Minnesota Sports Forum

The last time the Warriors started the season 9-0, Wilt Chamberlain was averaging 38 and 27 for them and they were playing in Philly. I'm not sure the Wolves are getting a break by facing Stephen Curry instead.

Golden State has won all but two of their games by double digits, and Curry is the biggest reason for their early success...31.9 PPG on 52% shooting (45% on threes), and a ridiculous PER of 36.3. And does anyone know that the Wolves could hav...well, never mind.

Golden State is making almost 12 threes a game at a 40% clip, so it's no secret that the Wolves' chances of winning this game depends on how well they guard the perimeter, and so far this year they have excelled in this area...they are third in the league only allowing 30.7% made threes (GS leads the league at 28.6%). The Wolves' focus on fundamental rotation, Rubio's prevention of PG penetration, and their overall length have all contributed to success against threes. The eye test is noteworthy here too...they allow very few uncontested threes. Hopefully Wig and Rubio are mobile tonight, because they need to contest everything at the 3-point line. Curry is going to make contested threes too, so let's not make it easy on them.

There are all sorts of reasons GS wins this game tonight...they outscore opponents by 18 PPG, they make three more 3's per game than their opponents, they create more TO's than they give up, and they even outrebound their opponents. They are the best team in basketball by far right now, and the defending champions, and deservedly 8 1/2 point favorites. But I'm picking the Wolves. Why?

1) First, I am a shameless homer with rose-colored glasses permanently attached to my face

2) The Warriors are not going to go 82-0 this year, and the Wolves are not going 0-41 at home. It's fated that both streaks end tonight.

3) The Warriors are coming off a rugged game against Memphis last night where Curry and Thompson both played 35 minutes. The Wolves, on the other hand, had last night off, and KG, Wig and Rubio haven't played since Monday. We need to run the court.

4) The Warriors win by making their threes in volume and preventing their opponent from making threes...very simple formula, right Q? But the Wolves are stingy on threes, and also don't rely on them for their offense (despite Sam's fondness for the three at Toronto, the Wolves are last in 3-point attempts). The Wolves need to continue to effectively defend the perimeter, and score efficiently inside and at the line. And oh, a few more threes wouldn't hurt either (I'm looking at you Belly, Wig and KMart).


Wolves 110-102

Had a 3rd row ticket to this game.

Had to give it away. Considering Steph Curry is my basketball crush... I'm sad today.

Should be a great game, we'll see how this team plays against the best.

And LST, are you giving up on Johnny Flynn already? There's still time.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Had a 3rd row ticket to this game.

Had to give it away. Considering Steph Curry is my basketball crush... I'm sad today.

Sorry Abe that's too bad.

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Had a 3rd row ticket to this game.

Had to give it away. Considering Steph Curry is my basketball crush... I'm sad today.

Sorry Abe that's too bad.

I know. I know.

Damn kids. Damn responsibilities.

I guess anything is possible, especially after going on the road and beating Chicago and Atlanta, but this is a completely different animal here. We're talking '95-96 Bulls here. A juggernaut.

I just hope for a competitive game.

BizarroJerry wrote:Should be a great game, we'll see how this team plays against the best.

And LST, are you giving up on Johnny Flynn already? There's still time.

Ha, I actually gave up before he even started! I remember watching him in the NCAA tournament at 7am in a bar in Shanghai and saying "There's a really good college player who will never be a good pro". Imagine my dismay when we drafted him, although I have to admit I would have whiffed on Curry too.

Too bad about giving up the good tickets, abe...puts you in the lead for Dad of the Year honors though. I'll be there for my first game of the year and will try to will them to victory.

Being the notorious gambler that I am, I know you should never bet against the streak. In this case we have two streaks working against us. 121 - 106 Warriors.

Spoken like a true successful gambler, cool...never bet against a trend. But here's another one for you. The Wolves this year have gone the opposite of what the wise guys are saying in almost every game. I think maybe Charlotte was the first loss of the year where we were favored to lose (and it actually might have gone off as a pick 'em), and we have been underdogs in all four victories this year. That tells me that a gambler should at least be taking the points tonight (as soon as he assures himself that Wig and Ricky are OK), and a higher-risk gambler might even put a little on the moneyline at big odds.

I think tonight is the night we finally pay the price for a starting 5 that struggles to score the ball. The Warriors beat the Grizzlies 119-69 this year when Memphis struggled to score. This Warriors team can't be stopped offensively and if you don't bring it yourself offensively the game gets out of hand real quick. I think we keep it within 10 though in the end. Wiggins has done a good job shutting his matchup down so I think Klay does next to nothing tonight. Towns has been defending the rim really well so they won't have any easy buckets there. As long as Ricky fights over every screen and guys rotate well I think we can keep them in check. 110-100 Warriors. It's too bad KG has nothing on the block left because a matchup against Draymond really needs to be taken advantage of in the post with a lanky offensive player to shoot over him. KG's classic turnaround in the old days would have torched Draymond.