5 Lessons From Warriors’ First Home Loss
2. This Team Needs To Get Healthy
Speaking of everyone getting healthy, perhaps some of the sting of Golden State’s first home loss can be alleviated by the fact that they were missing their starting center for half the game, along with their pivotal sixth man and their backup center for the entire game.
Against the Celtics, Bogut exited the game after 18 minutes of action and needed X-rays on his ribs. The X-rays came back negative and the Aussie didn’t seem too concerned, but his injury-proneness has been an issue for years now.
When asked if there was an update on his rib injury, a smiling Andrew Bogut said "nope" before walking out of the arena moving pretty well.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) April 2, 2016
Andre Iguodala and Festus Ezeli may be close to returning, but the Warriors have certainly missed them both. Iggy is often the veteran presence and calming force in transition that makes defenses pay, both from three-point range and off the dribble as a facilitator and/or driver.
Ezeli is a mobile big who provides an alley-oop threat near the rim, pulls down boards and serves as a far better backup than Anderson Varejao whenever Bogut needs a breather. In the playoffs, Varejao (who has a total point differential of -16 since joining the Dubs) and Ian Clark (-75) will be virtually unplayable.
When the rotations shorten, the Warriors will absolutely need Bogut, Iggy and Ezeli at full strength. If that happens, the Dubs will more than likely go back to looking like world-beating juggernauts. If not…the Thunder or Spurs could make things interesting in a seven-game series.
Next: No. 1