Warriors take care of business vs. Dallas, but little more

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Steinmetz

The Golden State Warriors took care of business on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, beating them 128-120 at Oracle Arena — their 52nd consecutive win at home. The game wasn’t a beauty, by any stretch, but it was plenty good enough to beat the reeling Mavs.

Coach Steve Kerr called the team’s defense “horrific,” which is no way for a team to head into the postseason. Then again, the Warriors are still getting it done — even when they’re not at their best. It’s the sign of a great team.

On Friday night’s “Dubs Postgame” show, we talked about several aspects to Friday’s game. You can download the “Dubs Postgame” show right here. Here are some of the talking points about last night’s game.

–J.J. Barea, Wes Matthews and Raymond Felton did some damage last night at the offensive end for the Mavericks. It’s obvious that teams are trying to attack Stephen Curry at the defensive end. Is that cause for concern if you’re a Warriors fan?

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No question about it, Warriors-Clippers rivalry is dead

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Steinmetz

There was a large media contingent at Warriors’ shootaround on Wednesday morning – just hours before their game against the LA Clippers at Oracle Arena. Supposedly, the rival LA Clippers.

But if the Clippers are, in fact, a big-time enemy of the Warriors why weren’t any of the Golden State players asked about them? It’s true that during a media session that included access to Stephen Curry, Festus Ezeli and Shaun Livingston at the team’s downtown Oakland practice facility, nobody asked any of them about the game against the Clippers later that night.

John Dickinson, my co-host on the “NBA This Week” on 95.7-FM The Game, was there. Not a peep about the Clips.

Reporters asked about the Warriors pursuing the Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins during the 1995-96 season, whether or not the plan was to rest any players as the season winds down, the preponderance of home games remaining, the status of Ezeli, etc. But not a thing about the Clippers.

There’s a reason for that. This ain’t a rivalry anymore. Since the LA Clippers eliminated the Warriors two years ago in the postseason’s first round – in a seven-game series in which starting center Andrew Bogut didn’t play – Golden State has flat-out owned the Clippers.

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Spurs didn’t need victory over Warriors, but it sure helps

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Steinmetz

That was a heck of a regular season game between the Warriors and Spurs on Saturday night. In the end, San Antonio got it done, beating the Warriors 87-79, but more important than the win itself for the Spurs is the tangible evidence that they can now beat the Warriors. Sure they believed it coming in, but now they know it and have proof.

Of course, the Spurs were at full strength, and the Warriors were missing Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala and Festus Ezeli, but Golden State had lost only a half-dozen games coming in. You take any sliver of hope you can get against them. And the last two wins by Golden State were blowout wins. So the Spurs may have needed a little something to hold onto — even if they’d never admit it.

It wasn’t a game in which both teams are going to say they played well in, but it was a game both teams competed awfully hard in. Here are some quick thoughts about this one:

—The Spurs did a terrific job of running Stephen Curry – and Klay Thompson — off the 3-point line and rushing him just a hair when he did seem to have a split-second. Yes, Curry made the necessary adjustment and started penetrating more, where he found a lot of open terrain and room to finish at the rim.

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