Nice game all around, with Reggie Williams playing the full 48 and leading the team with an efficient 28 points. Curry continued his hot shooting with 18 points on 7-11 from the field, and Dorell Wright became the first player in league history to score more points in his 7th season than in his first 6 combined. And 8 rebounds for Udoh! (But only 3 points.)

The Warriors once again lost the rebounding battle (they finished last in the league in rebounding margin, again, and without even resorting to small-ball much), but at least they moved the ball around great — 33 assists for the team, 10.5 above the season average.

Despite the win, the real news was the hire of agent Dan Myers to be the new VP of Basketball Operations. Despite an extension for Riley, the expectation is that Myers will take over most of the day-to-day GM duties before long. More on this in the weeks to come — have to talk about something during what could be an extremely long off-season, after all — but suffice to say this is the best news I’ve heard from this team in quite some time.

So onto another playoffs without the Warriors, and the countdown to the draft lottery, and hope springing eternal, and all that jazz. I guess I’m kinda used to a postseason-less season at this point, but it still sucks.

Instead, we have a new high-paid interior player who just isn’t that good inside, an owner who appears surprisingly accepting of treading water (when he isn’t stocking the bench with inferior players), and a team that STILL CAN’T PLAY ANY FUCKING DEFENSE. Top it off with the fact that our potential-star young PG didn’t take the leap forward that most of us expected this year, and it’s hard to feel that this franchise has turned much of a corner — much less put itself on the path to the playoffs.

Really, the only things to get excited about is that the players genuinely seem to get along for once (not insignificant, considering the history of the franchise) and that their draft pick doesn’t appear to be a bust (though the smart money is on him remaining limited throughout his career).

As for tonight, I’ll kinda be rooting for a loss. I don’t feel this team deserves the AWESOME ACHIEVEMENT of a 10-win improvement over last year, and they could potentially tie Milwaukee for the 10th-worst record in the league (I think the draft position would then be decided by a coin flip?). That’s unlikely as the Bucks would have to win but are playing their final game at Oklahoma City, and considering that Portland’s playoff position is set I doubt they’ll try hard.

So if they have to win, I’d just love to see something positive from Udoh and Curry. I just don’t trust this front office to get anything done, so if the Warriors are going to be any better next year I feel like those two are going to have to be the primary drivers of improvement.

Whereas Denver is playing together as more than the sum of their parts, the Warriors eventually broke down into an ineffective one-on-one team as they have all too often this season. Number one on my list for why the Warriors should dump Smart this offseason is that his offensive schemes just make no sense. When you see teams like Denver or San Antonio play the Warriors, they just eat them alive with smart ball movement and high-percentage plays. And the end result is often what we saw on Monday, with nine nuggets scoring in double figures.

One can only hope that things will change next season. In the meantime, we have one more chance to watch this flawed group try to get to 36 wins on the season.

And good lord, where did Marcus Thornton come from? We all remember him destroying the Warriors in the last meeting, and he hit a couple killer shots at the end of this one.

Now the Dubs head out to Denver — minus Monta Ellis — for the toughest back-to-back in the league. If they’re going to get that 36th win, chances are it’s going to have to come against Portland in the season finale.

Once again, I’ll be watching the matchup between the 5th and 6th players taken in this year’s draft. While Ekpe certainly has a lot to work on this summer (offense and rebounding in particular), he’s been a presence defensively and has even looked a bit better when shooting in recent games. Cousins has had his own ups and downs, but I still can’t shake the feeling that he’s exactly the sort of inside presence that the Warriors really need. So it would be nice to see Udoh win the matchup and give us something to feel good about tonight.

In all seriousness, this has been a tremendous 3-game stretch. These aren’t meaningless end-of-season games for the opposition; the Mavericks, Blazers, and Lakers all had a lot to play for when they faced the Warriors this past week.

The last two games in particular have been a ton of fun to watch, as the Warriors — dare I say it — dominated for most of the second half in both contests. Things got a little hairy at the end of the game last night, but the Dubs hit enough big shots to keep a healthy cushion and even avoid a foul-plagued ending.

Perhaps most impressive, the Warriors out-rebounded the Lakers 50-47. Bynum pulled down 17 boards, but they were able to hold Gasol and (especially) Odom in check. David Lee matched Bynum with 17 boards of his own, making it his second straight impressive double-double. Thanks to the rebounding and turnover (+7) margins, the Warriors ended up with 93 shots to the Lakers 77 — a big part of why they won despite shooting just 39%.

Curry and Ellis put on a nice show, as despite Curry’s cold touch early he hit some big shots at the end to preserve the win. Wright had another cold shooting night, but hit two big 3′s late to keep up the lead and break the Warriors’ single-season record for made 3-pointers. Udoh went scoreless, but pulled down 8 rebounds in 19 minutes — impressive considering the front line he was up against.

Now the Warriors get a few nights off before facing the Kings on Sunday, when they can get to the 36-win mark that they decided to shoot for after the bottom fell out after the All Star break. I know the Warriors have developed a habit of getting hot late in the season when their playoff spot is already decided, but they appear locked into the 11th draft position at this point so might as well see what they can do!

Which is too bad, because the Warriors have played some of their best ball all season in the last two games. They face their steepest test tonight, as the Lakers will be mad after a close loss to Utah.

If the Warriors can win tonight, then there will definitely be some room for optimism for the first time since the All Star break. Given the minutes the starters played last night in Portland, I can’t say I’m expecting much. But I hope to be wrong!

David Lee had his finest game as a Warrior, helping the team to a +7 rebounding advantage by pulling down 20 boards to go with 29 points. Monta and Steph also chimed in with 30 and 28, respectively, and as they mentioned on the postgame show this was the best game these three have played together as a trio.

Amundson gave some great second half minutes off the bench — even hitting his free throws — and while Dorell Wright couldn’t hit a shot to save his life, he didn’t screw things up too badly either as he posted a +21.

Now the Warriors head down to LA to take on the Lakers on the back end of a back-to-back. As the great Fitz just mentioned on the telecast, winning tomorrow would complete the most improbably 3-game winning streak…just about ever.