Golden State Warrior Rookie Harrison Barnes Showing Solid Potential

OK, so Stephen Curry didn’t score 54 points Friday night for the Golden State Warriors. That might have been preferable for the Warriors considering that Golden State lost to the Boston Celtics 94-86. Curry was 6-of-22 from the floor and scored only 25 points, thanks mainly to 10-of-10 in foul shots. He and most of his teammates had an off night.

That’s why the performance of rookie Harrison Barnes gives the Warriors a few things worth smiling about. Barnes was 7-of-17 from the floor, which was a refreshing stat for the Warriors, considering the team was 32-of-94 from the floor for 34 percent and 5-of-23 in triples for 21.7 percent.

Barnes shook off the sluggishness that hit the other Warriors and made it a long night for Golden State. Barnes wound up with 16 points, six rebounds and three steals. He’s been averaging nine points and  four rebounds a game.

The seventh pick in the 2012 NBA draft would like to think that he’s become comfortable in the NBA, not surprising for this time of the season. Friday’s game marked the first time in eight appearances that he’s gotten back into double figures. Within the past two months, he’s had a couple of 21-point games. He was 8-of-11 and 9-of-11 in those particular games. If Barnes can learn how to shake off slumps as a rookie, he’ll be fine and so will the Warriors. He’s getting 25 minutes a game and he continues to shoot decent at 43.8 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent in 3-pointers.

Right now, while the other Warriors try to battle out of their slumps, Barnes just needs to play within his abilities, demonstrate the confidence he had earlier in the season and have fun. If he does that, the Warriors will keep having fun watching him play for the rest of the season.