November 29, 2014

Tweet of the Night: Marreese Speights soaks in the glory after his 27-point outburst against the Hornets

SpeightsParkWhen Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are both struggling on the offensive end of the floor, it’s usually pretty tough for the Golden State Warriors to come away with a victory.

Unless, of course, you have one Marreese Speights coming off your bench to save the day. 

As funny as that may sound to those who haven’t been following the Warriors closely thus far, Speights has come into the season in terrific shape and has been nearly unguardable for much of the season. Playing the backup center role, he has been finishing plays at the rim, cleaning up the offensive glass and knocking down one jump shot after another (contested and uncontested) at an elite level.

Currently, Speights is shooting a ridiculous 60.4 percent from the field (ridiculous because of the number of jump shots he takes), and his 63.8 true shooting percent is the 10th best mark in the league. His effective field goal percent is at 60.4, which is tied with Curry for the fifth best in the league. The team simply would not be at the position they are in without his contributions off the bench, and that was the case again on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets in a big way.

Curry shot one-of-10 from the 3-point line, and Thompson shot seven-of-22 from the field. With their shots not falling and the Hornets executing on the offensive end, the deficit grew into the double-digits in the second half.

In came Speights, who amazingly scored the first 16 of the team’s points in the fourth quarter, mostly on mid-range jump shots that Hornets bigs simply would not come out to guard. Speights would finish the night as the leading scorer of the game with 27 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field in just 24 minutes to go with five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. No one could stop him on this night except himself, as he eventually fouled out of the contest. Still, it was enough to help secure the 106-101 victory.

It was a night to remember for Speights, who helped Golden State – now 13-2 – extend their winning streak to eight. After the contest, “Mo” soaked in all the praise that he absolutely deserved:

 

 

 

 

 

Tweet of the Night: Stephen Curry explains how he avoids ankle sprains in a new series called “Kick’n It”

Tweet of the Night: Stephen Curry posts a clip of the Warriors dancing in the plane

James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.

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