Category: Golden State Warriors

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors continued their winnings ways as they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-107 Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. The Warriors gained a measure of revenge as they lost to the T-Wolves on March 10th in Minneapolis. They were near the end of an 8-city thirteen-day road trip that covered 13,000 miles, and there was no question that the schedule was not kind to the Dubs. The tired players lost to Minnesota, and the next day, Steve Kerr rested four of his player much to the dismay of the NBA. However, since that loss, the Dubs have won every game including five in a row against playoff teams.

The task Tuesday night was to keep the Wolves best player, Karl-Anthony Towns under control. The Dubs defense has been fantastic during the winning streak, and it did the job again as the held Towns to just 21 points. The Warriors’ offense was led by Klay Thompson. Klay tallied 41 points and made 7 3-point shots. Steph finished with 19 and had 9 assists. Matt Barnes had 12, and Andre Iguodala finished with 11. The T-Wolves scorers were Andrew Wiggins with 24, Towns,21, Ricky Rubio15, and Shabazz Muhammad, coming off the bench, had a big night with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

The Dubs moved the ball well as they found the open man and recorded 33 assists and the defense had 9 steals and 7 blocks.

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors set an NBA record Tuesday night with the win. The have won 204 games in the last three season to break the record set by the Chicago Bulls. The Dubs can extend the record as they have 4 games left, three at home. The Warriors magic number dropped to two. Any combination of Warrior wins, or San Antonio losses will give the home-court advantage to the Dubs throughout the playoffs. The Spurs didn’t help the Dubs as they beat Memphis to remain 2 games behind the Dubs in the loss column.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- Steph Curry showed the Wizards and the NBA why he was named the MVP the last two seasons. Steph scored 42 points as he led the Dubs to a 139-115 win over Washington. The win avenged the loss to the Wizards on February 28th. Kevin Durant was injured that night, The Dubs made sure that they did not lose Sunday night.

The Warriors outscored the Wizards in every quarter. The Wizards tied the game at 14 in the first quarter. They trailed the rest of the way. They came close to tieing the score late in the second quarter as they were down by three points 53-50. The Dubs met the challenge and were able to finish the first half with a 10-point lead 67-57.

The Warriors blazed away in the third quarter as they outscored the Wizards 39-31. Steph tossed in 15, and Klay Thompson added 12. The lead after three periods of play was 18. Steph and company did not relax as they continued the scoring onslaught and overwhelmed the Wizards 139-115.

Game Notes and stats- The Warriors won their 11th game in a row and improved to 63-14. There are five games left in the season, and four are at Oracle Arena. The Warriors magic number is 3 to clinch home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Any combination of Warrior wins or Spurs losses will give them the crown.

Steph and Klay led the Dubs in scoring. Steph had 42 and Klay 23. Draymond Green recorded his 19th career triple-double. The Warrior bench was terrific. Shaun Livingston had a season-high 17 points. David West and JaVale McGee each had 10. Andre Iguodala played another terrific game and continues to wow his coach and the fans with his ability. The Warriors continue to excel on defense. They recorded 7 steals and 14 blocks. The Dubs held John Wall to just 15 points. The Warrior defense has been outstanding in the last five games, all against playoff teams, as they have shut down the leading scorer for each team in every one of those games. Bradley Beal and Bojan Bogdanovich led the Wizards with 20 points each.

The Warriors face the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. The Dubs want to avenge the 103-102 lost to Minnesota on March 10th.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Warriors won their 10th game in a row as they came back to subdue the Houston Rockets and win 107-98. The Warriors improved to 62-14 and have five of the next six games at home. The magic number to clinch home-court advantage throughout the playoffs is four. Any combination of Warrior wins or Spurs losses will give the Dubs the best record in the NBA.

The Warriors started strong as they jumped out to an early 10-2 lead. The Rockets went on a 13-2 run to take the lead 15-12. The Warriors offense went south as they scored just 11 points in the last 9 and 1/2 minutes of play in the first quarter. The Rockets led 45-33 about halfway through the second quarter. At this point, Warrior coach Steve Kerr inserted big JaVale McGee into the game and did he ever impact the game. McGee was instant offense as he scored thirteen points and led the Warriors on a 10-2 run at the end of the first half. Andre Iguodala had another big night, and he was able to hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to keep the Warriors close. The Rockets owned a 61-56 lead after 24 minutes of play. JaVale led the Dubs with 13, Klay Thompson had 10, and Andre tallied 8. Steph Curry was held to just 5 points. Eric Gordon had 10 for Houston and the Dubs defense held James Harden to just seven.

The teams played a very competitive third quarter. The Warriors outscored the Rockets 27-24 but could not take the lead. They tied at 78, but the Rockets were able to regain the lead 85-78. The Warriors were able to score the last five points of the quarter to trail 85-83.

The Dubs continued to play excellent defense, and they shut down the high-powered Houston offense. The Rockets were ahead 92-88 when the Dubs went on a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. The Rockets failed to score a single point for over 6 and 1/2 minutes. Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala made steals, and blocked shots as Steph Curry finally found his three-point shot. Steph also made a two-point shot as the 24-second buzzer sounded. Steph’s bucket sealed the win for the Warriors.

Game Notes and Stats- JaVale McGee had a big night and made a huge impact. McGee played just 11 minutes but knocked down 13 points, and had 4 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Steph Curry finished with 24 points. Curry scored 14 in the 3rd quarter. Steph had 5 assists and 7 rebounds. Klay Thompson finished with 20. Andre Iguodala continued to elevate his game. His line was 14 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Ian Clark had seven, and he made a three-point shot with the scored tied at 92 to give the Warriors their first lead since early in the first period.  Draymond Green finished the night with 6 points, 8 assists, 6 boards, and 3 blocks. The Warriors shot 45.3% from the floor and held the Rockets to 37%.  On defense, the Warriors had 10 steals and 14 blocks. The Rockets’ James Harden led his team with 17, Trevor Ariza 15, Eric Gordon 15, Patrick Beverly 11. Lou Williams, coming off the bench for Houston scored 13.

The Warriors, in the last 4 games, beat Memphis, Houston(twice), and San Antonio. Steve Kerr said, ” it has been a great week and a great couple of weeks.” He commented this about the defense: ” our defense has been great”  Kerr said this about JaVale McGee” JaVale had one stretch in the second quarter. It was big.” It was really huge as he got the Dubs offense going as Houston was having their way against the Dubs at that point in the game.

The Warriors next game will be at Oracle Arena Sunday against the Washington Wizards. Game time will be at 5 pm. The Dubs lost to Washington on February 28th. Kevin Durant was injured that night and the Warriors will be looking to inflict a measure of revenge on the Wizards Sunday night.

 

 

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The visiting Memphis Grizzlies gave the Warriors a very tough battle for three periods Sunday night at Oracle Arena. The Warriors utilized a very stingy defense in the second half and were able to beat the Grizzlies 106-94.

The Grizzlies had beaten the Warriors twice this season, and with the win, the Warriors evened the series and retained a two-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the NBA. The Grizzlies remained in seventh-place in the Western Conference and would face the team that finished second in the first round of the playoffs.

The Warriors wanted to get off to a good start and force the Grizzlies to play catch-up. The Grizzlies had other ideas as they had the Dubs playing their game.

The Grizzlies love to play tough defense. They love to force opposing teams to beat them by having them shoot from the perimeter. The Grizzlies grind it out on offense and use as much of the 24-second clock as possible before taking their shots. The strategy worked as they led for most of the first half and trailed by just two points at the end of three periods of play. The Warriors, to their credit, know how to play defense too. The Dubs shut down the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter as they held them to just 13 points to secure the win.

In the first quarter, the lead changed hands several times, and Memphis finished leading 28-25. The Warriors, behind the inspired play of Andre Iguodala, were able to finish the first half leading 56-54. Andre led the Dubs with 16 points. The Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry added 21. (Steph 11 and Klay 10). JaMychal Green, Michael Conley, and Zach Randolph each had 12 for Memphis. The Dubs shot 50% from the floor, but the Grizzlies were better at 56%. Memphis scored 30 points in the paint.

The third quarter was even. The Dubs led by seven 81-74 but the ageless wonder, Vince Carter, made a three and a deuce to close the gap to two. Memphis tied the game at 81, but Steph finished the quarter with a bucket to regain the lead.

In the fourth period, the Warrior defense was fantastic. Steve Kerr had David West at center and Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala at the forward position. The Dubs defense was able to keep Memphis from scoring a single point for over four-plus minutes in the quarter. Klay Thompson became a torch as he continued to hit three-point shots. Klay made five three-pointers in the second half. Steph Curry also made two triples to increase the lead to 101-01. Iguodala made a stuff on a pass from Steph and Steph made a three to secure the win 106-94

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors won their seventh game in a row and improved to 59-14. The Warriors play the next four games against teams that will be in the playoffs and teams that have beaten them at least once. The meet the Houston Rockets Tuesday in Houston. They face San Antonio on Wednesday in San Antonio then return home to face the Rockets on Friday and the Washington Wizards Sunday, April 2nd at Oracle.The Warriors will be seeking to avenge the loss to the Wizards on February 28th. The Dubs not only lost the game, but they also lost Kevin Durant to an injury. The doctors will re-evaluate KD’s condition next week, and he should be ready to return to action in limited minutes fairly soon.

Steve Kerr, after the game, remarked: “we had good energy from the bench guys.” The leader off the bench was Iguodala, who scored 20 points, had four assists, seven boards, and a blocked shot. Kerr told him ” whatever you are doing, keep on doing it.” Steph added ” it means a lot when Andre does what he doses. He sometimes thinks we forget how good a player he is but we know.” The Warriors are 5-0 when Andre scores 20 or more points.

Klay Thompson scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half. Steph had a double-double with 21 points and 11 assists. Draymond Green, who played the center position in the third period, finished the night with 9 points, four assists, seven rebounds, and one blocked shot. Matt Barnes added 10 points off the bench.

The Warriors recorded 30 assists on 39 buckets. It was the 45th game of the year with 30 or more assists in a game. The Dubs had nine steals and 4 blocks on defense. Michel Conley led the Grizzlies with 29. Randolph had 15, but just 3 in the second half. JaMychael Green ended the night with 13. He had 12 in the first half.

The Warriors will have their hands full Tuesday night in Houston. The Rockets scored 137 points in the win over the Thunder on Sunday. James Harden had 22, Trevor Ariza and Eric Gordon 24, andLow Williams, the former Laker, led the club with 31.

 

by David Zizmor

During that last long road swing the Golden State Warriors were on a very intertwined road trip they had some 13 games in the course of a few weeks, the Warriors were in multiple time zones. They had eight road games in 13 games, eight different cities it was a crazy schedule. February to March is kind of a dead zone in the NBA like the dog days when players really start getting tired. It’s a little worse for the Warriors their on the west coast they travel the most miles of any team in the league.

They clinched their playoff spot in February what are they playing for? That’s not to say there’s things they don’t want to achieve, they want to get that number one seed. They want to clear 60 wins they want clear even 70 if it’s possible it’s not likely at this stage but their going to try. They were burned out during that 13 game span and they need a little bit of motivation and they lost Durant and it absolutely hurt them a little bit.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com