Category: Golden State Warriors

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday night the Golden State Warriors played their final game of the regular season: game number 82. They took on the 26 and 55 Los Angeles Lakers. Everyone played for the Warriors using this game as a sort of post-season warm-up. Only two teams in the NBA have records worse than the Lakers.

At the end of the first quarter Golden State was leading by the score of 43-28. Kevin Durant led the scoring with 15 points in the quarter. Both teams were shooting at 50% in this game.

At halftime the Warriors had a healthy lead 64-50 and Kevin Durant continued to lead the pack with scoring points at 24. Curry had scored ten points in the first half.

After three quarters the Warriors had extended their lead outscoring the Lakers 29 to 20. The score was 93-70 with one more quarter left on the season.

To the Lakers credit they continued to fight throughout the fourth quarter outscoring the Warriors 24-16. The final score was 109-94. Kevin Durant finished with 29 monster points. He is definitely back and it didn’t take very long at all. The Warriors post-season journey will begin on Sunday against Portland

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors welcomed superstar Kevin Durant back into the lineup Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans. Steph Curry did not play, as he had a bone contusion suffered in the game against Phoenix last Wednesday in Phoenix. Shaun Livingston started in Steph’s spot, and the Warriors rolled over the undermanned Pelicans 123-101. The Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins was out with a sore Achilles tendon and is done for the season. The Pelicans other offensive star, Anthony Davis, was given the night off by head coach Alvin Gentry.

Durant, who hadn’t played since February 28th, made his presence felt as he scored the first bucket of the game. The Dubs, however, were a bit sluggish in the first quarter. The Pelicans, playing without their two best players, gave the Dubs a tussle and led 14-13 with 3:37 left in the period. Steve Kerr inserted Andre Iguodala and JaVale McGee into the game, and they energized the Dubs into a 10-3 run to finish the quarter with a 23-17 lead. Andre channeled Steph as he hit a three-point shot at the buzzer.

The Pelicans trailed by twelve early in the second quarter but went on a 13-0 run to lead 34-31. The Dubs regained the lead behind the play of KD, Ian Clark, Shaun Livington, Draymond Green and finished the period on a 12-4 run to lead 54-46 at the half. Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 10, KD had 6, Draymond 8, and Andre Iguodala 8. Alexis Ajinca paced the Pelicans with 13, and Quinn Cook tallied 11 coming off the bench.

The Dubs blew the game wide open in the third quarter. They outscored the Pelicans 39-22, and they looked like the Warriors. They moved the ball and found the open man. Durant, who looked a bit rusty earlier in the game, found his rhythm and looked like the KD of old. He finished the night with a double-double. He did not, however, make a 3-pointer. Klay Thompson, just as Andre had done in the first period, hit a three-pointer to end the third period. The Warriors led 93-68 and were on their way to their 14th straight victory.

The Warrior offense didn’t slow done in the fourth quarter either.  Iguodala scored the first 3 buckets of the period. Ian Clark, Kevin Durant, Shaun Livingston, and JaVale McGee all played well.  The Warriors win 123-101.

Game Notes and Stats- The one sour note in the game is that reserve forward Matt Barnes suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter. Barnes hobbled down to the locker room, and X-Rays were negative. There was no information available about his condition at this time.

The Warriors had 7 players in double figures. Klay led the team with 20 points, KD had a double-double as he tallied 16 points, 6 assists, and 10 rebounds. Draymond had 13, Shaun,14, Andre 15, McGee 16, and Ian Clark 17. The Dubs shot 51% from the floor and made 10 3-point shots. The Pelicans Quinn Cook scored 22, Jordan Crawford, also off the bench, knocked 21, Alexis Ajinca 17, and Jrue Holiday had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.

The Warriors outrebounded New Orleans 53-34. The Dubs had 36 assists and recorded 2 steals and 3 blocks.

The Warriors improve to 66-14 while the Pelicans fall to 33-47.

Before the game, Kevin Durant was asked how he felt about returning to action after missing 20 games. Durant said this “I felt normal. I’ve been waiting for that feeling for a couple of weeks now.” It took a while, but he did look like his old self in the second half. Welcome back, KD.

The Warriors resume play Monday night against the Utah Jazz. Steph Curry will be in the lineup. The Warriors will likely face the Portland Trailblazers in the first round of the playoffs. The Blazers magic number is one. Any combination of Blazer wins, or Denver losses will put the Blazers in the 8th seed.The Blazers own the tiebreaker.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, playing without defensive standouts Draymond Green and Andre, Iguodala, beat the Phoenix Suns 120-111 to clinch the best record in the Western Conference for the third straight season. The Warriors won their thirteenth game in a row and now own a 65-14 record. They play the next three games at home, and Kevin Durant will return to action Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Warriors behind Steph Curry’s torrid first period raced out to a 43-20 lead early in the second quarter. Stephy scored 23 points in the quarter, but the Suns were not willing to roll ver and play dead. The Suns got their act together and finished the first half trailing 58-52.

The Warriors behind Steph and Klay Thompson were able to keep the Dubs in the lead. The young Suns were not able to catch the Warriors, and the Dubs won the game.

Game Notes and Stats- Steph Curry had a fantastic game as he led the Dubs with 42 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Klay Thompson finished with 22. None of the bench players made double-figures, but they all contributed to the win. James Michael McAdoo, Matt Barnes, JaVale McGee, and David West all scored 8 points. Patrick McCaw finished the night with nine.Scoring leaders for Phoenix were Devin Booker with 21, Tyler Ulis 20, Jared Dudley 19, and Alan Williams 16. Williams pulled down 17 rebounds for the Suns.

The Warriors shot 50% from the floor and made 13 3-point shots. Steph led the Dubs with 8 3-pointers. They held Phoenix to just 41.7%  shooting. On defense, the Warriors made 13 steals and had 9 blocks.

The Warriors meet the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

 

 

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.