OAKLAND -- Coming out of mothballs Friday night, big man Jordan Bell was so fabulous that it may be impossible to decipher which was more important: What he did for the Warriors or what he did for himself.
He gave the Warriors an opportunity to win, and they did, laying a 125-97 thumping on the Portland Trail Blazers at Oracle Arena.
“Oh, man, Jordan was amazing,” guard Klay Thompson marveled. “And you saw it. I’m looking at the numbers and he just fills up a stat sheet so well. He did everything. He has an incredible line: 5-7-5-4-2-1 -- that’s Draymond Green-esque.”
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To clarify, Bell scored five points, passed for a game-high-tying seven assists, grabbed five rebounds, adding two steals and a blocked shot. He played 21 minutes and posted an absurd plus-26.
He did this after playing four minutes on Wednesday, six last Sunday and all of 17 seconds last Saturday. After spending much of the season on the far end of the bench.
“Jordan Bell came in and did a great job for us,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He was the story of the game. He hasn’t had much of a chance lately. He stayed ready, was very professional and kept working every day and had a really great performance.”
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Bell’s strong showing was timely insofar as the Warriors have needed some athletic impact from their big men. The performance of starting center Damian Jones has tailed off lately, which presented an opportunity for Bell to do what he does best.
Kerr gave him a heads-up at shootaround Friday morning. The hidden message was that Bell would some significant time if Jones wasn’t getting the job done.
“He told me that the team had been lacking energy, with Steph [Curry] being out, the whole media circus going on from the thing with KD and Draymond,” Bell said, referencing the heated argument between Kevin Durant and Green last week in Los Angeles. “He told me just to come out and be myself, bring energy and just play the game.”
Jones played 10 ineffective minutes, which meant more time for Bell. He earned it with consistent activity throughout, including a notable moment in the second quarter when he dived after a loose ball and saved it, leading directly to a Warriors bucket.
“That changed the game for us,” Durant said.
“I didn’t think I had a chance of actually getting the ball, so I just dove -- you know, fake hustle -- just to get the team and the crowd going,” Bell said.
“But it happened to stay in.”
If he plays as he did in this game, the same may be true of Bell.
