Udoh is clearly the draw on that front — while the Kawakami’s of the world are trashing the Warriors for yet another PR campaign, from all accounts the guy has been a standout presence while he’s been out and is turning heads now that he’s been practicing again. Should at least be fun to see a guy step into the Anthony Randolph “huge upside” role for the team if he can leap and block as well as has been reported.

As for Acie Law? Eh. They obviously need another body in the back court, especially with Curry likely out with his ankle, but it’s not like he lit the world on fire during his first tour of duty with the Warriors. Still, with the big guys back Adrien became expendable, and despite all the hustle he brought to the team the dude just couldn’t score consistently. Given how hard he played I do hope he catches on with another team and is able to put a solid role-player career together.

So on to the game tonight — while a win is still unlikely, it should be fun to see the “super team” in action, and it would be great to at least get something to feel hopeful about again.

Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

After a first glance at the box score, you’d think there’s no way the Warriors should have been in this game. They gave up 57% shooting; were out-rebounded by 9; and of the Knicks 33 missed shots, they offensive rebounded 12 of them.

And yet, if Stephen Curry could have just stayed with Danilo Gallinari in the closing minutes when he hit his dagger threes, maybe the Warriors actually pull this one off. That capped a horrid defensive night for Curry, who also was largely responsible for Ray Felton’s career night (though in fairness, Felton appeared to make a deal with the devil before the game). The defensive back-court problems are no longer about Curry and Ellis being able to play together; they’re now just about Curry.

As usual with Lee out, Monta carried the team with 40 points — though only 3 of them came in the fourth quarter (he still posted a +2, which is tough to do when your team loses and you play 46 minutes). Thankfully, Reggie Williams had his first big game of the season and came up big late, catching on fire from deep on his way to 16 fourth quarter points.

Curry made up for things a bit with his offense, posting 29 points to go with 8 assists and 4 turnovers. But he was woeful in the early going, with his easy misses fueling the Knicks first-half surge, and he badly bricked a three in the closing minutes that stemmed the Warriors momentum and allowed the Knicks to get some separation late.

But he was all-world compared to the production the Warriors got from the power forward position. 8 points and 5 rebounds were credited to the Warriors at the 4 tonight, a far cry from the 28 and 10 that David Lee provided in New York. His elbow can’t recover fast enough. Even my boy Jeff Adrien wasn’t much help, with a couple nice plays but only 4 rebounds in 14 minutes. Stoudamire went for 28, and combined with Felton for 61 points and only 6 missed shots between them.

The bright spot in the front court was Biedrins, who was rolling crazy 8′s with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and a team-high +8. But foul trouble once again limited him to 30 minutes.

The bottom line is that a team can’t give up 57% shooting and expect to win. I think you have to give the Knicks a lot of credit on this one, as they were hitting awkward shots and buzzer beaters all night. But they were also making wide-open shots after good ball movement (Gallinari’s 3′s being the most glaring examples), and this one can’t all be laid at the feet of a good shooting night. Down the stretch, the Warriors had momentum but simply couldn’t get a stop.

The biggest disappointment here is that the Warriors missed a chance at a winnable game right before the start of a tough stretch. They head down to Staples center for an almost guaranteed loss to the Lakers on Sunday night, then play the Nuggets at home on a back-to-back on Monday in a game they’ll likely need to win without Lee to stay above .500.

Upsides? Aside from Randolph’s DNP-CD (and you know he wanted to play in this game), at least we have this to enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U04Uyxf0bNU

Things seem to be working out so far, with a rejuvenated and positive Monta leading a group that had a college-style team dinner before their first game. After nearly two decades of players avoiding the Warriors like the plague (and acting like they had it when they were here,) this would be a great turnaround that could make a big difference in terms of attracting free agents (though not as much as just winning consistently would).

As for how this relates to the Simmons, I guess I’ve been living under a rock but I didn’t realize that DeMarcus Cousins is already having attitude issues (not to mention some ridiculous foul problems). I think the draft was early enough that Lacob had no contact or influence with Reilly (where as the Lee trade occurred after they agreed to the sale in principle), but in an alternate universe where Lacob was in charge at that point I almost wonder if they would have pulled the trigger on Udoh (who really does sound like a great guy) even if they had the 5th pick.

Of course, if the Warriors are going to pull a KG-to-Boston type trade, the superstar they get will more than likely be disgruntled (otherwise, why would he be available?). So that could prove to be an interested test of just how seriously Lacob takes attitude (and, of course, attitudes can change when situations change as well). Would he roll the dice on a risky player with the hope of a Michael Vick-style outcome? Time will tell.

One more thing from the column — I enjoyed this blurb on the Warriors:

In the summer of 2007, Philly barely trumped Golden State’s lucrative Elton Brand offer, and then the Warriors got blindsided when Baron Davis fled for the Clips. In the summer of 2009, the Warriors backed out of a handshake deal with Phoenix that would have sent Biedrins, Brandan Wright and Curry’s rights to Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire. Last summer, the Warriors turned down Memphis’ offer of O.J. Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet for Ellis. (Note: Everyone thought they were crazy. Me included. Now they look like geniuses thanks to Ellis’ scoring binge.) You know what’s great about this? The Warriors spent the past 35 years giving up the wrong guys too early and acquiring the wrong guys too late, always to the chagrin of their absurdly loyal fans. Somehow, they went four for their past four with big decisions/breaks. See? There’s hope for everybody.

Maybe we’re finally done shipping out future all-stars! Wouldn’t that be something — though the Lee-Randolph trade will probably let us know for sure…

• Da Bench. Four of the five starters played 40+ minutes last night, so to have any chance the Warriors are going to need some quality minutes from the bench. Wright and Lin have been making progress, so I’d hope to see them get some run tonight. Reggie Williams was decent last night, but I think the team will need a lot more scoring from him to have a chance. And can Radmonovic turn around his recent woeful play?
• Da Boards. Boozer is still out with an injury, but Joakim Noah has been an animal on the glass and is averaging 15 boards a game. I’d expect Lee to be a bit stiff tonight after the elbow injury (not to mention the emotions from last night’s return to the Garden), so Biedrins better bring it against Noah in the middle. If Biedrins can equal Noah’s rebounding total tonight, then the Warriors should be in good shape to steal one.
• Controlling Rose and Deng. Derrick Rose had the hot hand early for the Bulls, but in recent games it was been Luol Deng who’s done the most damage. This will be a hell of a test for Dorrell Wright — let’s see if he can be the perimeter stopper he was advertised as when the Warriors signed him (though, in fairness, he’s been doing a hell of a lot more than just defending so far this season).

Regret watch: after seeing Anthony Randolph last night, tonight the Warriors get to see how C.J. Watson is adjusting to the Bulls. Despite the Warriors’ obvious hole at the backup PG spot this year, I still don’t miss Watson much: he just isn’t a PG, can’t play defense, and does little more but give you a backup Monta with a better outside shot but little to no inside game.

UPDATE: Per the twitter, Lee is out tonight as he rests his lacerated elbow. An already tough back-to-back just got a whole lot harder…

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

An ugly win, but a win nonetheless. After blowing a huge lead and falling behind in the closing minutes, the Warriors rallied behind a pair of clutch plays by Dorrell Wright and solid rebounding by David Lee.

I missed most of this game, and my DVR cut out right after the Knicks had tied it near the end. The endless and-1 procession to the free throw line for the Knicks was depressing, and I thought Reggie Williams was generally woeful down the stretch. Dude needs a confidence booster, stat.

But the Warriors pulled it off: Lee put up his best game as a Warriors in his New York homecoming, and played Amare to a standstill in terms of stats. Monta recovered well enough to play 40 minutes and had a solid game (his kick-out pass to Wright for his big 3-pointer was huge), while Curry did his best to remind the Knicks of what might have been had they been able to leapfrog the Warriors in last year’s draft.

With a quick turnaround before tonight’s game in Chicago, this was a game that would have been a devastating loss if they hadn’t recovered. So kudos to the team for gutting it out, and picking up their first back-to-back road wins since 2007.

Postscript: Along with Anthony Randolph’s scoreless 7-minute performance (no trade regrets tonight!), this was satisfying to read:

Thanks for nothing: Asked about the offseason deal between the Warriors and the Knicks, one New York writer said, “Thanks for the 6-foot-11 guy who can’t play.” No, he wasn’t talking about Ronny Turiaf; he was referring to Anthony Randolph.

Slam!

• Homecoming. David Lee returns to the arena where he became an all-star, an honor which at this point seems a far-off dream given his low scoring averages this year. He’ll match up against his replacement, Amare Stoudamire, who so far is not exactly setting the world on fire in terms of production. Can Lee remind the Garden crowd — and his new team’s fan base — of the 20 and 10 machine from 2009-10 and maybe even instill some New York regrets?
• Reggie, Reggie, Reggie. It’s been a tough year so far for Reggie Williams, as the pleasant surprise from late last season has looked tentative while failing to find his groove. He’s the player who is best situated to step into the potential scoring vacuum if Monta sits this one out (or is ineffective), and if the Knicks defense is similar to recent years then this could be the perfect opponent to try to jump-start things.
• (Return to) The Prodigal Son. Anthony Randolph, the apple of many a Warriors fan’s eye over the past few years, has so far disappointed in New York since being traded for Lee during the off-season (along with Turiaf and a still-rehabbing Azabuke). Last night, Randolph got 28 minutes during the blowout (by far the most minutes in his five appearances this year), posting 8 points (on 2-7 shooting with four free throws), 9 rebounds, 5 fouls, and a -15. I’d have to assume he’ll be motivated to bring it against his former team, though knowing Randolph the extra energy will likely cause him to increase his unforced errors. Like Lee, can Randolph induce regret from the fans of the team that traded him?