I wasn’t planning on writing another blog entry until after tonight’s matchup with the Spurs, but the storylines after the Warriors victory over Dallas last night are just too good to pass up. Think of all the angles and sub angles I could take with this one! In order, here are my top 10 headlines from last night:

1. The Warriors won the game using only six players. According to ESPN, it’s the first time that has happened since the 1952 Baltimore Bullets. There’s no way they can keep this up – and hopefully they will have at least a handful of guys back by Friday, because even young bucks like Monta Ellis can’t be counted on to play 48 minutes every night. It was nice for a player like Stephen Curry to not have to worry about being taken out of the game, but I would still like to think that they won this game in spite of only having six players, not because of it.

2. Don Nelson misses the game with pneumonia. Nelson has had health troubles in the past, and even with the many issues the Warriors have had with Nelson this year, you never want to see someone miss time with an illness. Even if he is not the right coach for the team anymore, I hope everyone wishes him well.

3. Nelson misses the game against the team he sued for millions of dollars. Now that I’ve wished him well, don’t think I’ve forgotten about this little tidbit. You think Nelson really looked forward to going to Dallas and standing a few feet away from Mark Cuban? He ended on about as bad of terms as possible with the Mavs brass, so I don’t think he really wanted to go shake those hands again. He had to absolutely love watching his team whoop on Dallas from his bed last night.

4. The start of speculation as to how longer Nelson will coach. I foresee this being a topic of many upcoming blog entries. Pneumonia is not an easy thing to over come, especially for a 69 year old coach. Nelson has said he intends to live out the end of his contract through next year, but will his health allow him to do it? He certainly has looked lethargic at points, so I don’t think it would be a shock to anyone for him to announce retirement due to health concerns. Stay tuned.

5. The rise of Keith Smart. It was nice to see Smart with some personality last night, getting a technical in the third quarter after a missed call. It’s hard to determine how well he coached, since he didn’t really get to make that many substitutions, but its clear he will be a solid coach. I liked that he wasn’t hesitant to go with a bigger lineup (Radmanovic, Randolph and Moore all in at the same time). I don’t believe that Smart is all that similar to Avery Johnson. Yes, they are being compared because they are both Don Nelson heir-apparent, but I think Smart seems much less of a players coach than Johnson was. Lets just hope the Warriors hold on to Smart and don’t let him grab a head-coaching job with another team.

6. Monta Ellis continues his dominant run since the trade of Stephen Jackson. Ellis played another fabulous game last night, where he could get to the basket whenever he pleased. Ellis was the best player on the floor last night, which is saying a lot when you are up against Dirk Nowitzki. (Side note: props to Radmanovic for going toe-to-toe with Dirk for much of the 2nd half and forcing him to pass the ball away.)

7. Stephen Curry seems to have picked it up just a notch. Most professional sports fans can tell you there are moments where you say, “that’s when I knew this guy was going to be good”. I can’t say that I knew Stephen Curry was going to be a good NBA player watching him at Davidson, or in the first few weeks of the season. But last night, in the 4th quarter, and more specifically at the moment in crunch time when he drove to the lane and dropped a teardrop over Dirk Nowitzki, that’s when I knew. One minute earlier, he had hit a transition trey on a pass from Ellis. That might have been Stephen Curry finding his comfort zone in the NBA folks. Welcome Stephen.

8. Continuing to dominate Dallas. Even against all the odds, with all of their injuries, the Warriors still managed to beat a team coming off a five-game winning streak with an MVP candidate. The Warriors just own this team, the world saw it with the “We Believe” team in 2007, but it still rings true. Dirk Nowitzki has nightmares about playing the Warriors.

9. Anthony Randolph. You’d think with a team down to only six players, Randolph, one of the most exciting players in the league according to many, would find a way to sneak into the starting lineup. Not so. As it turned out, Randolph didn’t have the best game last night, only contributing 9 points in 30 minutes, but at some point the Warriors have to recognize that he needs to get consistent minutes, even when the rest of the roster returns to action.

10. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! The Warriors will be home for Thanksgiving, as will I this week. I’m thankful for many things, amongst them the opportunity to watch a team that always finds a way to play some of the most exciting basketball in the league.