16
20
Dec
Preview: Rockets at Warriors
by Mike
Houston
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Golden State
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Oracle Arena
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| 2010-11 Meetings | ||
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| October 27, 2010 • Recap | ||
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Rockets | 128 |
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Warriors | 132 |
| November 24, 2010 • Recap | ||
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Warriors | 101 |
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Rockets | 111 |
| December 20, 2010 • Recap | ||
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Rockets | 121 |
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Warriors | 112 |
| March 23, 2011 • Recap | ||
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Warriors | 112 |
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Rockets | 131 |
The Warriors return home to face a surging Rockets team — a team that, like the Trail Blazers, is finding a way to win even in the face of injuries. Imagine that! What to watch for tonight:
- Comparison Time. Once again, we get the treat of watching the Most Annoying Player in the NBA™, Kevin Martin, a guy who plays like Monta but manages to draw about twice as many fouls (and converts much better once he gets to the line). I’ll be watching closely to see what the difference is in the two players’ styles — my guess is that Martin manages to draw fouls on the way past players whereas Monta has a habit of driving right into defenders, but it will be interesting to watch them side-by-side. (And don’t forget that in the last game against the Rockets, the Warriors were outshot from the line 51-18)
- Inside Game. Yao is now officially out for the season, though he didn’t play in either of the previous matchups anyway. You’d think that the Warriors should be able to do some damage on the inside against the Rockets, but instead they’ve given up back-to-back career games to Chuck Hayes. Not sure if Biedrins will be back tonight, but given his previous performance against Hayes it might be nice to see what Amundson (or Udoh! Or Lee at the 5!) can do instead.
- Score. I assume that Curry is still out (probably being saved for the Christmas Day prime time matchup), so once again a big question is whether or not the Warriors can score enough points to win. Monta had his season-high (on an efficient 18-24 from the field) in the opening night matchup, and now would be a great time for a repeat. Would also be nice if Reggie could rediscover his 3-point shooting stroke, and can Carney make it two good games in a row?
Tags: andris biedrins, chuck hayes, david lee, ekpe udoh, kevin martin, monta ellis, reggie williams, rockets, rodney carney, stephen curry, warriors
