Led by Radmonovic, and with solid performances by Lin and Udoh, they closed the gap from 15 to 6 before the starters returned — when Monta’s hot hand from deep helped them finish the comeback. A dominant second half later (the Hornets scored 32 in the opening quarter, and just 36 in the final two), and the Warriors won this one going away.

Solid performances all around — foul trouble limited Monta and Curry’s minutes, but Monta still led all scores with 21, while Curry had another nice PG game with 8 assists. Lee’s rebounding numbers were down sharply tonight, but he still chipped in 16 points and did a decent job defending West. And Wright was solid as usual, with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Now the Warriors face a tight turnaround with a game tonight against Utah, but at least they’ll be taking two good wins against solid competition with them. The team has been legitimately better since the Bobcats debacle, and while they won’t be getting to .500 by the All-Star break, if they could stay hot they could definitely come close.

Just look at all that green in the net stats above — outside of a small deficit in rebounds and assists, the Warriors won every statistical category. Perhaps most impressive was the +9 on turnovers, as the Warriors only coughed the ball up 7 times. Curry’s 8 assists to 2 turnovers deserves a mention in that context.

The overall team defensive effort was outstanding, as it wasn’t an accident that Rose had 9 turnovers. Also good to see that the Warriors took advantage of the Bulls’ bench, as 4 of their reserves were double-digit negative on +/-.

Speaking of +/-, check out Radmonovic’s line: 20 minutes, zero points, 3 rebounds, but a team-high +23. I didn’t watch the whole game, but he must be creating a lot of space for the guards to get inside by drawing his man outside. Hell of a weapon, and what a turnaround from the early part of the season.

I said before the game that the Warriors needed to start beating good teams at home, and tonight they delivered. Credit where credit is due — and let’s hope this positive result gives them the incentive they need to keep up the defensive intensity when Phoenix and Denver come to town this week.

Game ball goes to Radmonovic for his two clutch 3′s in the 4th quarter, and for leading the team with a +19. Though there were plenty of players deserving last night: Monta for his huge first half (and though the foul trouble was rough, it kept him fresh at the end of the game), Reggie Williams for providing a huge spark off the bench (particularly in the 2nd after Monta went to the bench with his 3rd foul), David Lee for his solid line and great passing, and even Andris looked like the Goose of old at times before he fouled out.

The postgame talk has been about Curry’s benching at the 4:00 mark of the 4th, but you certainly can’t argue with the results. It just may be the case that against bigger backcourts, Curry will need to sit when the game slows down in crunch time to avoid being a liability on defense. That said, his early offense in this game was huge, especially after his rough game in LA on Sunday.

The Warriors now get a few days off before continuing the home stand in an MLK day matinee against the Nets, which kicks off a stretch of 3 games (Nets, Pacers, and Kings) they desperately need to win as they work to get back to .500.

A diagram of the W’s game tying 3 to send the Sacto game to OT. I think the author may be giving Smart et al. too much credit but it worked so credit where credit is due.

Joe Lacob answers a Warrior’s fan’s e-mail.

Despite making choke signs and then choking himself, Demarcus Cousins may be starting to get it.

Rod Benson is back to the blogging thing and publishes his diaries from Indiana Pacers camp.

UPDATE: One more. Warrior’s assistant coach Stephen Silas is the new interim head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. Cannot really say how big of an impact this will have on the Warriors but it is not usually a good thing to lose an Assistant Coach who is of head-coach quality to another team (although an argument will be made on whether Silas is qualified or got the job out of nepotism, but I don’t know enough to participate in that argument).

(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

Well, how about that! VladRad makes up for A LOT with that deep bomb to tie the game (not to mention 13 4th quarter points), and it was enough to forget that the Warriors gave up two monster runs to a horrible Kings team.

For the first time, they were able to fully climb their way out of a deep hole of their own making. Sure, the game shouldn’t have been this close, but I think Lauridsen put it best: “Meeting exceptionally modest expectations is still better than collapsing below them.”

I’m wondering if Smart started reading Feltbot, as for the second straight game the Warriors had 31 fast break points. That made up for getting beat on the glass, as the Kings managed to break into triple digits on field goal attempts — but only hit 39%.

Monta’s efficiency was way down but he still carried the scoring load for the team, and his circus shot near the end of overtime was one of his all-time best. Reggie Williams also regained his touch, scoring 24 points and almost making us forget his 1-3 from the line in the closing seconds of regulation.

The Cousins-Udoh matchup I was looking forward to didn’t turn into much: Cousins struggled from the field but was still a beast on the glass. Udoh cooled off from last night and didn’t score a point (didn’t even take a shot), and it’s pretty clear that he was winded by the end of his run (as any human being would be after playing nearly 50 NBA minutes in 26 hours after logging just 8 in the previous 8 months). While Udoh’s -9 was the worst on the squad, I still like his activity and great hands. Plus, he’s avoiding something that has plagued every rookie Warriors big man that I can remember: constant fouls (and it’s not like he’s avoiding physical contact).

So now the Warriors get a few days off before their Christmas night matchup against the Trail Blazers (think the NBA schedulers wish they could have this one back?). By all accounts Curry should be back, and hopefully we’ll see Biedrins back on the court as well. Maybe then we can get the minutes smoothed out a bit more — Law backing up Curry, Reggie subbing for Monta but still providing some scoring punch, Amundson down to the low-minute energy guy that he should be (how about his 6 fouls in 13 minutes tonight?), and maybe even some VladRad and Carney at the 3 to get Wright down to about 30 minutes a night.

But for now, good to get a win that the Warriors HAD to have. It was more stressful/exciting than it should have been, but at this point in the season, with postseason chances slipping away with every turnover (seriously, can anyone catch an interior pass on this team?), I’ll take it.

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).

Of course, if they hadn’t dug themselves into a 15 point hole with less than 8 minutes left, their impressive run over the closing minutes could have made the difference.

So I guess in terms of positives we can appreciate the contributions of both Carney and Radmanovic off the bench, and the fact that Lee didn’t have the worst +/- of the night for the first game in a while (Amundson barely edged him).

But other than that, this was a weak performance in a very winnable game. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if Mike Singletary has taken over this team: the offense is uncreative, the players make stupid mental errors constantly, and the staff never outcoaches their counterpart (and regularly gets pwn3ed on that front). As the Kawakami’s of the world will (rightly) note, the Warriors can’t blame injuries when they lose to a team that has clearly outdone them on that front.

No excuses: the Warriors should have won this game. And the more they miss these opportunities, the more the case for blowing up both the roster and the coaching staff is being made.

Postscript: I guess the hype about Udoh was just that, hype. A DNP-CD on a night where Biedrins was out and Amundson was basically in foul trouble from the opening tip? I get that the Blazers represent a relatively small matchup, but to not even make it off the bench makes you wonder just how ready this guy actually is.

For a team like the Warriors to beat a team like the Mavericks, they need to be at the top of their game. They don’t need to be perfect, but they can’t make stupid mistakes in key game situations. The Warriors failed that test tonight in a game where they had a chance to pull off the much-needed upset on the road, leaving us with an entertaining game but nothing to show for it in the end.

Aside from the sloppy play, there was a lot to like in this game: Amundson provided a nice shot in the arm off the bench, Lee had a nice bounce-back from his fourth quarter benching in Oklahoma City, and Dorell Wright had a double-double on the way to a solid overall game.

But, ultimately, the bench provided little beyond Amundson and a few nice Radmanovic bombs (and jeez, Reggie Williams is starting to STINK), and the Mavericks made the plays at the end while the Warriors’ sloppiness sealed their fate. And now they go to San Antonio tomorrow night after four of the five starters played 40+ minutes. Looking like an 0-for road trip for sure at this point…

P.S. Can someone teach these assholes how to shoot free throws?

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

The Warriors come away with a sorely needed victory, riding David Lee’s enthusiasm and Dorell Wright’s hot hand to a win over the lowly T-wolves. Boy, it’s nice to see a new green tick on the left for the first time in a while!

As far as the formula for victory, on first glance this one is a bit of a head scratcher as the Warriors were out-rebounded 55-32, were out-shot from the line 31-17, and gave up 22 and 21 to Kevin Love. But what they did do was shoot over 50% while holding the T-wolves under 40%, went 12-18 from deep, assisted 26 of their 40 field goals, and dominated the turnover battle 21-11. That should do the trick most nights.

They had a nice start, taking a lead at the end of the first quarter for the first time in a while (though they did bleed a bigger early lead down to 2 by the end of the period). And their third quarter was one of their best of the year, with Wright refusing to miss from outside and Gadzuric providing a huge burst of energy off the bench.

Gadzuric finished with 8 points and a team-high +18 in 18 minutes off the bench subbing for a foul-prone Biedrins, and Smart deservedly gave him the game ball. Dude is obviously awkward and borderline uncoordinated, but damn does he bring the energy every night. Unlike many Warriors of recent vintage, effort is never the problem with him.

Outside of Gadzuric though, the bench reverted to its largely useless status. Monta played the full 48, Wright was over 46, and Lee played 43 minutes in his first game back from two weeks off. I think Smart was well aware of how much they needed this game.

So the legend of David Lee will grow, even though he only had 10 points and 6 rebounds. But he seems to have a big impact on defense with his size and communication, and the team clearly benefits from his energy and leadership. And as GSOM notes, he kept Vlad on the bench which may have been his biggest contribution of all.

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Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

The Warriors waste a career night from Biedrins and, more important, a great opportunity to steal one on the road before Lee comes back tonight. They shot 49% from the field, outrebound the Grizzlies 44-33, held Randolph and Gasol in check, and were even close in terms of foul shots with 23 attempts to the Grizzlies 29. But when it really mattered at the end, huge turnovers and missed shots pushed the losing streak to five games.

Dorell Wright was the goat in this one, as he missed two huge shots near the end — one a botched attempt to pick up a foul, the other a wide-open 3 with the game on the line. Let’s hope he bounces back like he did the last time he had a wretched game…3 games ago. After a great start to the season, games like this make you wonder if there was a reason why Wright never got a chance to play big minutes until this year.

Back to Biedrins, he was an absolute beast around the rim tonight. Perhaps most impressive was how smoothly he moved around the rim, taking a single dribble when needed to get in better position for a layup. That’s something we never would have seen from him a few years ago, and combined with his improved set of post moves from about 8-10 feet he might be using enhanced skills to make up for any lessened quickness compared to his earlier days.

The controversy du jour from tonight’s game was Smart’s 4th quarter decisions with regard to the bench: both Monta and Steph were kept out of the first five minutes of the quarter, and while the reserves didn’t do too bad as the deficit only grew from 5 to 8, as Steinmetz pointed out on the post-game show that stretch was the perfect opportunity to close the gap with the Memphis starters on the bench (Smart was planning to bring them in a bit earlier but there wasn’t a dead ball for several minutes). The decision to pull Curry after two bad plays and leave him on the bench until the 2-minute mark was also odd, and raises some questions about Smart’s coaching skills.

I thought this exchange from the Chronicle writeup was a big strange:

“I had two possessions when I was rusty. I’ve got to learn to ease my way back into a game when I sit that long,” said Curry, who had 26 points.

“I don’t buy that out-of-rhythm stuff. That’s a cop-out by ballplayers,” Smart said. “When I played, we were ready to play at any time.”

Silver linings? Jeff Adrien had a breakout game with 12 points (on 6-11 shooting), 8 rebounds, and a team-high +6 in over 30 minutes. Adrien still has flaws — the Grizzlies got a lot of easy inside baskets in this game — but until Amundson is back, he needs to jump over Gadzuric and Radmonovic in the front-court rotation.

Speaking of those two fools, Gaszuric managed a -15 in only 8 minutes of action last night. Radmonovic was slightly better and even hit a three, but his behind-the-back pass to the Grizzlies’ bench near the end of the game was a killer. The rest of the bench was similarly worthless: Carney in particular was extremely disappointing after a few solid games in a row; Lin was ok defensively but went 0-4 from the field with all four shots being blocked; and Reggie Williams played a largely forgettable 17 minutes with only 7 points.

And O.J. Mayo going for 23 off the bench? I guess no one read my game preview…

So now it’s on to Minnesota for a must-win game on the back end of a back-to-back. At least David Lee will be waiting for them when they get there — now we get to see how much the recent slide has been his absence and how much is just a tougher schedule exposing the Warriors’ flaws.