Warriors Defeat Kings in a Great Effort by the Bench

BOX SCORE

The Warriors pulled out a win Tuesday night against the Kings 93-90, thanks to a fantastic performance from the bench. Brandon Rush drained a couple of key three pointers down the stretch to put the Warriors out by 11, but the Kings came storming back led by Tyreke Evans who nearly had a triple double, 22 points, ten rebounds, nine assists. If I were to ask you if the Warriors were going to win without Monta Ellis playing the entire fourth quarter and Curry sitting for the majority of it, would you say yes? I doubt it. Jackson decided to stick to his bench which panned out in the end, but if they ended up on the losing side, he would have some explaining to do.  

 Demarcus Cousins had a monster start to the game, but cooled off as the game progressed. He finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, recording his fourth double-double in his last five games. We knew coming into the game that Cousins would give the Warriors frontcourt fits, but they were able to limit Jason Thompson and Chuck Hayes.

Andris Biedrins scored the Warriors first five points, but that turned out being all he would score. He also blocked three shots, and snatched up three rebounds in 25 minutes of action. It was pretty obvious that the Warriors were trying to get Biedrins involved in the offense more, but as the bench started to get hot, Biedrins went back to being his old self. The fact that he played 25 minutes and actually took some shots, are positive signs as the Warriors go forth.

Ekpe Udoh played very good defense in the fourth quarter, blocking four shots in 22 minutes of court time. He ended up fouling out with about two minutes to go, but he was clearly one of the sparks in the Warriors effort to hold on to a victory. On the offensive side of the ball, Udoh tacked on six points, and five rebounds.

The Warriors backcourt of Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis combined for 15 points, shooting 6-24 from the field. Ellis didn’t play at all in the fourth, while Curry only played a couple of minutes for free throw shooting at the end. Maybe it’s because they were struggling from the field, or maybe it was just for rest, but the last thing I want to think about is it having to do with a trade. Just throwing that out there…..