A career high in points for Dorell Wright to go along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists, but that was about it in terms of good offensive performances. Curry continues to regress with a volume shooting night to go with 6 assists and 4 turnovers, while Monta had a similarly underwhelming game with only 15 points. Udoh got major minutes again in Biedrins’ absence, and did ok with 9 points on 4-7 shooting and 5 rebounds. The rebounding numbers are still light, but are up from the previously disastrous levels.

So the road trip mercifully ends, as the Warriors went 0-4 and are now 9-28 on the road this season. But hey, the Warriors are now tied in the loss column for the 9th pick in the draft!

Wright was awful, Law went 0-5 from deep, and Amundson was ineffective starting in place of Biedrins.

But at least we got something to get excited about, as Udoh provided 25 quality minutes and led the team with a +9. The team still sucks of course, and the playoff hopes are quickly fading with each late-game turnover. But at least we have something to look forward to watching in the next game, as he was active and had a couple of jaw-dropping plays (especially that dunk/block sequence in the 4th).

• 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?

The story of the game (aside from Chuck Atkins Hayes’ career night) was the free throws, as the Warriors had more made field goals (42-31) but took only 18 foul shots to the Rockets 51. Hell, Kevin Martin, the Most Annoying Player in the NBAâ„¢, scored 25 points on only 4 made field goals. Check the downward spikes on the net fouls and net free throws sparklines to the left — ugly stuff.

Lots of discussion on the Twitters and various game recaps about who’s to blame for the disparity. Fitz blames the refs, Smart refused to comment, Reilly blames having to go small due to injuries, Feltbot thinks that’s bullshit as last year’s team went small all the time and never had this problem, Lauridsen blames the Warriors for playing defense with their hands, Ethan puts the blame squarely on Monta’s gambling defense, and Rusty blames the lack of driving inside.

I think it’s primarily a mixture of the last three items — the Warriors guards just can’t keep anyone in front of them, leading to most of the fouls on the defensive end; and until they can get the pick and roll working and force defenses to stay honest with the big guys, the lane will remain packed, Curry and Ellis won’t draw fouls when they drive into brick walls of defenders, and the team will then settle for outside jumpers.

If that diagnosis is correct, then there’s a least a chance that things will get a bit better when Lee comes back. I’d actually expect his contribution on the defensive end to make the biggest difference, as his communication and overall intensity is sorely needed on that end. But I certainly don’t expect his return to “solve” the problem (they were still net negative on fouls for most of his starts).

Back to last night’s game, it was nice to see Dorell Wright finally get back on track with a solid all-around offensive game, and Reggie Williams continued his recent run of strong play (he led the team with a +8). With Carney and Lin also contributing quality minutes recently, there remains some hope that things could turn around with Lee back up front if the starting back court could get on track (and if we could keep Radmonovic off the court).

But until that happens, I worry this ugly run will continue. Monta doesn’t look like the same player (that hip injury a bit more serious than reported perhaps?), as he doesn’t have nearly the same energy without that ball that he did in the first few games. We need our best players to start playing like our best players again.

• Shoot the damn ball. The shooting percentages have been brutal over the past few games (and, really, all year), and until they get some bodies back inside that’s the number one thing that needs to change for them to have a shot. With Monta regularly being doubled, the other shooters need to step up and hit the open shots they’re going to get (and have been getting — and missing). Until that happens, hard to give this team a chance.
• Da Bench. Want to get depressed about our bench? Read this item from Owen. The one bright spot was actually the last game, when Carney and Williams dropped in 16 each. Let’s hope they can make it a trend.
• Inside D. Even with a health Lee, Luis Scola had a monster game on the inside in the season opener. I’d love to see Adrien get a chance to put a body on him tonight, and either way interior defense will need to be a team effort to slow him down.

[As an aside, Kevin Martin really is becoming one of my least favorite players to watch in the NBA. He's gifted at generated touch fouls but geez does it slow the game down and make things ugly.]

Monta had a whale of a game with 46 points on 18-24 shooting (50%+!). Curry dropped 25 with 11 assists, and kept the turnovers down to 5 (more than I’d like, but I’ll take the 2:1+ a/t ratio).

The starting front court also was impressive, as Biedrins had a solid 8 and 11 (10+ rebounds!) and Lee dropped 17 points with 15 rebounds, and moved the ball well with 6 assists.

I missed the first half watching the Giants, but was impressed with Dorrell Wright from what I saw. Just seems to have a nice presence out there.

The pick and roll also was utilized more than I expected after what we saw during the preseason. Good to say as it was consistently successful.

All in all, a nice start to the season. This is the sort of game the Warriors need to win if they have any hope of contending for the postseason this year, so good to see them get it done.

There’s only one thing to watch for tonight, and that’s whether the Warriors can get a win. Three keys to the game:

• Biedrins 10+ rebounds. Is the old Biedrins back? If so, that completely changes the Warriors front court and will allow them to hang with a team like the Rockets.
• Curry <5 turnovers. His most disturbing trend in the preseason was lack of caution with the ball. Was he just testing the outer limits of the new motion offense, or is he trying to do too much?
• Monta >50% shooting. The biggest key to Monta making it to the next level is getting his volume shooting under control. If he can make plays while increasing his shooting efficiency, he might finally start earning some respect from around the league.