Category: Golden State Warriors

Curry scores 44 to lead Warriors in 134-127 victory, despite Clippers’ fourth-quarter rally

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors returned to action Thursday night against the vastly improved Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena. The Clippers beat the Warriors at Oracle Arena the last time they played. Clippers’ Lou Williams knocked down 50 points that night, and the Warriors were determined to not let that happen again. The Warriors, behind Steph Curry’s 44 point performance, Thursday night sent the Clippers down to defeat, 134-127, but it was not easy.

The Clippers started poorly this year, but after the trade that sent Blake Griffin to Detroit, they have turned their season around. They still have Austin Rivers, DeAndre Jordan from last year, but they added Danilo Gallinari, Milos Teodosic, Tobias Harris, and Lou Williams. The Warriors owned the Clippers when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were their starters. They are gone, and the Clippers are on the rebound.

The Warriors made one change to the starting lineup Thursday night as Steve Kerr decided to start JaVale McGee at center in place of Zaza Pachulia. The move was made to jump start the offense in the first quarter, and the strategy worked as the Warriors raced out to a 34-23 lead at the end of the first 12 minutes of play. It was the first time since November 19th that the Warriors finished the quarter with an 11-point advantage. Curry electrified the crowd as he made a three pointer from half-court as the buzzer sounded to end the period.

The Warriors continued to play well in the second period. At one point, they led 57-40 when Nick Young connected on a three. The Clippers, however, came back on a 9-0 run to close the gap to eight. Curry connected on a three late in the first half to up the lead to 15 70-55, but Danilo Gallinari matched Steph with a three of his own as the buzzer sounded. The Warriors finished the half leading 70-58. Kevin Durant had 12, Curry 15, Thompson 17, and Draymond Green seven. Austin Rivers and Gallinari led the Clippers with 10 apiece. Teodosic had nine, and Lou Williams was held to five.

The Warriors, who have owned the third quarter this year, got off to a good start as they increased the led by 16 after Curry knocked down a three-point shot. Kevin Durant followed with a three of his own, and it looked as if the Warriors were on cruise control. The Clippers cut the deficit to 12 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Clippers went on a 9-0 run to make it a two-point game. They trailed 104-102. The Warriors behind three big three-point baskets by Curry and one by Durant were able to meet the challenge. They met every Clipper challenge as they showed they still know how to play defense and what they have to do to win a close contest.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improve to 45-14 and had just 23 games left on the regular season schedule.

The Clippers are now 30-27 but are in the race for the playoffs. The loss time was just the sixth in the last 19 games played and their coach, Doc Rivers, has made them very competitive.

Curry had a double-double with 44 points and 10 assists and he made 8 threes in 11 attempts. Durant knocked down 24, Thompson 19, Green 14. McGee tallied six points and had four boards. Pachulia also scored six. David West had 10.

The Warriors shot 62.7% from the floor but they allowed the Clippers to take 12 more shots in the game.

The Clippers shot 50% from the floor.

The Warriors recorded 31 assists and on defense, they had eight steals and eight blocked shots. The Warriors committed 15 turnovers. At one point in the first quarter, Steve Kerr called a timeout as the Warriors turned the ball over three straight times.

The Clippers had seven players in double figures. Austin Rivers 14, Gallinari 15, Jordan 16. Harris 22, Teodosic, 14. Montrezl Harrell pitched in with 15 and Lou Williams finished with 21. Williams made several big three-point shots when the Clippers rallied in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors’ next opponent will be the Oklahoma Thunder Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

The Thunder, behind Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Steve Adams, pounded the Warriors the last time they met at Oracle. In fact, the Thunder has won two of the three games played so far this season. The Warriors have their work cut out for them as they have to figure out a way to stop the Thunder attack. Saturday’s game should be a barn burner.

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: After shocking loss to Portland last week Warriors well rested after 7 days break

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports: Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 50 points on Wed Feb 14th in Portland despite the effort the Warriors lost the game

On the Golden State Warriors Podcast with David:

1 The Warriors Kevin Durant who scored 50 during the Warriors last game on Wed Feb 14 in Portland was not enough as Golden State dropped a 123-117 decision to the Trail Blazers. Was it a matter of the supporting cast being tired just before the end of the first half or laxed play?

2 With the Warriors loss are teams figuring out how to play them or their not getting the expected performances out of players that they should?

David Zizmor has complete Warriors analysis each Tuesday on the Warriors Podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Team LeBron defeats Team Stephen with late 148-145 victory

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

~ Photo credit: @YahooSportsNBA

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ It came to the final shot at Staples Center as Team LeBron came back for a 148-145 victory in the premier of non-conference teams in the NBA All-Star Game Sunday.

Stephen Curry and then DeMar DeRozan had the ball looking for a three to tie, but due to tough defense, were unable to put up a shot before the buzzer.

The underdog Team Stephen led for the majority of the game. For the most part, when Team LeBron did get the lead, it was short-lived.

James tied the game at 144 apiece with 1:30 left and that score held until 40.2 seconds left. DeRozan put Team Stephen up by one when he made one of two free throws.

After a Team LeBron timeout, James gave his team the lead for good with 34.5 seconds left. Russell Westbrook put the final points up when he took a long pass by James to the basket. Westbook commented, “We got stops when we needed to.”

Captain LeBron James won his third All-Star Game MVP title, with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He won $350K for his charity After School All Stars and Team Stephen earned $150K for Brotherhood Crusade.

DeRozan and Damian Lillard led Team Steph with 21 points apiece. Stephen Curry finished with 11 points.

Jimmy Butler was the only All-Star not to play.

After the second, Team LeBron shot above 50% from the field and Team Steph above 40%.

The first quarter saw a bit of a rough start or nervous energy, with five bad passes from the teams in just over a minute.  Team Steph had two 7-0 runs, the latter run part of an 11-2 run to close the first.

Karl-Anthony Towns was the only double-digit scorer, with 11 points.

Team Steph’s heat continued in the second until Team LeBron made their way back from beyond the arc with three straight three’s, two from the Captain and one from Kemba Walker. Kevin Durant pulled Team LeBron to within one 51-52 with 7:15 left. James followed with a reverse dunk over a minute later to give his team their first lead since 7:48 left in the first. It was short-lived though, as Joel Embiid reasserted Team Stephen’s lead.

Team Steph put together an 11-0 run with four minutes left. This included Curry’s first field goal and one of Klay Thompson’s threes. Team LeBron then went on a 7-0 run and chipped at Team Steph’s lead. Team Steph was stopped from crossing half court twice in the waning seconds as the teams headed to the lockers with a two-point difference, 76-78.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a block with 9:53 left that was called for goaltending. Thompson scored 12 points in the second, all off three’s, with three consecutive when he had the ball.

Durant started off the third with a three that gave Team Lebron a short-lived 79-78 lead. Team Stephen replied with a 9-0 run.

Durant took to the free throw line for Team LeBron’s first free throws with 8:17 left.  

Team LeBron finally saw their lead last for more than one possession when Kemba Walker made it 109-105. Then Team Steph responded with a 7-0 run to close out the third, two threes by Curry.

Team Steph continued with a 6-2 run to start the fourth. They went on a 9-0 run with 8:28 left. Kyle Lowry had two points and two assists, DeRozan two free throws and Lillard five points.

Team LeBron kept in it with an 8-0 run with 5:06 left. James had a layup, free throw and Westbrook two free throws.

The game also had some instant replay action after James’ 144-144 score when the ball went out of bounds and the referee was checking to see if the ball went off Embiid or Durant.  

Game notes: Team Steph outrebounded Team LeBron 68-49. Thompson finished with 15 points and Golden State Warriors teammates Draymond Green had three points off free throws and a game-high tying two blocks, Durant with 19 points and a game-high tying three steals. Embiid also had two blocks. Towns matched James with a game-high 10 rebounds. Lowry and Victor Oladipo also had three steals. Lillard finished +18. Bradley Beal, Paul George and James led with four threes apiece.

Kevin Durant scores 50 points, but it’s not enough as Warriors lose a thriller to Trail Blazers 123-117

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors fell behind by 20 points in the first half almost made an incredible comeback, but they could not catch the Portland Trail Blazers as they lost 123-117 Wednesday night at the Moda Center.

The Warriors had another poor first quarter as the Blazers came out firing. The Blazers’ backcourt duo of C.J. McCollum and Damien Lillard were unstoppable as they led the team to victory over the Warriors. The Blazers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors and sent the Warriors down to second place in the Western Conference. With the loss, the Warriors record of 44-14 is 1/2 game behind the Houston Rockets’ 44-13. The Rockets also own the tie-breaker with the Warriors which means if the teams finish the season with an identical record, the Rockets would have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Blazers raced to a 40-27 advantage after the first period. The Warriors finished the first half trailing by 12 points 63-51. Kevin Durant came to life in the third quarter, and he tallied 18 points to help close the gap to 92-87 after three quartersof play. The Warriors came close and tied the game at one point, but they could never regain the lead. KD hit a 3-pointer to make it 114-111 late in the fourth quarter. McCollum answered with a three of his own with just 2:15 left to play. The Blazers handled all the challenges and finished the night with another victory at home.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors are off until February 22nd when they meet the LA Clippers at Oracle Arena. The Warriors’ Big Four of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are heading to Los Angeles to play in the annual NBA All-Star game. Head coach Steve Kerr is on his way to Hawaii for a few days of rest and relaxation.

The Blazers’ backcourt duo of McCollum and Lillard scored 73 points and the Blazer defense held Curry and Thompson to just 34. The Warriors bench did not give the team much help offensively as they were outscored by Portland’s bench 21-16. The Warriors committed 16 turnovers in the loss.

The offensive star for Golden State was Kevin Durant, who knocked down 50 points, and had six assists, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots.

Green had a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards.

Steve Kerr was very thoughtful about the events that took place in Parkland, Florida, where at least 17 people were killed in another tragic school shooting. Kerr had this to say, ”Nothing has been done. It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools. It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, movie theater. It’s not enough apparently to move our leadership, our government, the people who are running this country, to actually do anything. That’s demoralizing. But we can do something about it: We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives and not just bow down to the NRA because they financed their campaign for them. Hopefully we’ll find enough people, first of all, to vote good people in, but hopefully we can find enough people with courage to actually help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues, not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety, but actually protecting us from what truly is dangerous, which is maniacs with semi-automatic weapons just slaughtering our children. It’s disgusting.”

Up Next: The Warriors host the Clippers at Oracle Arena next Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 pm PT.

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: Players take on coaching roles calling own plays and crush Suns

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On the Warriors podcast with Dave:

What a difference a week makes after losing three out four games the Warriors have righted the ship and have won three straight games. The latest game had Warriors players, assistant coaches, and yes on occasion head coach Steve Kerr taking the clipboard and designing or calling plays. It was a technique that worked doing it for the first time as Golden State trounced the Phoenix Suns on Monday night 129-83 at Oracle Arena.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Warriors blow out Suns 129-83 for third straight win

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Phoenix Suns were the owners of one of the worst records in the NBA this season, but gave the Warriors a little bit of a tussle during the first 12 minutes of the game. They trailed 25-24 after one quarter of play, and it was as close as they would come close all evening. The Warriors pounded them the next three quarters and trounced the Suns 129-83 at Oracle Arena on Monday night.

The Warriors were without the services of Draymond Green Monday. Green sprained his index finger in the game Saturday night against the Spurs, and the Warriors felt that they could handle the Suns without him. Were they right? Yeah. Omri Casspi started in Green’s place and had his best night as a Warrior with a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors overwhelmed the Suns by 16 in the second quarter, 11 in the third, and 18 in the fourth quarter. During timeouts, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr turned over his chalkboard to the players and they did a great job as the dominant Warriors swamped the hapless Suns.

Game Notes and Stats: The Suns were without the services of Devin Booker for the fourth straight game due to a hip pointer. The Suns cannot afford to lose Booker, who is a rising star in the NBA.

The Warriors shot 58.4% from the floor and held the Suns to just 34.7%.

The Suns were just 3-for-23 from 3-point range while the Warriors made 11 threes.

The Warriors recorded 36 assists and turned the ball over  11 times. On defense, the Warriors made eight steals and recorded 16 blocks.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 22 points, Kevin Durant had 17 points, six assists, and seven rebounds and he blocked two shots. Nick Young and Klay Thompson tallied 16. Patrick McCaw, who had played a couple of games in the G-League to help rebuild his confidence, scored nine.

The Suns were led by Elfrid Payton’s 29 points. Payton was playing his second game as a Sun since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Orlando Magic. The only other Sun in double figures was T.J.Warren with 14.

Up Next: The Warriors face the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday night in Portland. This will be the last game before the annual NBA All-Star game, which will be held in Los Angeles this weekend.

Thompson’s 25 points leads Warriors to a 122-105 beat down over Spurs

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs played a very competitive first half in Saturday night’s matchup at Oracle Arena. The Warriors led by three at the half, 58-55; but they once again owned the third quarter and went on to defeat the Spurs 122-105.

All five of the Warrior starters were in double figures. Klay Thompson, who scored 10 in the third quarter, led the team with 25 points. Draymond Green had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists. He needed two more rebounds for a triple-double. By the way, he wasn’t called for a technical foul Saturday night. Zaza Pachulia, who celebrated his 34th birthday, scored 12 points. Steph Curry added 17 points. Kevin Durant was held to a season-low 10 points. However, Durant has been a force on defense and assisted on six buckets tonight.

The Spurs–who are always a dangerous team–kept pace with the Warriors for the first 24 minutes of the game. The Warriors pulled away in the third quarter as the Spurs are missing their leader, Kawhi Leonard, who’s out with a quadriceps injury that has caused him to miss most of the season. LaMarcus Aldridge and Kyle Anderson led the Spurs with 20 each. Manu Ginobili, the ageless wonder, scored 13 coming off the bench. Marc Gasol tallied 7 for the purs.

Game Notes: The Warriors shot 56.5% from the floor and held the Spurs to 45.7%.

The Spurs were 5-for-27 from behind the three-point arc, while the Warriors made 12 3-pointers.

The Warriors recorded 35 assists and turned the ball over 16 times.

The win marked the 250th for head coach Steve Kerr. He became the fastest to recorded 250 wins in NBA history.

Steph Curry had this to say about Kerr: “It’s been an amazing 3 1/2 years and hopefully more to come.”

“It’s a lot about him setting the identity and the culture around our team and just being a great people guy. There’s probably a better term for that. He just knows how to relate to each, and every one of us players and his coaching staff and you’re building that ultimate trust throughout the organization.”

Up Next: The Warriors welcome the Phoenix Suns for the first time this season on Monday night in Oakland at 7:30 pm PT.

After a slow start, Warriors regain their mojo and rout the Dallas Mavericks 121-103

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: nba.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors did not get off to a good start Thursday evening at Oracle Arena against the Dallas Mavericks as they were outscored 33-23 in the first quarter. They were not playing defense nor were they scoring on offense, and the Mavericks raced out to an early 10-point lead.

The Warriors could not gain ground as they trailed by nine, 44-35, at one point. Then, veteran center David West sparked a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to one, 46-45. The two teams traded leads the rest of the way, and the first half was tied at 60.

The Mavericks took nine more shots in the half, but were held to just 46% from the floor. The Warriors shot 57.5% from the floor but made only four three-pointers in 13 attempts.

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson each hit a three-pointer to start the third quarter, but the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run to take a 70-66 lead. The Warriors continued to commit a lot of turnovers, and at one point in the game, they had committed 11, which allowed Dallas to score 17 points.

About halfway through the quarter, the Warriors apparently decided to play quality basketball as their defense improved and their offense clicked. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant led the Warrior attack, and they were able to build an eight-point lead, 93-86, at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors’ bench led by Green, David West, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala, shut down the Mavericks’ offense as they broke the game open. Curry and Durant sat out during the final moments of the game. Thompson made a couple of key buckets, but was taken out with less than six minutes to play.

The Warriors defeated the Mavericks by a score of 121-103.

Game notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improved to 42-13 and the Mavericks’ record dropped to 17-38.

Former Warrior, Harrison Barnes, did not play for Dallas as he is recovering from an ankle injury.

The Warriors’ Big Four were all in double figures.

Green had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Durant led the team with 24. Curry had 20 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Thompson finished the night with 18, David West had 10, and the Warrior bench was productive with 39 points.

Mavericks veteran power forward Dirk Nowitzki is in his 20th season with Dallas and tallied 16 points. Former Stanford star, Dwight Powell, scored 18 points. Dennis Smith, Jr was impressive for the Mavericks with 22 points. Wesly Matthews added 17 points.

The Warriors stopped committing turnovers halfway through the third quarter and finished the night with 16. They are 31-4 when they commit 16 or fewer turnovers in a game.

The Warriors finished the night shooting 14-for-29 from the 3-point range. They also recorded 37 assists.

After the game, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr had quite a few things to say: “It took us a while to get going but I “liked the way we dug out.”

“Dallas controlled the first half but (I) didn’t feel we were in danger.”

“Liked the way Draymond fought. He was “just competing, but nothing was going down for him.”

” I think our talent took over in the third quarter. If we take care of the ball, we’re going to be in good shape.”

Up Next: The Warriors will be tested on Saturday as they welcome the San Antonio Spurs to Oracle Arena at 5:30 pm PT.

Thunder dominate Warriors at Oracle 125-105; Golden State drops third game in last four

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBA

By Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland — There have been many people expressing doubts about this years’ edition of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have not been able to get things goings. They have fallen behind too many times in the first half and have not handled the ball well or played defense as well as they have in the past three seasons.

The Thunder came into the game having lost four straight.

Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr wanted the team to get off to a fast start Tuesday night against the Thunder, but that did not happen.

The Thunder came out firing on all cylinders. They were led by Russell Westbrook, who looked to be unstoppable. The Thunder raced out to an early lead and never looked back as they swamped the Warriors 125-105.

The Thunder outscored them 42-30 in the first quarter, and they never let the Warriors climb back into the game. They moved the ball and defended the Warriors. They wouldn’t let Steph Curry or Klay Thompson get into any sort of rhythm. Kevin Durant was the only Warrior to get anything going against his former team.

Westbrook and Paul George made shot after shot and the Thunder’s big man, Steve Adams, had a huge night both on offense and defense.

No matter what Steve Kerr did, the Thunder had an answer. The Thunder led 70-57 at the half. The Warriors could do nothing in the third quarter as Paul George led the Thunder attack. The Warriors fell behind by 22 at the end of three quarters, and it is very rare for a team to win when they trail by that many so late in the game.

The Thunder kept the momentum going and they cruised to an easy 125-105 win over The Dubs.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors have now lost three out of the last four games they have played, and two of the losses were blowouts.

The Warriors are now tied in the loss column with 13 with the Houston Rockets, and the Rockets own the tiebreaker. If the teams end in a tie, Houston would have home court advantage.

The Warriors committed 25 turnovers Tuesday night.

The Warriors committed 25 turnovers in the Sacramento game, but were lucky to get a win. Many people are wondering when the Warriors are going to turn on the switch and start playing the way they have in the past three years. They are limping to the All-Star break, and hopefully, they can regroup and get back on track in time for the playoffs.

Durant led the scoring with 33. Curry had 21, but Thompson was held to 12. Draymond Green knocked down five. Green had seven assists and eight boards, but had to leave the game when has was called for his second technical foul of the night.

The refs called five technical fouls on the team in the game.

David West led the bench with nine, and Shaun Livingston had six.

The Warriors’ bench has not been as productive this year as it has been in previous years, and that may be a factor in the team’s recent lackluster performance.

George led the Thunder with 38. Westbrook had 34. Jerami Grant added 16, and Adams had 14.

The Thunder’s Carmelo Anthony suffered a sprained ankle early in the game and did not return to action. The win was OKC’s first in Oakland since 2013.

Up Next: The Warriors return to action Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks. Game time is at 7:30 pm PT at Oracle Arena.

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: After losing two straight teams going after champs and it’s taxing every night

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @957thegame

By David Zizmor

OAKLAND — Golden State Warriors hosting the Oklahoma Thunder tonight at Oracle Arena after coming off a couple road loses to Utah and Denver. The Warriors have nothing to fear after losing two in such close proximity. They’ve won titles and their carrying the league they’re favored to go all the way again this year.

For them to repeat the title, it’s not an accident for example they’ve had a lot fewer wins than they did last year. It’s really really stressful. It’s really, really straining, teams come at you every night because you have a chance at best and they go 100%. For the Warriors to keep up that effort and to fend it off every single night, it’s taxing and it’s really difficult.

Dave has much more on the Warriors podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com