I have to admit that this game scared me. There’s not doubt that GS would be fired up after last season’s playoff-ending loss to Utah. Oracle is always a tough place to play, though not as good as the ESA. The almost 900 strong from goldenstateofmind.com would be out in full force to cheer on their Warriors.

Turned out, I didn’t need to worry much. Apparently, Golden State didn’t learn a lesson from the playoffs. Boozer abused them again for 32 & 15 while leading the Jazz to a commanding 56-37 (the earthquake that hit the area was 5.6, coincidence?) edge on the boards. Millsap added 10 off the bench and AK mopped up another nine. They nearly out-rebounded the Warriors by themselves. And the dynamic back court of Williams & Brewer contributed another 32 points.

Complete Box Score

Ronnie continued his stellar play. Most of his shots again were layups or dunks, but once again, he cut well to the basket and got some of those off of his defense. Who knows what the situation would be had Fisher not left and signed with the Lakers. We likely would have been missing out on Brewer emerging. Williams probably would have had a couple more assists had the layups he set up for others been converted.

AK was AK again, filling up the stat sheet with board, blocks, rebounds, and assists. CJ and Giri were also solid contributors. Perhaps the best move by Sloan was playing Booze/Millsap/AK when Okur got into foul trouble early. Even with the Jazz going small (if that lineup is considered small), GS couldn’t capitalize. Collins played a whole minute and then contributed where he does best, on the bench.

I really did expect much more of a fight from the Warriors. They had the crowd into it early and were getting a lot of calls from their aggressive play. But the Jazz pulled away in the second and were never really threatened again. They had some mini runs, but they were usually cut off by a Deron Williams three. Would having Stephen Jackson on the floor helped GS? Of course it would have. But I don’t think he makes up for the difference in last night’s game.

And can I say I’m not impressed with Baron Davis as a player? He may be a great guy, but I don’t like the way he plays the game. There’s no question he’s a great player, but there are times when I think he turns to street ball rules. For example, we all know the incidents from the playoffs last year when he took an arguably cheap shot at Fisher. And last night there were a couple more instances when I lost a little respect for him. The first involved when he flopped off of Memo’s forearm after a play not involving him had been whistled. Did he attend the Jarron Minobli summer camp? The second wasn’t so much his fault, but it shows his style of play none-the-less. Coming down in transition with the ball, he slowed to the three point line and when Hart was in range, he jumped sideways into him. It should have been offensive if anything as he threw himself into Hart. Bad call as well.

We’ll see on Saturday if they put up any more of a fight. But they weren’t too impressive. Up next though, the Rockets of Houston.

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