Pups went into Oakland last night. Not the bloodbath I somewhat expected. The Warriors led 13-0 at the start of the first, and the Wolves came roaring back, ultimately losing the game by 8. As I am sure most teams and their fans feel, it was so frustrating to get the game tied or within a few, and then watch the Warriors do their thing. There's a reason why they are champs.
Refs helped them out a lot, but that's to be expected. Even if they didn't, not sure it would have turned the tide. Fun game to watch from the middle of the 1st quarter until the end.
A couple of observations:
The Warriors' starting five are going to be unstoppable with Demarcus Cousins. As we all know, they look effortless in their greatness, and with him added to the mix, that starting lineup won't be touched.
The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala (and Cook, I think...I don't recall seeing him, so if he was there, he has a forgettable game) last night, but even with Iguodala coming off the pine, their bench is REALLY thin. I don't know the numbers, but the Wolves' bench more than doubled their scoring output (and its not like the Wolves' starters didn't play well -- they did).
The Wolves (namely coach Thibs) are going to run Derrick Rose into the ground. He's playing too much, and when on the floor, he ISOs like he's back in 2011-2012. I know he's healthy, but he's not THAT guy any more. It's hurting the T-Wolves, and Thibs needs to reign him in and go to a 10-man rotation, letting Josh Okogie get some run at the 2, alongside Tyus Jones on the second unit. It's just dumb to run Rose into the ground (he played 32 minutes against Portland, and I didn't check, but he was over 30 again against the Warriors).
Jeff Teague (Wolves starting PG) is passing really well, but if that dude (who can shoot well) keeps passing up open looks, he needs to be benched. Teague has a nice shot, he can score, and while I appreciate the pass-first mentality, we didn't bring him in here to be Ricky Rubio. We had that. Shoot when you're open.
Anyway, bottom line is the Warriors look like the Champs, and the Wolves look like a solid playoff team. But in the Wild West, who knows if they will make it.
p.s. Draymond Green is obnoxious, and a mouth breather.