#39: CHI @ GSW 1/18/10

PostThoughts

An excellent win, and our biggest since November in terms of scoring margin. The four scrubs were scrappily scrubby, rebounding well to make up for their offensive shortcomings... let's take a closer look at the four core guys that carried us here.

Stephen Curry had one of his finest games here, scoring 26 on 18 shots, grabbing a surprising ten boards and playing some excellent defense on Derrick Rose for stretches. He's still fouling too much, and he's still not making plays well, but hot dog, this feller can shoot.

In fact, we might do well to think of him as our "shooting" guard, because for all intents and purposes, Monta Ellis has been running the point for a couple weeks now. He did so quite nicely tonight, with eight assists against a mere pair of turnovers. That made up for an afternoon of unforgivable gunning, as -- credit to Geoff Lepper for the find -- Monta became just the twelfth player since '86-'87 to take 39 shots in a game. The passing, D and stamina were choice, but those 33 points did not come cheap.

Corey Maggette had just another day at the office, with 32 points on 14 shots, six boards and excellent passing numbers. He continues to make a pretty compelling case for an All-Star bid that will go unnoticed in the sea of Monta hype... he's scoring more efficiently and rebounding and passing better than Durant, and scoring more efficiently than any non-big except for Steve Nash. It's a sad joke that many still think this guy isn't a winning player... that's what you get for signing with the Warriors, I guess.

Finally, we told you: Andris Biedrins is fine. If anything, he was underused offensively here, as we could've used a few more screen-and-rolls when Monta went cold. Still a good center, still better than Joakim Noah, still underappreciated, still greasy. Attaboy, Andris.

Next up, the Nuggets come to town, with all the weapons they were missing the last time. That doesn't figure to be a pretty one, so it's a good thing that we scored a win here... the Oracle fans deserve a bone thrown their way every now and then.

LiveBloggin'

3:36 - Monta Ellis is in love with his new three-point stroke.

3:30 - Curry throws the ball away on a fast break, but hits a three the next time down to more or less ice it. He's not looking like a point guard, but he's looking like a player.

3:25 - The Bulls, quite sensibly, go to Hack-A-Biedrins, forcing Hunter onto the floor.

3:20 - Biedrins has an outside chance of getting the first block/rebound double double since Marcus Camby two years ago.

3:17 - If we pull this one out, strong team rebounding will be a big reason why. All six Warriors who've played more than spot minutes have at least five rebounds.

3:14 - Biedrins's eighth block leads to a fast break and a seven-point lead. Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing him get the ball... Monta's ice-cold, and Biedrins's passing instincts have been sharp.

3:10 - Thank you Mr. Tolliver.

3:01 - A fun 9-2 run, followed by an ill-advised spot-up three-point miss from Monta and two more missed free throws from Beans. Still and all, Dubs survive their nightmare quarter, and take a four-point lead into the final quarter. No Warrior has more than four fouls.

2:59 - Andris makes a free throw! Score one for the Oracle fans.

2:54 - Bad instincts by Martin -- with Biedrins available for a feed in the low post, he opts for an obviously doomed drive. Cartier Martin, you're no Anthony Tolliver.

2:52 - Grim little spill by Curry; his ball-handling has been real wonky of late.

2:50 - Tyrus Thomas, you just got Maggetted.

2:46 - The Salmons are jumping. Biedrins joins Maggette and Curry in the four-foul club and hits the bench. We need to survive their size for the rest of the third.

2:43 - Impressively quick release from Curry on that three-pointer, and two straight perfect passes from Monta. Signs of life here.

2:42 - Tolliver's just 2 for 9, but has six boards in 17 minutes; if he's going to rebound and play with this much energy, we can survive some bricks.

2:38 - Two wretched plays in a row: a tired Monta putting up a floater with no chance, and Curry wrapping Rose for his fourth. Maggette was also whistled for his fourth. No lead has ever been more tenuous.

2:33 - Nothing but listless jumpers from both Warriors and Bulls to open the third. The first team that shows some energy should enjoy a nice little run.

2:30 - We're the worst third-quarter team in the NBA, so it's hard to have a good feeling about this. More Maggette, fewer whistles... it shouldn't be that complicated of a formula. We'll see what happens here.

2:15 - Into halftime, with the Dubs clinging to a 54-53 lead. A classic Monta gunning display, with 19 points on 20 shots, and Curry's been bad; Maggette and Biedrins, on the other hand, have been great. The D-Leaguers are playing like D-Leaguers, so the foul trouble has cost us badly. We'll need both intelligence and luck to pull this one out, and we haven't seen much of either lately.

2:11 - This first half has been quite the Biedrins tableau, for both good and ill: tons of blocks and rebounds, but fouls and free-throw attempts to make one cringe.

2:06 - A Rube Goldbergian sequence ends with a Stephen Curry three. With each passing week, he looks better at shooting from distance, and worse at everything else.

2:04 - Three fouls apiece for Curry and Maggette, and a pair on Biedrins... bad news. Curry risks a fourth, but the refs take mercy on him and call Rose for a charge.

2:00 - Barnett states the obvious: that getting the ball to one of the ten hottest players in the NBA might be a good idea. Frustrating when we forget about Maggette... this is where a genuinely good playmaker would make a difference.

1:56 - Monta giveth and taketh away in his usual '09-'10 fashion. Always impressive, fitfully effective.

1:54 - A rare big Warriors backcourt here, with Monta at the one and Martin sliding up to the two. This could actually be a fairly effective combo, at least defensively.

1:50 - Tolliver has some beef and seems willing to foul. It's hard to imagine him not being more useful than Chris Hunter, at the very least.

1:48 - Nice play. Let's see if Biedrins can make his first free-throw this season.

1:46 - The villain has shown his face, and he calls himself...Pargo.

1:40 - Bulls trade two for one and Barnett is quiet.

1:33 - Curry's getting handsy. Ugh.

1:29 - Maggettelicious! Montastic! (hi, Doug)

1:28 - Great pace to this game so far. Ws look confident.

1:22 - I totally forgot how good Maggette is at drawing fouls...on the defensive end.

1:19 - It's awesome to see Monta really start to bring the 3-pointer to his game.

1:13 - A putback by Noah sets an ominous tone.

1:03 - Douglas and I are going to do some of that "liveblogging" all the kids go crazy for. We'll be starting the contest with Curry/Ellis/Maggette/George/Biedrins; Devean is the fourteenth player to start for us this season, and both Martin and Tolliver seem likely to join that list ere long. The Bulls counter with Rose/Salmons/Deng/Gibson/Noah.

A nice MLK tribute from Bob and Jim opens the broadcast.

PreThoughts

The Warriors' medical miseries continue: Anthony Morrow will miss 1-2 weeks due to a sprained right knee, joining Randolph, Vlad, CJ and Ronny among the most recently wounded. We have had to delve into the D-League for the third time just to ensure that we'll dress eight today. You know it's a weird year when Corey friggin' Maggette is third on your team in games played.

But there are some bizarre advantages to our short-handedness; CJ's absence, for instance, precludes some of the more deranged smallball variants Nellie's employed in recent weeks. And it's not like we're down to our scrubs, here. Three of our four best players -- Monta, Biedrins and Maggette -- are available and looking healthy (yes, Biedrins too). Steph Curry is having his best month as an NBA player, and has shown that he can play all 48 minutes without totally running out of steam. And while the Hunter/Martin/George troika doesn't inspire much confidence, our latest call-up, Anthony Tolliver, looks fairly intriguing; as a genuine power forward who shoots threes, he could actually be an effective smallball four, and should get no shortage of chances to be one. We have enough tools to compete here today.

We'll need them all, as the Bulls team we're facing is a far hotter team than when last we met; they've won ten of their last fifteen, and have beaten the Celtics, Magic and Hawks in recent weeks. Derrick Rose has caught fire of late, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah have continued their effective seasons, and Tyrus Thomas continues to play impact D even as trade rumors swirl. These Bulls are an effective Kirk Hinrich away from being a genuinely interesting team.

Happily for us, Hinrich shows no signs of improvement, the Bulls are only 4-13 on the road, and they don't draw many fouls, which means we have a shot at keeping our best dogs in the hunt. Foul discipline should be our single biggest priority; Curry, Monta and Biedrins simply can not afford to get into foul trouble today, and Maggette would be well-served to avoid it as well. If the whistles go our way, this should be a solid win, and a fun one at that. But if foul trouble nails any of our key players to the bench for long stretches, we're probably cooked.

Warrior To Watch: Andris Biedrins. The Bulls are a feeble offensive team, and only score effectively enough to win when they crash the offensive boards. We certainly won't win the rebounding battle today, but Andris needs to lead the charge to keep it close. The newest Warrior deserves an honorable mention here, as it will be interesting to see what comes of this latest stop in Tolliver's Travels.

Bull To Watch: Derrick Rose, to the surprise of no one. Flu-like symptoms will either hamper or sideline Hinrich, which adds to Rose's defensive responsibilities... he and Monta may well face off at both ends. A superstar should beat these Warriors today, so this will be a good test of Rose's progress towards that status.