Locked On Warriors – Daily Podcast On The Golden State Warriors

The Warriors will face the Bulls tonight without Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, who are nursing injuries to their shoulder and quad respectively. The Bulls are playing really well and coming off a win over the streaking Heat. Jordan Bell and the rest of the Dubs will have to play with poise if they are going to continue their road winning streak in Chicago.

In this week's Statistical Deep Dive, Aliko takes a look at the Warriors' defense since Stephen Curry returned to the lineup on December 30th. TL;DL: It hasn't been good. Golden State has been far and away the best offensive team over this two and a half week stretch, but their defense has been middling at best. Specifically, they haven't been running people off the three-point line, which will be crucial against the Rockets on Saturday.

Around the NBA, there've been a number of altercations and straight up fights in the last few days, with the Rockets and Clippers taking the cake as far as bizarre outcomes. Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard has been shut down indefinitely in San Antonio, and Gordon Hayward is shooting again.

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The Dubs have played (and won) three games since the last Locked on Warriors podcast. Wins are always nice, but against the Bucks the Warriors almost fell apart in the second half, particularly on the defensive end, while in Toronto, GSW surrendered a 27-point lead to only end up winning by 2.

To be fair, these teams have Giannis Antetokoumpo and DeMar DeRozan respectively, but it was a team effort from both of these squads, pressuring the Dubs defensively in the 2nd half and playing fearlessly from the start. It seems fear is not a tool the Warriors can count on as readily as in the past few seasons, particularly against teams that have aspirations of making the Finals.

And on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the Warriors had perhaps their easiest win of the long weekend, dominating LeBron's Cavaliers in the 2nd half despite another gem from the King (32/8/6 with 8 turnovers). Will the Cavaliers, who have lost 8 of their last 10 games, be able to right the ship with a trade before the deadline? 

Kevon Looney had his best stretch of games as a professional, and Jordan Bell added another start to his NBA resume. Steph, KD, Klay and Draymond were staunch as usual, but will need to find another gear if they want to continue to build on their 13-game road winning streak against Chicago and Houston.

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Miles Johnson joins Aliko today to talk all things basketball, beginning with how the Bucks' season is going so far. No Steph for the Warriors tonight, who are in Milwaukee to face Giannis & Co. before continuing their 5-game roadie in Toronto on Saturday. 

The Raptors, to their credit, are playing fantastic basketball—and their new OVO-inspired jerseys and court are absolute fire—and coming off a shellacking of the Cavaliers in Toronto behind brilliance from DeMar DeRozan and utter garbage hoops from the team from The Land.

Elsewhere, Aliko and Miles go down the Reddit hole, expounding on such subjects as the Wizards' current woes, Zach LaVine's upcoming Bulls debut, Kobe's new ESPN show, and the latest on Markelle Fultz' mysterious shoulder ailment.

Also on the docket: there's a bit of confusion as to how the All-Star team captains are going to go about picking their teams. The picks won't be televised, which has left Aliko and Miles with ample fuel for conspiracy theories. Speaking of All-Stars, do the Warriors deserve four this year? Draymond thinks so.

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The Warriors played pretty badly defensively on Wednesday, for a national audience. The team missed Klay Thompson's on-ball defense clearly, as well as the Splash Brothers' potent scoring and gravity. Kevin Durant scored his 20,000th point but it was to no avail, as Lou Williams went off for 50, including 27 in a decisive 3rd quarter.

For #ThrowbackThursday, we go back to early 2012, when the Warriors traded Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut, and Joe Lacob was booed at Chris Mullin's jersey retirement ceremony. Were the events related? Listen to find out.

Lastly, the Warriors are heading out on a tough 5-game roadie: @Mil, @Tor, @Cle, @Chi and @Hou. They've actually played better on the road this season than at home, but with tough tests at each stop, they will have to increase their defensive intensity and not get caught in heavy iso situations on offense.

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The Warriors revealed today that Kevin Durant will return to the lineup tonight vs. the Clippers, but that Stephen Curry (right ankle sprain) and Klay Thomspon (rest) will be out. It feels like months since the whole team was together at the same time, but Steve Kerr knows if he wants to win multiple more championships, he has to be aware of player performance.

Nike has produced five Warriors jerseys to date. Let's rank them! You might be surprised with the results.

Finally, with the damaged Clippers coming into town tonight, the Warriors will need to stay focused on this evening rather than looking ahead to a tough 5-game road trip (MIL, TOR, CLE, CHI, HOU).

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As happens often, the Warriors didn't need Stephen Curry in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against the Clippers. The man with the baby face did some weekend assassination, casually putting up 45 points on 8 three-point field goals in under 30 minutes. His continued torrent of scoring earned him Western Conference Player of the Week honors.

Warriors rookie Jordan Bell is playing well as well, but hasn't had as much of an opportunity to shine since Curry came back. Most of that is just matchups however, and Bell will have plenty more chances to match his 20/10 performance from December 22.

The Nuggets are coming to town tonight, but will face a different Warriors team than the one they beat in December. It's highly doubtful the Warriors will again go 3/27 from the three-point line, but it is also unclear whether or not Kevin Durant will play.

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With a healthy dose of Steph, Klay and Dray, the KD-less Warriors were able to top the Harden-less Rockets in Houston Thursday. Green had a triple-double in the win, the 21st in his career, passing Tom Gola for most all-time by a Dub. Chris Paul was very good in the loss, as was Gerald Green, whose short career resurgence has been remarkable.

Down the Reddit hole, topics include David West's per 36 numbers, Klay getting hype, and first returns from NBA All-Star voting.

With an early game tomorrow, the Warriors will have to get up for the Clippers, who are playing their best basketball of the season despite being banged up. The 1-2 big-man punch of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan will be a handful for Draymond, Zaza and the Warriors rotating cadre of large players.

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The Warriors survived the Mavericks on a late Stephen Curry three pointer to ensure a win streak of two. Despite having the game in hand with two minutes remaining, an array of missed shots and turnovers fueled a Dallas comeback, with former Warrior Harrison Barnes hitting two big shots with under a minute left.

But the Mavericks attack was not ready for Curry to pull up without using a timeout, hitting the game-winner with 3.0 seconds to go. Bye bye.

For #ThrowbackThursday, we revisit We Believe, initially from the perspective of the Mavericks, and then through the lens of the Warriors.

Finally, Aliko previews the Harden-less, Durant-less GSW vs. HOU matchup coming up at 5pm on TNT. It's going to be jack-tastic.

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The Warriors are in Dallas to play the streaking Mavericks, who have four-straight marquee wins after floundering to start the season.

This week's stats deep dive focuses on the on-off numbers of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Finally, Aliko checks in on the Santa Cruz Warriors and G League standings.

Other topics include the latest Warriors trade rumors and Steve Kerr's opinions on marijuana legalization.

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Stephen Curry returned to the Warriors just in time. With the Dubs coming off two losses in four games, the two-time MVP made his return to the lineup on Saturday vs. the Grizzlies. He was incendiary, nailing 10 of 13 three pointers and making everyone around him better.

The Warriors are going to need Steph to play at this high a level for the month of January, as they have the toughest schedule in the NBA, including two games in Houston as well as facing the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Martin Luther King Day.

Elsewhere, Klay Thompson opened up to Aliko about his signature shoe deal with Anta, going into detail on the iteration process, special colorways, and how the company is trying to break into the American market. That piece is available here.

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