LAST TIME OUT
The Warrior rookies continued to improve, but it wasn’t enough as Golden State dropped a 99-87 contest to the Lakers Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. Charles Jenkins facilitated with efficiency, dishing 11 assists while turning the ball over just one time. Klay Thompson led the team in scoring with 17 points and handed out five assists of his own while Jeremy Tyler added in a career-high 15 with six boards. Brandon Rush chipped in 10 off the bench for the Warriors. FULL GAME RECAP
WARRIORS VS. MAVERICKS
The Warriors will close out their three-game season series with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. The teams have split the first two head-to-head matchups, each of which took place in Oakland. A win would give the Warriors their first season series victory over Dallas since the 2006-07 campaign. That memorable season saw Golden State sweep the Mavs, 3-0, in the regular season before the Warriors took down the top-seeded Mavericks again in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Beating Dallas surely won't be easy this time around, as the Mavericks need just one victory to secure a berth in the 2012 NBA Playoffs.
A YOUTH MOVEMENT
It's no secret that the Warriors have been extremely shorthanded as of late. Injuries continue to take their toll on the team, as Nate Robinson (aggravated right hamstring) joined fellow veterans David Lee (strained groin), Stephen Curry (sprained right ankle), Andris Biedrins (mild concussion) and Andrew Bogut (left ankle fracture) in sitting out Wednesday's game vs. the Lakers. The injuries, however, have created opportunities for some of the youngest Warriors. In fact, the Warriors have started four rookies (Mickell Gladness, Charles Jenkins, Klay Thompson, Jeremy Tyler) in each of the last two games, becoming the first team to do so since the 2002-03 Denver Nuggets (Junior Harrington, Nene, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Vincent Yarbrough).
SHOWING SOME PROMISE
After struggling to earn playing time in the season's early going, Jeremy Tyler has showed some encouraging signs as of late. He picked up the first double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) of his career against the Spurs on Monday, and he followed that with a career-high 15 points on Wednesday. Tyler's continued development will be one of the top storylines to follow for the remainder of the season.
THE TOP RUNG
Klay Thompson is playing as well as any rookie in the game, and he’s been recognized as such with the top spot on NBA.com’s Rookie Ladder, a weekly ranking of the NBA’s top 10 first-year players. Not only has Thompson been the second-leading scorer among rookies since the All-Star Break (16.5), but he’s also been an adept passer and rebounder in recent contests, averaging 5.8 reounds and 5.0 assists over the last four games.
Injuries:Warriors - Andris Biedrins (mild concussion), David Lee (strained groin) and Nate Robinson (reaggravated right hamstring) are day-to-day. Stephen Curry (mild sprain, right ankle), Andrew Bogut (left ankle fracture) are out. Mavericks - None.
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