During Tuesday night’s Warriors – Pelicans game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, offseason Dubs acquisition, Andre Iguodala, returned for the first time in 12 games after suffering a strained hamstring in a loss to the Lakers on November 22. Though he only dropped a single bucket, Iggy and Stephen Curry hooked up for a beautiful alley-oop and the Warriors won.
Iggy was just 1-for-4 in 17 minutes Tuesday night, but the one field goal he did connect on featured a gorgeous lob from Curry.
Andre also missed a dunk, after a fancy bit of dribbling, when Jason Smith got a hand on the ball, but it was about as spectacular a missed dunk as you’ll find after Iggy faked Jrue Holiday out with a between-the-legs bounce in the lane before the attempt.
Despite Iggy’s hit-or-miss return to the court, the Dubs got the win, 104-93, primarily behind Curry’s 28 points, on 11-of-19 shooting, and 12 dimes. David Lee added 21 points (10/15 shooting) and 17 rebounds. Iggy wasn’t the only one to deke Holiday. Curry also had some fun at Jrue’s expense with this lightening quick step-back before drilling the three-pointer.
Despite the hot-and-cold performance in his first game back, Iggy’s return has to bring a smile to Bay area Dubs fans. With him out of the lineup in the last 12 games, the Warriors went 5-7 after starting the year 8-5 with him in uniform. Now they’re 1-0 with him back and despite being in the No. 9 spot out West at 14-12, they’ll be a lot tougher to beat with Iggy patrolling the perimeter.
Discounting the little-used Hilton Armstrong, Iguodala has the best plus/minus on the team, according to NBA.com/stats, with a net rating of 15.6. Curry is the next-best at 8.7. The Warriors give up more than eight points less per 100 possessions with Iguodala on the floor than when he’s off, and he did a good job keeping stretch four Ryan Anderson to just 6-for-16 shooting last night for a Pelicans-high of only 21 points. The Dubs also score almost 11 more points per 100 possessions with Iguodala on the court, and they’ll need his instangible Scottie Pippen presence if they’re going to have any chance in the tough Western Conference.
[Iggy oop via YouTube user: frank den]
What do you think about the Dubs after Iggy gets back?
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