Monta Ellis & Good Basketball Lead the Way In Win Over Grizzlies

So much for Jeremy Lin playing more minutes but either way the Dubs pulled out another victory over Rudy Gay and the Memphis Grizzlies to improve to 3-1 on the season. Monta Ellis continues to impress, scoring 17 of his 39 points in the 4th quarter when the Warriors needed it most. He also finished with 8 assists, 9 rebounds and played all but 5 minutes of the entire game.

David Lee bounced back with a huge performance on the boards as he and Andris Biedrins continue to outrebound and outwork their opponents, a big reason as to why the Warriors have gotten off to their great start.

While the defensive improvement hasn't been as pronounced as Keith Smart said it would be, he is making a case for himself as Coach of the Year. The Warriors are making plays when they need to and are finding ways to win games, characteristics of a good team. The Grizzlies shot 51.3% from the field as a team while the Dubs struggled at 41.2%. Yet they got to the line nine more times then the Grizz and outrebounded them 48 to 39 with 19 offensive rebounds.

Late in the game Keith Smart designed an inbounds play to get Monta Ellis the ball, the formation completely fooled the Memphis Grizzlies and Ellis was wide open for the simple pass. This is the kind of execution the Warriors were missing last year, actually the past few years. These are the subtle diffferences that are leading the Warriors to victory. They won the 4th quarter, hit free throws down the stretch, withstood a big performance from Rudy Gay and so on and so on.

Sure the defense could be better and will need to be, but for now their fundamentals are carrying them through and that is good enough to beat the team's they're supposed to. Ball movement, rebounding, and hitting open shots. Dorell Wright and his 25 points fit in perfectly with tonight's game and everygame thus far. Reggie Williams had a career high 8 assists off the bench and others contributed as well. The Warriors went 8 deep tonight and even though Dan Gadzuric only played 6 minutes, his presence was felt. The Warriors are a real team again. They aren't just trying to sell tickets or win with gimmicks right now, they're playing real basketball and winning. Keith Smart is the reason for that and he ought to be commended over and over again.

Now a look at the Warriors "Division Standings".

Warriors 3-1

Kings 3-2
Nuggets 2-2
Grizzlies 2-3
Suns 1-3
Clippers 1-4
Timberwolves 1-4
Rockets 0-4