With only one game left to go on the season, the Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 130-120 on Monday to win 50 games for the first time since the 1993-94 season, when they finished with a 50-32 record. With the victory, the Warriors assured themselves of a first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.
It’s an amazing accomplishment for a franchise that has struggled for so long, and it shows a clear sign of progress since new ownership took over the team a few seasons ago. Unfortunately, the feeling of satisfaction and hope heading into the postseason came with a big asterisk: they had learned just earlier in the day that center Andrew Bogut – the team’s most important player on defense – may be out for the remainder of the season with a fractured rib, from Tim Kawakami of Mercury News:
Andrew Bogut might have been cagily setting everybody up for a grand return at some point during the Warriors’ playoffs run after suffering a fractured rib last night… but I don’t think that’s how he’s playing this or ever will.
Bogut sat at his locker before the game, spoke gloomily about the possibility of further contact helping to puncture his lung, and said he can’t do much of anything at all right now, anyway.
The Warriors and Bogut say he’s out “indefinitely,” but every indication from Bogut is that he is out for the rest of this season, including the playoffs, barring some miracle recovery.
[…]
-BOGUT: It was frustrating. But it’s out of my control. I think it started against Denver when I first did it, to be honest. Felt similar symptoms and then played that game and the Lakers game, felt it again, and then got hit perfectly in that spot again and it fractured.
-Q: Is it hard to breathe?
-BOGUT: That’s it. I can’t take deep breaths or yawn right now.
-Q: Ever had this before?
-BOGUT: Never broke a rib, no. Pretty hard to move around and do anything really right now. Even driving in the car is a little tough.
See what happens.
-Q: Mark Jackson said indefinite and they’re giving no timetable. What in your mind is a possible?
-BOGUT: Indefinite. That’s all I’m giving you guys.
-Q: Can you work out at all?
-BOGUT: I can’t move right now. Can’t move my arm and any vibrations, coughing, sneezing hurts. I guess if I get on a treadmill or get on an elliptical it’s going to hurt.
This is bad for the Warriors. Really, really bad.
With Bogut seemingly out for the remainder of the playoffs, it’s tough to imagine this team moving past a strong Clippers squad in the first round, let alone get further than they did last season. Stay tuned for a detailed breakdown of the series between Golden State and Los Angeles later in the week by yours truly. Last season, I confidently predicted that the Warriors would move past the Denver Nuggets in the first round. This time? Lets just say I’m not as confident.
BOLD STOUDEMIRE:
Over the weekend, Amare Stoudemire boldly said that on paper, the New York Knicks may have the best team in the league. Perhaps he forgot that the team starts a point guard who is regarded by many as the worst in the league, or that Tyson Chandler has become a near shell of the Defensive Player of the Year that he once was. Do the Knicks have talent on paper? Of course. Does anyone think they have the best team on paper? Not even the most die-hard fans of the orange and blue.
Still, there is no denying that Stoudemire seemingly rose from the dead in the final month and a half of the season when he was inserted back into the starting lineup. His defense is still as suspect as ever, but the offensively-dominant player we’ve grown accustomed to over the years finally returned before our very eyes – at least when he was given the chance to dominate – and when he can play at that level? Yes, the Knicks become a much more intriguing team.
The big question going into next season is, can he remain healthy? That’s what the power forward is banking on, because as long as he does, there is no doubt in his mind that the Knicks will be back in the playoffs, from Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN NY:
And Stoudemire says if he is healthy next season, the Knicks can still rebuild and make the playoffs.
“Not making the playoffs is not an option,” Stoudemire said on Sunday. “[Another losing season is] not an option for us. We’re definitely looking to make the playoffs every year.
“This year’s been a struggle,” he continued. “But if I return healthy and ready to go, I’m sure we’ll make the playoffs.”
[…]
“The positive thing from it, from my standpoint, I felt healthy all year,” Stoudemire said. “Back to my health. So it feels great.”
“This summer’s going to be very important for all of us to return in top shape. And with a mindset of becoming a student and being able to master our philosophy on both ends of the court. Whatever the strategy is, we gotta get to the point where we buy into it from the beginning and we gotta try to master it before playoffs.”
MELO’S MIND CLOUDED AND UNCERTAIN HEADING INTO THE SUMMER:
Carmelo Anthony is not used to missing out on the playoffs – he has never missed it in his 11-year career until now. Needless to say, the forward is distraught and confused as to how and why all of it happened, especially heading into free agency over the summer. He expressed what was on his mind to the best of his abilities, from Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN NY:
“It was a tough day,” Anthony said after the Knicks beat the Bulls, 100-89, at the Garden. “It was a tough night last night. … A lot of thoughts were going through my mind. Last night. Right now.”
“There’s so much going on right now,” he continued. “Me never being in this situation before, not knowing how to feel or what to feel right now. It’s going to take a minute for me to kind of decompress and kind of come back down to earth a little bit.”
[…]
“I’m telling you, it’s hard for me to even think about that,” Anthony said when asked about having hope for next season. “Everything for me is just cloudy. I’ve never been in the situation before. I don’t know what to say about this situation.
“The only thing for me is to stay positive throughout this situation,” he added. “There’s going to be a lot of questions that I have, that I’m going to be asking myself: Why this? Why that? I’m pretty sure I won’t find no answers anytime soon. We’ll see what happens.
[…]
“As far as that goes, all this stuff will come into consideration,” Anthony said. “But I won’t never make it seem like because of this season I’m going to become a free agent. It has nothing to do with [how] this season went. Even if we had the greatest of a season, I probably would still be in that situation.”
[…]
Anthony said once again that the Knicks’ hiring of Phil Jackson as team president made a splash with him.
“That was a big play,” Anthony said. “That was definitely a big play for our organization, for the Knicks, for me.”
For now, though, all Anthony can think about is the bitter taste in his mouth left by missing the postseason for the first time in his career.
“When that time comes I’m pretty sure everything will be laid out, we would talk about it,” he said of his future. “Until then I’m going to feel this way.”
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