Game notes:
- Fitz kept prattling on about the Kings' 3-point-shooting being the difference. Really? The Kings DID hit 58% from deep, but the Warriors hit 50% in their own right and actually knocked down 1 more trey than Sacramento did (12 to their 11). In my opinion, a 42 to 25 free-throw disparity is much more troublesome. When you win by 4 after attempting 17 more free throws than your competition, the check for the refs was clearly in the mail. DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmer Ferdette combined for 39 points on only 8 field goals. What an unbelievably choreographed victory for the Kings.
- DeMarcus Cousins is good. Damn good. Like, in 2 years, he might be the top big in the league kinda good. But that fool deserves the flopping fine after last night. There wasn't a single play inside where he wasn't flailing his arms, kicking his legs, squealing like Pau, and mugging the refs like a spoiled child if they dared not reward his grotesque acting jobs (which wasn't even very often). On the absolutely real, I lost a ton of respect for Keith Smart after seeing just how severely he babies Cousins' ego. I'd heard about it, but until last night it was never THAT obvious. I'm surprised neither of them got T'd up for their tantrums in the second half. Jeez, you'd think THEY were the ones getting screwed with half the free-throws based on how much they whined...
- I was absolutely shocked to see Jackson completely disregard Dirty Landry after Carl hit 4 consecutive field goals without missing to bring us back into the game. Nobody in purple could guard him on the block and it was obvious. Usually, Jackson keeps playing a matchup if it works, but Landry didn't see another field goal after scoring 8 straight for the Warriors and ended the night with 14 and 5, though you gotta wonder if things would have worked out differently had the Dubs kept feeding it inside and Carl kept getting buckets/fouls. He and David Lee were 17-of-25. Why in the hell does Jackson even run any guard plays with Klay and Barnes shooting like crap?
- Sure. The free throws were tough. Steph Curry fouling out was a blow. But the dagger was a Marcus Thorton 3, pushing the lead to 4 with under 2 minutes left, that came seconds after David Lee SPECIFICALLY instructed Jack not to leave his man. Jack was getting his buckets last night, and I never like to place blame on one single guy, but I'm putting that one on JJ. If Thorton misses that 3, it's a whole different game.
: 2010 - 2011
