Tipoff: 7:30 tonight at Oakland Coliseum Arena. TV: ESPN. Radio: KNBR (680). Nets update: The Atlantic Division-leading Nets have cooled off since winning 14 consecutive games -- 13 under interim coach Lawrence Frank -- losing three of their past five. Also, star point guard Jason Kidd missed Wednesday's loss in Phoenix because of a bruised left knee, and he's questionable for tonight's game. Nets injuries: G Tamar Slay (groin) is out. Kidd is questionable. Warriors injuries: G Speedy Claxton (hand), C Evan Eschmeyer (knees), F Troy Murphy (ankle) and G Nick Van Exel (knee) are out.
If Kidd plays, you can expect a great game from him in front of his hometown crowd. But without him, it would be close but I see the Warriors getting the W.
New Jersey (37-23) at Golden State (25-34) 10:30 pm EST <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Jason Kidd may be back in the lineup for the New Jersey Nets on Friday when they visit the Golden State Warriors. Kidd has sat the last two games with a bruised left knee and the Nets have split those contests. The All-Star point guard, an Oakland native, had just three assists in each of his last two games. While Kidd's availability is being listed as a game-time decision, Kidd indicated that he expects to play. After a rousing victory at Denver the night before, New Jersey looked flat in Wednesday's 87-74 loss at Phoenix. Kerry Kittles, who scored a season-high 34 points in the win over the Nuggets, was limited to seven on 3-of-9 shooting. Golden State wasted a huge effort from Mike Dunleavy Jr. in Wednesday's 96-88 loss to Indiana. Dunleavy collected 24 points and 20 rebounds and Jason Richardson added 19 and nine as the Warriors dropped their third straight. The Warriors are 9-12 against Eastern Conference foes. Kidd scored 23 points and Kenyon Martin added 17 in New Jersey's 88-70 victory over Golden State on December 31. The teams have split their last six meetings, with each sweeping its home contests. </div> http://www.nba.com/games/20040305/NJNGSW/preview.html
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post">If Kidd plays, you can expect a great game from him in front of his hometown crowd. But without him, it would be close but I see the Warriors getting the W.</div>If Kidd plays, it will be very tough to beat these Nets. But without him, even the Suns were able to beat them.
Just goes to show you that Kidd is one of a kind. Size at the point and the ability to make everyone around him better.
I hope Kidd plays, so we can see Pietrus trying to contain and run with him. Kidd always plays well in his old backyard and I'm hoping the W's can bounce back from the three game slide and win a tough one at home. It should be pretty competitive and I want to see Cliffy guard KMart. I think Damp should have a good game, and we'll see what Mike D is made of tonight. Hopefully the Indiana game wasn't a fluke.
That looks like a good matchup, MDjr v. Jefferson. I'm looking forward to Pietrus going against JKidd.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Nets point guard Jason Kidd, who has a bone bruise in his left knee, is listed as doubtful. ... The Warriors will be without point guards Nick Van Exel (left knee inflammation) and Speedy Claxton (fractured second metacarpal) and power forward Troy Murphy (deep bone bruise and stress reaction, right ankle). ... The Warriors have lost three consecutive games and are a season-high nine games under .500. ... Warriors coach Eric Musselman wouldn't divulge his starting lineup for tonight's game. He said Kidd's status is not factoring into his decision. ... Forward Mike Dunleavy is coming off his best game as a professional. Dunleavy scored 24 points, grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds and had five assists -- mostly from the point guard position -- in the Warriors' loss to the Pacers. ... Dallas team physician T.O. Souryal examined Van Exel's left knee Thursday. Van Exel has been told to rest the knee 10 to 14 days, at which point he will be re-evaluated, according to the Warriors.</div> http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctime...ors/8112862.htm
Way to go Cardinal! Dont go Warriors! No minutes for Petrius, Dunleavy, Jrich, Damp or Cliffy. New starting 5 will be Johnson, Chaney, Popeye Jones, Murphy, and Echmeyer.
It's been a while since I've seen a Warriors game on national television, but even though the Nets have been staggering a bit, I'll still go for them to win by at least 8 tonight.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorfansnc93:</div><div class="quote_post">Way to go Cardinal! Dont go Warriors! No minutes for Petrius, Dunleavy, Jrich, Damp or Cliffy. New starting 5 will be Johnson, Chaney, Popeye Jones, Murphy, and Echmeyer.</div> Richardson will score negative 40 points.
Is it me, or do the Warriors always seem to play well on national TV? I hope they go out with the attitude that they have something to prove to the country- that there's a young team in the Bay that's going to be dangerous in teh next few years. Not only do they play on national TV, but they play an EASTERN conf. team, at HOME. Seems to be a winning combo .
i just basically watched the entire game...and up until a minute ago the warriors were winning throughout the entire game. they're now down 3 without the ball with like 30 or so seconds left. i just turned the television off and im going to go sit in a corner and cry.
The warriors can't finish these type of games all year long. They looked really sloppy in the second half, turning the ball over, picking up cheap fouls. Failing to get the long rebounds three times in a row. Usually, if you get outrebounded you lose and this attributed to Nets second chance points when the warriors failed to secure defensive rebounds. What a shame.
Muss should have played Pietrus some more. He didn't play in the second half. Their Defense was terrible in the 2nd half. So I expected to see more of Pietrus, except it seemed like Chaney played the whole second half. He played great in the first hlaf but kind of disappeared in the second. Even though Dampier has played great this season, do you guys think that the team plays better without him on the court? I think he's similar to Jamison in that he could put up good numbers but they don't actually help the team.
Man, I don't know if Musselman even knows how to manage second half quarters. It's all part of his inexperience as a coach.
The defense when Damp is on the court is usually very good, or at least better than when he's not on the court. So i don't think numbers have much to do with the impact Damp might have on a game. However i wouldn't get mad at Damp for not putting up great numbers. The offense that the Warriors were using didn't help Dampier at all. The perimeter players took about 6-7 seconds to get the ball passed half court, due to some pressure, then there would be about nothing but some dribbles and maybe a pass and nothing would happen until about 9 seconds left on the shot clock. And you can't post up Damp with 9 seconds left on the shot clock. That just doesn't put Damp in a position to succeed. Also as a big man getting good low post position is a lot of hard work(even though a lot of people don't understand this). And when your perimeter players aren't doing anything but dribble and everyone else is just standing around, you can become very unmotivated to work hard in the post, very quickly.
That's true, no post player wants to fight for position and not get a single touch. It's tiring. Richardson, Dunleavy, and Cheaney shot some efficent numbers, but Richardson had 5 turnovers and Dunleavy had 4. That's sad and costly.
