Frusterating Nailbiter With Hornets Proves GSW Still Has Surprises

Part of being a fan of the Warriors is dealing with heartbreakingly narrow losses and aggrivating lead switches. Any NBA fan knows that once you stick to a team, there is a certain amount of sleep to lose over it. Tonight was another one of those nights where perhaps pessimism had most fans not expecting what the Dubs ended up putting out; and once everyone was out of their seats for a season-opener win, Chris Paul and the Hornets swarmed back in to beat Golden State 108-105.

This is encouraging for Warriors fans. New Orleans was the first NBA team in six years to get through the preseason undefeated. Chris Paul is dominating as usual, tonight putting up 21 points and 11 assists. David West had 24 points as well, so it's pretty obvious that New Orleans were on their game tonight. On the flipside, Corey Maggette scored 27 points in his Warriors debut, which is nothing but exciting. I miss Baron Davis, especially on a night like tonight, just as much as any fan, but if Maggette can throw down as well as he did tonight, especially once Monta is back, there's going to be some dangerous offense on this club.

My initial prediction was (as an optimist) that Golden State wouldn't be abe to overpower the Hornets, even in the ROARacle arena on opening night. That's such a solid starting five, and Chris Paul is just an animal in any setting. The Warriors are playing with a downsized club due to injuries, and as long as they play .500 ball more or less, they'll be able to make a move for the playoffs in the second half. It would strike me as very odd if the West is as stacked as it was last year, but I won't say it's impossible. Not much went down, other than a few shifts on particular teams, and I'm really crossing my fingers hoping that the Baron Davis pickup by the Clippers wasn't going to switch the teams' records.

Warrior of the Game goes quite obviously to Maggette, with Stephen Jackson in for a damn close second. That was quite the debut, and definitely made me feel a lot better about post-beard Warriors basketball.

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