Warriors forward Anthony Randolph sprained his left ankle during Golden State's 126-107 win over the Pacers on Monday and limped off the court in obvious pain. After the game, it was announced that Randolph would not travel with the team to Denver for Tuesday's game against the Nuggets.
He will be re-evaluated and how long he'll be out has not been determined. After Tuesday, the Warriors next game is Thursday at home against Houston.
More notes and observations from Monday's game:
-- CSNBA announcer Bob Fitzgerald noted that since 2007, teams traveling from the Pacific time zone to Denver to play the second game of back-to-backs are 1-17. And now the Warriors will be without another key player. Good luck.
-- The Monta Ellis numbers are certainly mind-boggling. He scored a career-high 45 points on 15-of-27 shooting and 14-of-16 on free throws. He added five steals and five rebounds before fouling out with 6:03 left in the game, the first time he went out. In the past five games, he's averaging 35.2 points in 43.4 minutes per game.
-- Besides his offense, Ellis has taken on the responsibility of defending the opposing team's top scorer. On Monday, he added Danny Granger to his list that recently included Brandon Roy and Kobe Bryant. Granger averaged 38 points per game in his last three against the Warriors, but was held to 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting with five turnovers. I made this point before when Ray Allen of the Celtics tried to post up Stephen Curry in an earlier game. But if Granger, who is an All-Star because he is among the league leaders in 3-pointers taken and made, decides to post up Ellis, is that a bad thing? Just by him adjusting to having a smaller defender on him, the Warriors took Granger out of his game and comfort zone. I think it's a mistake for these pure shooters to try to work on the block.
-- The Pacers had a 43-36 rebounding edge, but it seemed worse. Countless times, especially in the first half, the Warriors missed a shot and the Pacers had four guys battling each other for a rebound while no Warrior was in sight. Jeff Foster and Troy Murphy, not the most athletic duo in the league, combined for 19 rebounds. The Warriors finished with a grand total of four offensive rebounds -- and still, somehow, they get beat down the court repeatedly for Pacers' fastbreaks. If Mikki Moore, who had three rebounds in 18 minutes, is not going to block out and fight on the glass, how about giving Chris Hunter a chance?
-- When Ellis made that spinning, left-handed flip over his head in the third quarter, did you notice he showed almost no reaction, like he expected it to go in? Every night he's showing signs that he knows, not just thinks, he can dominate at the NBA level.
-- Not to pick on Moore, because sometimes when he had the ball in the high post nobody moved to give him any options, but he shouldn't be taking any 19-foot jumpers from the top of the key. That's the same shot everyone said Stephen Jackson shouldn't be taking because there are better shooters on this team. I don't think Moore is one of the guys we had in mind to take those shots instead.
-- Double dribbles, traveling and passes knocked away by defenders not even looking -- the Warriors need to work on the basics.
-- The 3-pointer Anthony Morrow hit to tie the game at 83 came after Corey Maggette passed up an open 3 and made the extra pass to the better shooter. Thank you, Corey.
-- Mike Dunleavy, who played 4 1/2 years with the Warriors before being traded in January of 2007, continued to get the rough treatment from the fans. He's was booed each time he did something and was not the house favorite when he was the one who drew the "questionable" charge for Ellis' sixth foul. The Dunleavy haters did get a bit of satisfaction down the stretch as he missed an open 3, was called for a charge and dropped a ball that nearly went out of bounds that turned into a turnover.
-- When the Warriors outscored the Pacers 75-50 in the second half, they played almost with a sense of desperation. That wild, high-energy game is where they excel, but can they do it for long periods of time with such a limited roster? They need to try.
-- The Pacers held a 29-27 edge in fastbreak points and a 58-48 edge in points in the paint. It's the first time this year the Warriors won when they didn't win the points in
-- Tuesday's game against Denver is at 6 p.m. and can be seen on CSNBA and be heard on KNBR 1050.
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Comments
Mikki should not be starting. His years in the NBA should not translate to minutes on the court. We've got people that need that time way more than him. He looks like a grumpy uncle off the couch. I have yet to see any value from him as a starter. Love his socks though!
I noticed Maggette passed up that shot too. It looked exactly like the ones he has been trying to shoot in rhythm all season, but he found Morrow instead. Are Maggette's 6 assists a sign of the apocalypse?
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