Warriors Show Poise and Glimpses of the Team They Should Be

The Golden State Warriors got a huge lift from a player who has missed time with injuries. No, I'm not talking about Monta Ellis. I'm talking about Stephen Jackson and boy was Jackson huge tonight!

Jackson was the only player on the court for the Warriors older than 25. Yes, 25 years of age. Yet, the Warriors came in against the Boston Celtics and showed that they were not afraid to get physical with the Celtics. 

The Warriors also did something that they haven't done since 2007. That was to actually get a win without scoring 100 points and what a time to do it. They handed the loss to the best team in the NBA and also handed the Celtics their first consecutive losses of the season. 

The first half of the game belonged to the Celtics, who brought a 12-point lead at half time. The good news is that the Warriors were actually doing something that they haven't done much of and that is getting a hand in the face of shooters. 

In the first half, it was Jackson on Paul Pierce. Even though Pierce made the first five shots he took, Jackson was contesting every single one of them. Against Ray Allen, Marco Bellinelli played smothering defense, who finished the game with only seven points and eventually fouled out with half of his fouls offensive due to the defense played by Belinelli.  

In the limited minutes that Brandan Wright played, he showed that he could affect Kevin Garnett's shot. Wright also forced Garnett to shuffle for a traveling violation. 

C.J. Watson started the game, but only played the first few minutes of the game and was relegated to the bench. That was until a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, where Watson made two huge mid range jumpers. 

On an off night by Andris Biedrins, the Warriors got their most inspiring play from Ronny Turiaf, who finally showed the Warriors why they signed him for the four year, $17 million contract. Turiaf went 2-for-4 from the field and 10-for-10 from the free throw line in nearly 30 minutes of play. 

He finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots. Although, the biggest play that woke the Warriors up was the pass inside where he caught the ball before he came down, and shot it and made it for what should have been a three-point play because Brian Scalabrine, but was waived off for an offensive foul.

The fourth quarter is when the Warriors made their move, going on a 25 to six run, which put the game away from the Celtics. The Warriors ended up winning 99-89.

In the fourth quarter, every time the Celtics would come back and make it seem like the Warriors were going to give the game away because of the lack of a point guard, someone stepped up defensively.

Turiaf played excellent defense on Garnett. Rajon Rondo got loose and went for one of his patented layups on a great drive, only to have it rejected by Kelenna Azubuike. 

This game, so far, was the best game the Warriors have played defensively and it showed on the offensive side as well. They could have won this game by a lot more than just 10 points, but because the Celtics are such a great defensive team, they were able to keep the Warriors at bay throughout the first three quarters.

The Warriors ended up forcing 23 turnovers, but the Celtics also forced the Warriors into 21. 

So, this got me into thinking maybe I was a little harsh on my criticism of Keith Smart after the Warriors-Magic game. It looked like Smart had a great game plan for the Warriors to stay with the Celtics and it worked to perfection, although it didn't look like it coming in at half time. 

Unlike most of the times when the Warriors play great defense in the first half or first few quarters, they did not fall apart in the second half and played the full 48 minutes. 

Here's to hoping the Warriors can now build on their confidence and even if they do lose to the Los Angeles Lakers, they still have a great chance at beating the Toronto Raptors, and being at 10 wins before the start of the New Year.

Who knows, maybe with Ellis back, the Warriors can build on their performance from tonight's game and play above .500 the rest of the year. Well, there's always hope and if this is a glimpse of how the Warriors are going to be with Keith Smart running the defense, it looks like the Warriors could be a dangerous team and can play spoiler to playoff teams.