Despite Kevin Durant ailing and the Splash Brothers' lukewarm shooting, the Warriors come up big
The basketball gods were apparently on the side of Steve Kerr's Warriors team in their victory over the Atlanta Hawks Monday night. In spite of Kevin Durant's injury status and the Splash Brothers having a lackluster night, the Golden State Warriors' bench, led by Andre Iguodala, came up big in their 119-111 NBA victory.
Road rules
The Golden State Warriors are finally getting over their demons when playing road games. The visiting Warriors lost 2 of 5 away games (Washington Wizards [112-108] and Chicago Bulls [94-87]).
It's the first time Golden State dropped back-to-back games under Kerr's leadership. Still, the Dubs came out of the 5-game road trip with a winning percentage.
Two words: Andre Iguodala
On any given night, the Warriors can count on Stephen Curry to put up double-digits; he finished the game with 24 points on a paltry 8-of-20 attempts from the field. Klay Thompson dropped 13 points but they all came in the second half. Draymond Green, on the #bench for most of the second quarter due to foul trouble, added 12 points and 8 rebounds. However, the night belonged to Iguodala.
The 33-year-old Arizona standout hit a season-high milestone of 24 points. Andre came off the bench and gave the team a lift after the Warriors were outscored 42-35 in the first quarter.
Overall, Golden State's bench outscored Atlanta's reserves by 18 points (55 to 37)
Hawks have a "T" problem
The first quarter belonged to the Hawks. Then, after a live-ball argument between the Hawks' Dwight Howard and his point guard Dennis Schroder, things went downhill for the home team.
Just over 2 minutes into the third quarter with the Golden State Warriors trailing by 1 point (69-70), the two players bickered over two consecutive Hawks turnovers.
Curry, took advantage of their distracted play, inbounded the ball and drained a trey.
Coach Mike Budenholzer went ballistic, called a timeout and put Schroder on the bench. There, he remained until the end as he watched his team give up a lead to the visiting team.
"I don’t understand Coach’s decision,” Schroder said to reporters.
"Maybe I’m too competitive. I’m just trying to be competitive, trying to win games. But I don’t get that one."
Budenholzer was cagey about the incident, only saying it was a "coach's decision" to bench his star player.
"We need to learn to play together and stay together for 48 minutes. We got to figure it out, me and Coach. I want to talk about it. Dwight’s got to be in there, too. Get on the same page. Then we’ll be all right."
The Warriors are back at home on Wednesday where they will host the Boston Celtics.
How about the Golden State Warriors' bench?
