nfl nike jerseys cheap china
Some things are bigger than December basketball, and witnessing the birth of one’s child certainly qualifies. So, in the wee hours of game day, Golden State’s Draymond Green slipped out of the team’s Manhattan hotel and rushed to nab a flight across the country. As the power forward traversed America for the birth of his son, Draymond Jr., Golden State prepared to play the Nets, sans shootaround.
The Warriors certainly looked like a team lacking preparation. If Green was understandably absent, his team was less-understandably late. Their first-half defense was lethargic and forgiving. The Warriors weren’t getting back on defense, much to Steve Kerr’s chagrin. The Nets feasted on back cuts and open 3-pointers. Brook Lopez dined most greedily of all, seizing 23 first-half points.cheap nike nfl jerseys paypal
“We were making a lot of mistakes [in the] first half defensively, first of all,” Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, who had a season high 15 points and 14 boards, said. “No communication, a lot of miscues. Maybe because a lot of travel, yesterday or time difference, but we definitely weren’t playing our game. We weren’t getting back on defense in transition.”
If the Warriors were to get back in this one, they needed to respond, quickly.
Or perhaps not. Judging by how the Warriors seized this game by the throat, they could have waited a while before restoring order. The third quarter kicked off with a Stephen Curry steal against Jeremy Lin that led to a Kevin Durant dunk in Lopez’s face.
