Author: jhawkes51

Green’s 23 points leads Warriors past Clippers

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND —  Draymond Green scored a game-high 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field in  28 minutes helping the Golden State Warriors extend their lead in the Pacific Division to 10 games with a 106-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday at Oracle Arena. It was the 111th straight sellout for the Warriors, and their sixth straight at Oracle Arena where their an NBA-best 27-2 this season.

“We were aggressive today, which was huge for us,” said Green, who added six assists. “I thought guys were active and ready to play.”

Klay Thompson finished with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting, while Shaun Livngston provided a lift off the bench scoring a season-high 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Livingston shot 9-for-14 from the floor in 28 minutes.

Stephen Curry, who didn’t score his first points until 5:16 left before halftime, finished with 12 points on 3-for-9 shoot to go along with four assists, but did have three steals which extended his consecutive games streak with at least one steal to 25 games.

Golden State (49-12) shot 50 percent (40-for-80) from the floor, and 45 percent (10-for-22) from three-point range. Green and Thompson each drained three from behind the arc.

Thompson’s three 3s moved him past his head coach, Steve Kerr (726), on the all-time list.

The Clippers (40-22), who were playing without Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford, dropped their fifth straight game in Oakland.

Backup point guard Austin Rivers led all Clippers players with 22 points off the bench in 31 minutes. J.J. Redick scored 18 points in 27 minutes on 8-for-12 shooting.

Chris Paul scored 14 points and dropped 11 assists, while DeAndre Jordan grabbed 11 of the Clippers 39 rebounds.

Los Angeles outscored Golden State 42-30 in the paint, but the Warriors forced 18 Clippers’ turnovers that led to 22 points.

“I don’t think they like us. I don’t know why,” Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said after the loss. “Steve (Kerr) told me he didn’t like me. We’re the last team to knock them out, and they know that. So I think that adds to it.”

Golden State avenged a 100-86 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Christmas night; after Golden State pummeled Los Angeles 121-104 back in November in Oakland.

The home team has won each of the last 10 regular-season games. Golden State and Los Angeles play one more time in Los Angeles on March 31.

Golden State, who averaged a win-margin of 15.3 points per game in home wins, play the Suns in Phoenix on Monday.

 

 

 

 

Warriors overpower Celtics after erasing 26-point deficit in Boston

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BOSTON — The Golden State Warriors continue to be the class of the NBA.

Stephen Curry poured in 37 points, while fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson added 20 points as the Warriors erased a 26-point lead to defeat the Boston Celtics 106-101 Sunday night in Beantown. With the win, Golden State continue hold the NBA’s best record at 46-11 and giving the Warriors their seventh win in their last nine games.

Harrison Barnes chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds and Draymond Green scored 14 points (11 in the fourth quarter).

“This was a fun challenge for us,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “If we lost, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. But we were down and we came back. I was happy that we showed good poise.”

“We didn’t want to be down 26,” Curry said after the Warriors played their fifth game on a six-game road trip, and the middle of a string of three games in four nights. “It seemed like it was sluggish there in the first quarter. We had to be mentally tough to make it an interesting game and close out the half.”

Golden State has won four straight versus Boston for the first time since the team moved west from Philadelphia in 1962, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 20 points off the bench, and Tyler Zeller finished with 17 points for the Celtics, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

Jae Crowder recorded 17 of Boston’s game-high 60 rebounds, compared to Golden State’s 55 total rebounds. Brandon Bass added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Boston.

Boston dominated Golden State 22-10 on fast break points, while Golden State shoot better from the floor than Boston, 42 percent (40-for-95) for Golden State, 36 percent (40-for-109) for Boston.

Golden State continued to shoot lights out on 3s, knocking down 12-of-34 (35 percent). Boston shot just 26 percent (8-for-31) from behind the arc.

Golden State wraps up it’s six-game road swing Monday night in Brooklyn.

 

 

Warriors bounce back with win in Toronto

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By. Joe Hawkes-Beamon

TORONTO — After falling to 110-99 Thursday night in Cleveland in which the Warriors looked out of sync, Golden State needed to get back on track in a big way.

Klay Thompson had 25 points and five assists and Stephen Curry finished with 22 points, six rebounds, and five assists as the Golden State Warriors held a 41-point lead after three quarters before pulling away from the Raptors 113-89 Friday night in Toronto.

Golden State (45-11), improved to 10-2 in back-to-back games this season, and sweeps the season series against the Raptors.

The Warriors held the Raptors to just 1-for-19 shooting (5 percent) in the first quarter, but it was Golden State outscoring Toronto 44-26 in the third quarter that really proved to be the difference in the game.

Defensively, Golden State out-rebounded Toronto (47-42), and forced the Raptors to commit 19 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Warriors. The Warriors held the edge in fast break points, outscoring Toronto 22-7.

“We wanted to get stops and force turnovers,” said Curry, who shot 8-of-13 from the floor. “We’re pretty confident that we could come out and play defense and it showed tonight.”

“We just tightened down tonight,” said Warriors forward Draymond Green. “Everybody made a consistent effort to stay in front of their man.”

Green finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Leandro Barbosa and Shaun Livingston each scored 11 points off the bench for Golden State.

“Draymond made some great plays, forced some turnovers,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “He got us started.”

Golden State shot a blistering 13-for-29 from three-point range (46 percent).

“Our team knows how to respond following a loss, and I think we responded pretty well. It was satisfying for us to come out and play like we did after last night’s loss.”

Terrence Ross finished with 18 points and DeMar DeRozan finished with 14 points on 4-of-16 from the floor for Toronto (37-21), who’ve dropped their fourth straight game.

Kyle Lowry scored just four points on 1-of-7 shooting for Toronto. The Raptors couldn’t find the bottom of the net, shooting just 31-of-77 (40 percent) from floor, but a dismal 4-of-22 (18 percent) on 3s.

After an off day on Saturday, the Warriors continue their six-game road trip (1-2) through the Eastern Conference in Boston on Sunday.

 

 

Curry, well-rested Warriors outrun dragging Spurs

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND  — Stephen Curry finished with a game-high 25 points and 11 assists, and fellow Splash Bros. Klay Thompson added 20 points as Golden State picked up right where they left off pre-All-Star Break with a 110-99 victory over the San Antonio Spurs Friday night to improve to 24-2 at Oracle Arena this year and 43-9, both NBA-bests.

Curry’s second quarter technical foul ignited the Warriors, who finished the second quarter on a 21-11 run to take a 62-55 lead at halftime and never looked back.

Golden State avenged their 113-100 home loss to the Spurs back on Nov. 11 with a full team effort, including shooting a blistering 51 percent (17-for-33) from behind the three-point arc.

Harrison Barnes scored 16 points and five rebounds, while Andre Iguodala finished with 14 points including knocking down 4-for-6 from downtown.

“The ball movement was tremendous tonight,” Iguodala said of the Warriors, who outscored San Antonio 23-10 on fast break points.

Draymond Green and David Lee each finished with 11 points. Green finished tied with Iguodala and Andrew Bogut for a team-high six rebounds.

Kawhi Leonard and Aron Baynes each scored a team-high 12 points for San Antonio (34-21), who dropped their second straight road game post-All-Star break. San Antonio lost 119-115 to the Clippers in Los Angeles Thursday night where Leonard shot 1-for-11 from the floor.

Baynes finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Boris Diaw had 11 points, while Marco Belinelli had nine points for the Spurs, who shot 60 percent in the first half, but cooled off in the second half finishing with 48 percent from floor.

San Antonio controlled the points in the paints, 44-40, and shot a better free throw percentage than Golden State (15-for-20 75 percent for Spurs to 11-for-18 61 percent for Golden State) but the Spurs couldn’t buy a bucket from three-point range, shooting 6-for-19 (31 percent).

Tony Parker, who was harassed by Curry’s defense the entire night, finished with just two points and six assists.

Tim Duncan scored just eight points after a 30-point effort in Los Angeles.

The Warriors hit the road for a six-game stretch through the Eastern Conference, starting Sunday in Indiana.

 

 

Warriors know Green is valuable, but at what cost?

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Draymond Green knows that he is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, and that he will have a few suitors, but the Golden State Warriors can match any offer sheet Green gets.

According to Yahoo! Sports/FOX Sports 1 NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski:

In a looming restricted free agency this summer, Golden State’s Draymond Green has a significant interest with pursuing an offer sheet with his hometown Detroit Pistons, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Green has loved playing with the Warriors and winning, and naturally Golden State is determined to find a way to retain him. Still, the Warriors’ salary structure almost dictates that Green has to go onto the market and get an offer sheet for them to match in July.

If the offer is too rich to match, the chance for Green to return to his beloved home state – where he grew up in Saginaw and played at Michigan State in East Lansing – has long intrigued him, sources said. Green still spends most of his time away from the NBA in Michigan.

Golden State knows that Green has been vital in the team’s NBA-best 42-9 record, averaging career-highs in points (11.1 ppg), rebounds (8.3 rpg), assists (3.6 apg), minutes (32 mpg), field goal percentage (43 percent), and three-point percentage (33 percent). There’s no way that the Warriors are going to let Green and his “do whatever the team needs me to do” attitude just walk out the door.

Green is a candidate for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award this year.

Many Warriors’ fans are pondering what will it cost to keep Green around but if you ask Green, he’ll tell you he’s not thinking about it.

“I know I am a free agent,” said Green via Sporting News. “Everyone knows it. But I can honestly say I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.”

And why should he really think about it with Golden State in the midst of arguably the greatest season in team history. There’s no question that Green will get a hefty pay raise after completing his rookie his first NBA contract—three years, $2.5 million.

So how much is Golden State willing to pony up to keep the beloved Green?

According to CSN Bay Area Warriors’ Insider Monte Poole, if the Warriors do lockup Green long term to a deal, “worth at least $12 million but as much as $14 million wouldn’t represent a dive into the luxury tax. It represents the luxury tax dancing on the head of Warriors CEO Joe Lacob.”

In today’s NBA, you need to have quality players to win, and you need to pay those quality players when they have become important to the franchise’s long term success.

But will Lacob pay for Green’s breakout season and potential superstar for years to come?

Or will the Warriors fold if the asking price deems too rich for their blood?

 

 

 

 

 

Curry takes Three-Point Shootout Crown, Thompson finishes third

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

BROOKLYN — I guess the fourth time is the charm, just ask Stephen Curry.

Curry nailed 13 consecutive shots to finish with 27 points, outlasting Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving and fellow Warriors’ teammate Klay Thompson in the championship round to take home the Footlocker Three-Point Shootout title during NBA All-Star Saturday night.

The Splash Bros. were definitely on a mission tonight, with Thompson leading all shooters with 24 points in the opening round to advance to the championship round, while Curry and Irving each had 23 points.

Irving, who won the event in 2013, finished the championship round with 17 points. Klay Thompson mustered 14.

Portland’s guard Wesley Matthews scored 22 points.

But the night belonged to Curry, whose 27 points in the championship round is the most in any round in the event’s history, which began in 1986. Jason Kapono (2008) and Craig Hodges (1986), co-held the previous record with 25 points.

Curry’s 13 consecutive shots is second all time, behind 19 in a row by Hodges in 1991.

Atlanta’s All-Star Kyle Korver  (the NBA’s leader in 3-point shooting this season) and San Antonio’s guard Marco Belinelli (2014 champion) each finished with 18 points.

Houston’s All-Star James Harden finished with 15 points.

Neither players finished the first round.

 

Hawks get by Warriors in matchup of NBA heavyweights

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

ATLANTA — If critics still had their doubts about the Atlanta Hawks being the best team in the NBA.

Doubt no more.

Atlanta finished with seven players score in double figures, led by Jeff Teague’s 23 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field, but shot 11-of-11 from the charity stripe as the Hawks shot a blistering 70.6 percent in the third quarter to take a 124-116 home victory over the Golden State Warriors Friday night in the battle of the top two teams from each conference.

Paul Milsap scored 21 points, Kyle Korver had 17 points (5-of-9 from 3-point range), and Al Horford finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks, who improved to an NBA-best 42-9 and 14-3 versus the Western Conference with the victory.

The lion share of the credit must got to the Hawks’ bench, that really determine the outcome of the game.

Mike Scott scored 17 points, Kent Bazemore had 11 points, and Dennis Schroder finished with nine points but combined to sink 7-of-8 on 3s. The second-best 3-pointing shooting shot 15-of-27 from 3-point range and outscored the Warrior’s bench, 39-32.

“They were good,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “They were better than us. We broke down defensively. They had a lot to do with that because of the way they stretch you out.”

The Hawks have won 21 of their last 22 games following a franchise record 19-game winning streak.

After leading 25-21 at the end of the first quarter, Golden State (39-9) just slowed down against Hawks team that improved to 25-3 at home this season, second to Golden State’s 23-2 record at Oracle Arena.

Klay Thompson had a game-high 29 points and Stephen Curry scored 26 points, to go along with nine assist and one turnover.

Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green had 12 points apiece, but Green had a gigantic night on the glass, finishing with a career-high 20 rebounds.

Golden State did have their way with the Hawks in the paint, outscoring Atlanta 58-36 down low. The Warriors even held the edge in rebounding, outrebouding the Hawks 51-38.

But Golden State committed too many turnovers (14), and never overcame the 14-4 run by Atlanta in the final minute of the second quarter after leading 50-47.

Golden State will have another chance at Atlanta when the Hawks visit Oakland on Mar. 18.

The Warriors continue their road trip Saturday night at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks, their fourth game in five nights.

Extra Buckets:

  • The game showcase three of the eight contenders in the Three-Point Contest before NBA All-Star Weekend in New York Feb. 14 in Warriors’ duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and Atlanta’s Kyle Korver.
  • The entire starting five of the Hawks (Horford, Teague, Korver, Milsap, and Carroll) were named Eastern Conference Players of the Month for January, the first time in NBA history that an entire starting five were given the honor. Atlanta finished 17-0 in January, tops in the NBA.
  • Apparently, Curry does not like Teague defending him at all. According to ESPN Stats and Information, Curry shot 3-of-8 on jump shots with Teague as his primary defender. In the first quarter, Curry shot 1-of-6 from the field, his worst of the season. He was 0-of-4 against Teague.

Warriors’ Kerr named West’s top coach of the month

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr was named the NBA’s Western Conference Coach of the Month for January, the league announced Monday. Kerr guided the Warriors to an NBA-best 12-3 mark for the month, becoming the first Warriors head coach to win Coach of the Month honors since Don Nelson in April 2007 and joining Nelson (April 2007 & February 1989) and George Karl (March 1987) as the only coaches in Warriors history to receive the monthly accolade (the NBA began giving out the award in 1982-83).

The news was first reported by CSNBayArea.

Golden State led the NBA in points per game for the month (116.2), field goal percentage (.485) and point differential (+14.0).

January also saw Golden State extend it’s franchise-best 19 game home winning streak (Nov. 13 – Jan. 25), and All-Star reserve Klay Thompson won his third Western Conference Player of the Month Award.

After snapping a two-game losing streak Saturday with a 106-87 victory over the Phoenix Suns at Oracle Arena, the Warriors return to the hardwood Tuesday to take on the Kings in Sacramento.

Warriors shake off slow start, sink Suns

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry finished with 25 points and Klay Thompson scored 22 points to help the Golden State Warriors stop a two-game losing streak with a 106-87 win over the Phoenix Suns Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

“We got back to our style of basketball,” said Curry, who combined with Thompson shot 19-for-30 from the floor. “We we’re slumping a little bit and wasn’t playing well, so this was big for us.”

Harrison Barnes added 13 points and eight rebounds, Leandro Barbosa scored 14, and Andre Iguodala finished with 12 points for Golden State (37-8), who shook off a sluggish start where the missed their first 10 shots of the game.

Daymond Green fell one point short of a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing 11 rebounds. During one timeout, Green was heard telling teammates, “we got to get our focus back and play better.”

Phoenix jumped out to a 40-28 lead midway through the second quarter, but rallied to close out the frame to take a 52-51 lead into halftime and never looked back.

After finding themselves down by 12 to Phoenix, Golden State outscored the Suns 78-47 the rest of the way that proved to be difference.

Golden State’s 15-2 run midway through the fourth quarter proved to be the difference for the Warriors, who got back into the win column.

“Great effort by our guys tonight,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “The defensive effort in the second half was tremendous. We closed out on the shooters, got into passing lanes, got back on track.”

Golden State shot 46 percent from the floor (40-for-87), while holding one of the NBA’s best scoring teams to well under their 100 points per game average and 36 percent shooting (33-for-91).

The Warriors had seven players with two or more assists led by Curry’s seven.

Phoenix did get the best of Golden State on the glass, outrebounding the Warriors 52-44.

“We have great passers on our team,” said Barbosa. “It helped the team and we were able to get the ball moving and played better tonight.”

Markieff Morris had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Eric Bledsoe finished with 16 points for Phoenix (28-21) just fell apart in the second half.

Goran Dragic scored 10 points and Isaiah Thomas added 13 points. Phoenix shot 35 percent on 3s (9-for-26).

The Warriors improved to 22-2 at Oracle Arena this season. With a 12-3 record in January, it was Golden State’s best January since the 1974-75 season.

Golden State heads up to Sacramento Tuesday to take on the Kings.

 

 

Bulls snap Warriors’ 19-game home winning streak in OT

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — For the first time in 19 games at Oracle Arena, the Golden State Warriors know what it feels like to lose.

Derrick Rose’s step back jumper with 7 seconds in overtime lifted the Chicago Bulls to a 113-111 victory over Golden State Tuesday night, snapping the Warriors’ franchise record 19-game home winning streak.

Rose finished with 30 points 13-of-33 shooting, seven rebounds, and 11 turnovers (1 assist). According to Elias Sports Bureau, Rose is the first player in NBA history to have at least 30 points, 10 turnovers, and 1 or fewer assists in a game.

Klay Thompson’s running bank shot with 2.9 seconds left rimmed out, sending Golden State to only their second home loss of the season. Not to mention it was Golden State’s first loss in 15 games to the Eastern Conference this season.

Chicago took a 107-105 lead after Kirk Hinrich drilled a 3 from the right side with 15.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Then with 1.4 seconds remaining, Warriors’ power forward Draymond Green out-jumped Bulls’ big men Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol to tip in a missed Andre Iguodala desperation 3 that tied the game at 107, forcing overtime.

“We wanted to compete with those guys,” said Rose after the game. “They are a great team that competes and we were able to stay with them and keep the game close, which helped us get the win.”

Gasol finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds, Noah scored 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Nikola Mirotic scored 12 points, while Taj Gibson and Aaron Brooks each scored 10 points off the bench for Chicago (30-17), who got back into the win column after losing to the Miami Heat 96-84 in Chicago Sunday.

With Andrew Bogut coming down with flu-like symptoms shortly before tipoff and Marreese Speights inserted into the starting lineup, Chicago bullied a depleted Warriors’ frontcourt, out-rebounding Golden State 61-48.

“Their frontline was tough tonight,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “It was a great game, fun game. There were times we felt like we had the game but, they [Chicago], worked. We scrapped and clawed, but we didn’t get it done.”

Kerr was right, Golden State didn’t get it done tonight against a Bulls team that clapped down defensively on Golden State.

After shooting 61 percent from the field in the first quarter (12-for-23), Golden State had trouble putting the ball in the basket finishing 48-of-113 (42 percent).

“We looked tired…after such a hot start in the first quarter, but just couldn’t get

The NBA’s No. 1 3-point shooting team couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half, shooting 0-for-13 from behind the arc after shooting 6-of-11 from deep in the first quarter.

Golden State shot 9-of-33 (27 percent) on 3s.

Thompson scored 20 of his game-high 30 points in the first half, Stephen Curry scored 21 points and dished out nine assists, but the “Splash Brothers” shot 9-of-32 in the second half and in overtime.

Thompson added 10 rebounds, and Curry had nine assists.

David Lee had one of his best games of the season, scoring 17 of his 23 points in the third quarter. Lee shot 10-for-17 from the floor.

“I thought we had a stretch in the fourth quarter where we didn’t score and they picked it up,” said Lee, who also had nine rebounds and six assists. “I thought we fought hard, but just came up short tonight.”

Golden State dominated the fast break, outscoring the Bulls 31-8, and forced 21 turnovers into 22 points.

At 36-7, Golden State are still playing at a high level, but you can’t win them all. The Warriors close out their five-game homestand at 4-1, bringing their home record to an NBA-best 21-2.

Golden State get back on the court Friday night in Utah.

Game Notes

  • The Warriors announced on Monday that the team plans to wear a special Chinese New Year uniform. The uniform, which will be worn for Golden State’s home game against the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 20, has “Warriors” is spelled out in Mandarin on the uniform’s front, and the sleeve features a goat, the animal the Chinese attribute to this upcoming year. The jersey also features red and yellow piping. Red is the color associated with good luck, while yellow is connected to wealth and happiness.”The meaning of a warrior certainly translates into the Chinese culture well as they are very familiar with what being a warrior means,” said Rick Welts, the team’s president and chief operating officer. “I think they’d be hard-pressed to make a similar connection to the Lakers.”
  • The 2015 NBA All-Star game reserves will be announced Thursday, and Klay Thompson is expected to be named a reserve. Thompson was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday.
  • First 10,000 fans At Oracle Arena received the tallest bobblehead (10”) in Warriors franchise history Tuesday of former center, Manute Bol.Bol played for the Warriors for three seasons (1988-90, 1994-95). In his first season with Golden State in 1988-89, Bol led the league with a team-record 345 blocks while also demonstrating a rare shooting touch for a man his size, converting on 20 three-pointers. The Sudanese star averaged 3.34 blocks per game in his career, the second-best mark in league history, and ranks 15th on the NBA’s all-time blocks list with over 2,000 career rejections. Bol’s son, Chris Bol, was in attendance to honor his father, who passed away on June 19, 2010.