Airballs landing on teammates' heads.
Underhand alley-oop passes to fans in the third row.
Multiple three-quarter court shots to beat the 24-second clock.
An All-Star guard catching the ball to shoot while standing out of bounds.
Andris Biedrins using a spin move off the dribble.
There was a little bit of everything — except, maybe, fundamentals and execution — at Oracle Arena on Friday night. It wasn't exactly the way the Warriors wanted to re-introduce themselves to the post-Giants Bay Area crowd but they'll certainly take an 85-78 win over the Utah Jazz.
While all of the above made for a thoroughly wacky night, none of those things qualify as the most absurd.
Check out these numbers, remembering the Warriors were playing the usually bigger, stronger and tougher Jazz.
The Warriors took 17 more shots thanks to 21 offensive rebounds. The Warriors, yes, the Warriors, outscored the Jazz 26-8 on second-chance points.
The Warriors won while scoring only 85 points. The Warriors won while shooting 35-of-93 (37.6 percent) from the floor. The Warriors won while shooting 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range. The Warriors won while shooting 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from the free-throw line.
And finally, the Warriors are 4-1 overall, 4-0 at home and 4-0 when outrebounding their opponent. Only the big, bad Lakers have topped the Warriors on the boards and on the scoreboard. and have outrebounded four of their first five opponents.
Friday night served as a perfect example of how to win even when you can't shoot. Which was exactly the plan when the Warriors' brass went about re-constructing the roster.
From the outset, the Warriors' shooting was off. They opened 5-of-21 from the floor in the first seven minutes but still led 12-10 thanks to a 13-8 edge in rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. They finished the first quarter 7-of-28 but still led 17-16, primarily on second effort.
They played tough defense (led by Monta Ellis' career-high seven steals), were helped out by an equally ineffective Jazz offense, and never quit crashing the boards. In fact, they outrebounded the Jazz for the first time since 2006.
Biedrins, showing determination and toughness around the basket on both ends of the court, led the way with 20 rebounds while David Lee added 15. Each had seven on the offensive end. For years, the Warriors have been on the opposite end of such a game.
Then, in the final minutes of a tight game, the Warriors got a little offensive outburst from Stephen Curry, seeing his first action since re-spraining his ankle in the second game of the year. Curry's fourth-quarter highlights included a behind-the-back pass to Lee for a dunk and a winding drive the length of the floor that ended with a spinning layup and fist-pumping slide across the floor. Curry scored nine of his 20 points in the final 2:35.
So what you end up with is a game the Warriors won because of their rebounding, defense and late-game execution. How many times in recent years could you say that?
For the record, the 85 points the Warriors scored is the fewest they've had in a win since they beat New York 83-81 on Nov. 6, 2005.
Ellis led the team with 23 points and Lee added 14.
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