The Champs Reign, Suns Win, Golf Week!
The Warriors are my sleeper pick in the West. Prior to tip off of the Nuggets, Warriors on ABC all I could think was this is going to be the game. All of my suspicions are going to be confirmed about the Warriors. Kerr tweaked the lineups, has everyone mentally headed in the right direction, and has ultimately turned things around. Although that may be the case, I forgot in order to be the champs you have to beat the champs.
It was a beautiful 1st quarter in The Bay as 6th man Klay checked into the game. Klay scored 16 pts. in 1st quarter and 23 in the 1st half. Much like Klay the Warriors couldn’t keep the fire burning in the 2nd half. With a few minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter the Warriors were leading 61-47. From that point until about midway through the 3rd quarter the champs went on a 28-4 run and never looked back, walking away with a 119-103 victory.
I liked what I had to see with the Warriors. The new starting 5 is great, Klay off the bench, Kuminga peaking at the right time, and a potential return of Chris Paul to the lineup? This team is definitely headed in the right direction and pending getting into the playoffs are primed to make a run.
However, to be the best you have to beat the best and no one has shown they can consistently do that against the Nuggets. There is a bit of live and die by Jokic as the team's production wanes when he isn’t on the floor, but their chemistry, ball movement, and execution has proven to be unbeatable. Mike Malone has this team ready to repeat. They are still the team to beat in the West.
I’m still very bullish on the Warriors. I think Kerr has this team headed in the right direction and you can never bet against Steph Curry. There’s definitely more to come.
Lakers vs. Suns:
The story of the first half and most of the game was the unstoppable offense by the Suns. KD and Book did their thing. Add to it, Royce O’Neal, Grayson Allen, and crowd favorite Bol Bol, were hitting big shots and producing. Nurkic dominated the paint with bully ball, several times backing down AD or whoever was in the paint, to score at the rim at will.
The Suns took at early lead of 45-28 after the first quarter, scoring their most points in a quarter all season. The Lakers were able to weather the storm a bit and ended the half trailing 72-63. After a productive 3rd quarter, the Lakers closed the lead to within 5, but were ultimately unable to even the score as Phoenix closed out the 4th and walked away with the win.
For the Lakers it was nothing new. AD had a slow start with only 2 points in the first half ending with 22 total. Russell had a solid shooting game but it seems like its always take the good and the bad with him. He may hit 2-3 big shots in a row and even scored 18 pts. in the first half, but then have a few nonsense turnovers. The flow of the game appears off when Russell is running the offense. Reaves had a rather quiet day with 14 pts.
For LA, its ultimately live and die by the King. LeBron did his part (28 pts., 12 ast., 7 reb.) but his efforts weren’t enough. He brought the spark and energy every time he was on the floor. The Lakers didn’t play a bad game, the Suns just played a better one, and made LA pay for their mistakes. I don’t see this Lakers team as much more than what they are, a 9-10 seed. They’re in their place of the standings for a reason.
What’s Next:
It's an exciting week for golf, starting with Capital One’s The Match on TNT and ending with LIV Golf heading to Saudi Arabia to play their third event of the year. I plan to tune into the Mavs/Cavs game on Tuesday, curious how d-town can handle the beasts from the East. That’s it for now. We’ll see what the week brings.
Have a good Monday!
