USA Today: Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James fans out to defend the Golden State Warriors Draymond Green in the NBA Finals
On the NBA podcast with Daniel Dullum previews game seven just hours before tip off at Oracle Arena in Oakland. With a Cleveland Cavaliers come back in Games Five and Six the Warriors are looking to put the final touches on Game seven and end the Finals on their home floor. The Warriors Stephen Curry is coming off his first career ejection after accumulating six fouls in game six and receiving a fine for $25,000 for throwing his mouth guard after receiving his sixth foul.
The Warriors after getting beat in two straight if their reputation proves them out will attack early and their a club that if they take a early lead they often win ball games. Also in the 19 game sevens in NBA history only two visiting teams have won a game seven. LeBron is lying in wait to beat the odds and his dreams of clutching the NBA Championship Trophy for the first time in his career.
Listen further as Daniel talks a little baseball right after the NBA Finals podcast regarding the Los Angeles Angels Tim Lincecum’s strong comeback with a 8-1 win over the Oakland A’s. Lincecum who pitched for the first time in the show since over a year and half said pitching in Oakland was almost like pitching in front of the home fans.
AFP photo: Game Six Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Cleveland Cav’s LeBron James in the NBA Finals go for the ball under the net
On the Warriors podcast with David the Warriors were just flat in Game Six and Stephen Curry included. He did come back from that lousy start but he started that game down in the first quarter. The Warriors dug themselves a big hole maybe they could pull off a ten or 15 points surge against some other teams in the league when your in the NBA Finals you need a magic trick to pull off such a deficit. The Warriors weren’t able to do it.
Sunday it’s do or die at Oracle Arena for the Warriors the adrenaline will definitely be flowing their going to be flying up and down the court emotions will be high hopefully the refs will give Golden State a little bit more leeway let them play fair but don’t call these little pieces of contact fouls. Simply because you don’t want a Game Seven to be decided based on who has to sit on the bench due to foul trouble.
nbcsports.com photo: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry is restrained by Klay Thompson after throwing his mouth guard at a fan in Game Six at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night
And so one game will cement the Golden State Warriors place in history. The Cleveland Cavaliers turned a 3-1 series deficit into a decisive game 7, besting the Warriors 115-101 to avoid a Warriors repeat for the second consecutive contest. LeBron James scored a game-high 41 points to set up Sunday’s match-up at Oracle Arena. Stephen Curry scored 30 for Golden State but found himself in the locker room early after fouling out with just over 4 minutes left in regulation.
The Cavaliers never trailed, opening the game on an 8-0 run, leading 31-11 after one quarter. The Cavs lead by as much as 59-43 heading into the half, then managed to stave off any Warriors charges in the second half. The closest Golden State got to the Cavs in the 4th quarter was when they were down by 9 points with 6:22 left to play.
The Warriors, already down a man with Andrew Bogut nursing an injury, played with a number of players in foul trouble. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Shaun Livingston all had 3 fouls by the end of the 1st half. Each team committed 25 fouls, with Cleveland hitting 25 of 32 free throws while The Warriors hit 20 of 29.
While Curry stepped up in many ways, his foul trouble made him ineffective on the defensive end. In his return from a suspension, Draymond Green scuffled with only 8 points and 6 assists, though he did pick up 10 rebounds. Klay Thompson scored 25 but only 4 of 7 free throws with a number of critical misses. In total, the Warriors were 33 for 82 from the field.
The Cavs, meanwhile feasted with their backs against the wall. The Cavs shot 51 % from the field, led by LeBron’s 41 points on 16 of 27 shooting. Kyrie Irving cooled off after his scorching game 5 in Oakland, netting only 23 points. Kevin Love scored 7 points, playing just 12 minutes. Tristan Thompson dominated the boards with 16 rebounds, scoring the double-double with 15 points.
For the second consecutive series, the Warriors will head to a game 7 on home court. In an opposite situation, the Warriors were down 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals but rattled off three-straight wins including a 96-88 win at home to face Cleveland. The Cavs are the first team in NBA history to force a game 7 after falling behind 3-1 in the Finals. They managed to avoid repeating history, with Golden State hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy at Quicken Loans arena on this day last season. Game 7 is Sunday.
sfgate.com photo: Golden State Warriors Festus Ezlei (31) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Six tonight preview podcast
On the NBA Finals podcast with Tony Renteria the Warriors want to finish this off tonight in Game Six in Cleveland there is also the anger on the other side with the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love too. Can the Cavs force a game seven? Can the Cavs be the team that their supposed to be? Will LeBron stack up and be the best player on the planet pound for pound and say “you will not win this game on my home turf.”
LeBron couldn’t do it last season as the Warriors clinched the NBA Championship at Quickens Loan Arena. We’ll see if the Warriors can do it this year.
Tony Renteria covers the Sacramento Kings during the regular season and is doing analyst work for the NBA Finals for http://www.sportsradioservice.com
by Charlie O Mallonee and Jerry Feitelberg (Sportstalk Radio staff reporters)
animated design of Warriors arena Chase Center at Mission Bay by the Golden State Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO–The Golden State Warriors have big dreams of grandeur that they will get their new arena built at Mission Bay in the City located by UCSF Hospital. The Warriors who play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals on Thursday for Game Six at Quicken Loans Arena could be celebrating their second straight season championship if they win, ironically the Warriors legal staff will be in San Francisco Superior Court on Friday the very next day.
The Warriors spokesman PJ Johnston is confident that Golden State will prevail and that team lawyers will be able to convince the court that they can build the new arena in spite of what arena opponents Mission Bay Alliance have presented to the court environmental regulations regarding parking, noise, traffic, possible endangered species in and around Mission Bay. The other argument that could be of issue is how emergency vehicles are going to have access to UCSF on event days at the Mission Bay arena and that could be compounded if the San Francisco Giants are hosting a ball game at neighboring AT&T Park on the same night.
“The Warriors expect to be every bit as successful in a court of law as they have been on the basketball court” Johnston told the San Francisco Chronicle this week. An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) presentation from the Alliance could have the court ask the Warriors to do some redesigns to their project which could impact their blue print design for their 18,000 seat arena or even real concerns expressed by the surrounding neighborhoods being traffic being the top issue could be considered by the court that could very well hold up any ground breaking. The Warriors are hoping to go ahead with the project as early as the end of this year.
A poll taken by Mission Bay Alliance shows that 60 percent of San Francisco residents are against a new arena at Mission Bay. Johnston regardless of the poll or what Mission Bay Alliance is prepared to present in court on Friday says the Warriors feel good about getting approval to move ahead with construction at Mission Bay, “we believe we have a very strong case and hope the courts see the merits of the argument.”
Mission Bay Alliance says that the Warriors flunked the EIR in traffic and congestion test, UCSF medical professionals who work the front lines at the hospital are concerned about traffic conditions for not only emergency vehicles but access to the hospital, medical personal who need access to the hospital to relieve staff who worked all day and access patients. The EIR is a 1,000 page report that demonstrates access to the hospital street intersections would be clogged on game days and how slow the pace of traffic would be at the new Warriors arena.
Mission Bay Alliance spokesman Sam Singer says that they have facts and data on their side going into court on Friday, “we believe we have a very strong case, and hope the courts see the merits of our argument” said Singer. The EIR study also includes all considerations of mass transit and traffic situations and still results show traffic and clogged parking congestion issues. The Alliance also said that the Warriors plans have skirted city rules and state environmental regulations.
The Warriors argue that they have the political and regulatory votes to get an arena approved by the court and that they can commence construction on Mission Bay. The Warriors have hired contractor Gensler architects to work on the arena interior. Johnston said on the Warriors chances in court “we believe we have a very strong case, and hope the courts see the merits of the argument” and “we are feeling very good going into court.”
Charlie O Mallonee covers the NBA and the Sacramento Kings and Jerry Feitelberg covered Warriors basketball during the regular season for http://www.sportsradioservice.com
sfgate.com photo: Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James takes aim at the Golden State Warriors in game five on Monday night at Oracle Arena
On the Warriors podcast with David the Warriors had a shot at winning game five that game was tied at half time and with the Warriors Draymond Green being suspended he was sorely missed in the line up on Monday night. Green was runner up for defensive player of the year and a key member of the Warriors and he was kind of a fiery leader on the floor with his outspokenness.
So not having a guy out there or not even in the building for that matter it’s a loss that’s something that’s very difficult to replace the Warriors are a very talented team but when your playing in an NBA Finals it’s tough to be down a man like that. It’s one thing to lose Steph Curry against the Houston Rockets a team that’s not particularly good then you face a Cleveland team with Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and all these other guys.
picture credit Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
At the half, the score was tied at 61. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James each had a tremendous first half, but Klay Thompson kept the Warriors right in it.
Out of the half, James and Irving continued playing great on the offensive end of the court while the Warriors began to struggle. The Cavs shot over 60 percent from the field in the third quarter while the Warriors shot 29 percent.
And then in the fourth quarter, Cleveland only shot 42.1 percent but Golden State shot an abysmal 23.8 percent. After things had been close and both teams played tough, James and Irving kept playing like great players do in elimination games.
As Draymond Green was suspended from game 5, it seems as if James took advantage of facing anyone else but Green. Andrew Bogut also came out early in the third quarter with a knee injury, which effected the Warriors defensive presence.
In place of Green, Andre Iguodala had a solid game finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Thompson finished with a team high of 37 points as the forward was 11 for 20 from the field with six threes. Thompson was nine of nine from the charity stripe.
MVP Steph Curry scored 25, but the James and Irving were simply too much.
James and Irving became the first pair of teammates to score 40 or more points in a Finals game. With Kevin Love playing poorly, the duo was the reason Cleveland is sending the series to a game 6.
James and Irving scored 41 points apiece. James grabbed 16 rebounds and tallied seven assists shooting 16-30 from the field. James’ jumper looked smooth and the Warriors had no answer on the defensive end.
Irving also had six assists and incredibly knocked down 17 of 24 shots from the field.
As the final horn sounded, the Cavs defeated Golden State 112-97. Cleveland shot 53 percent from the field for the game and the Warriors just shot over 36 percent.
Tonight, the Warriors struggled to find their shot from beyond the arc, which is usually how they take the lead and maintain it.
Heading back to Cleveland, the Warriors should be excited to get after it in hopes of grabbing their second championship in as many years. Golden State will have Green back and more news is to come regarding Bogut.
The Warriors are going to need to find an answer to stop either James or Irving because if both play as well as they did it’s going to make difficult to finish off the series.
Tune in to ABC on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT and be prepared to watch a game full of offensive flurry. Golden State will look to try and finish off their historic season with the greatest prize the NBA has to offer.
photo file larrybrownsports.com: Golden State Warriors Draymond Green goes for the grab on the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James in game four at Oracle Arena
On That’s Amaury’s podcast, did the Golden State Warriors Draymond Green’s kick to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steven Adam’s groin during the Western Conference playoff round precipitate Green’s current suspension. Green as many of you know kicked the Thunder’s Adams’ in the groin and Adams double over after the kick yet there was no suspension called by the NBA although they sincerely considered it.
Fast forward to the Green-LeBron James confrontation when the league ruled Green perpetrated the confrontation with LeBron while LeBron was standing over him the NBA ruled that Green was the cause of all the trouble. In normal situation regular season game a play like that would not execute a suspension but with the Adams groin kick previously on record and Green’s altercation with LeBron there was little doubt that Green was going to sit down. To boot LeBron is the NBA’s face and the league doesn’t want anyone toying with their marketing tool.
Amaury has much more on the Warriors, Sharks season finale, and MLB news on the podcast, also join Amaury on the Angels TV and A’s radio Spanish broadcasts and for News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Fans, sports reporters and even other players were asking where had the Splash Brothers gone? Without the dominate play of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, it does not seem possible that the Golden State Warriors could find success on the basketball court. Yet despite the relatively quiet NBA Finals that Curry and Thompson have experienced, the Warriors went into game four on Friday night up 2-1 in the best of seven series.
On Friday night, something happened that made every fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers very unhappy. The Splash Brothers – Curry and Thompson – showed back up in Cleveland in a very big way. Curry and Thompson combined to score 63 of Golden State’s 108 points and they led the Warriors to a 108-97 win to take 3-1 lead in the series as it heads back to the Bay Area.
Stephen Curry – the NBA’s Most Valuable Player – led all scorers with 38 points. He connected on 7-of-13 3-point attempts and shot 11-for-25 overall. Curry converted 9-of-10 free throw opportunities. He also dished out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and had two steals.
Klay Thompson – the other half of the Splash Brothers – put up 25 points against Cleveland on Friday night. Thompson shot 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point line while going 7-for-14 from the floor. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
LeBron James scored 25 points but did not lead the Cavaliers in scoring. He shot 11-for-21 from the floor but went just 1-for-5 from long distance. James went to the free throw line just four times and converted just two of those opportunities. He hauled in 13 rebounds, distributed nine assists, had three blocked shots and two steals. James also became a little testy with Draymond Green late in the game that resulted in off-setting fouls. The Cavs could have used some of that fire earlier in the game.
Golden State
The Warriors shot 47.2-percent (17-for-36) from beyond the 3-point line. Those 17 3-point baskets set a new NBA Playoff single game record for conversions from downtown. Harrison Barnes hit four 3-pointers while Andre Iguodala added two of his own.
Golden State outrebounded the Cavaliers 43-40. Draymond Green led the Warriors with 12 rebounds.
The Warriors had six blocked shots in the game and Draymond Green had three of those.
Golden State posted 23 assists and turned the ball over just nine times to exceed the magic 2:1 ratio. The Warriors gave up just nine points off those nine turnovers.
The Warriors defense was in lock down mode especially in the second half on Friday night. They held the Cavs to just 24.0-percent (6-for-25) from 3-point range. Golden State forced Cleveland to turn the ball over 11 times and scored 18 points off those turnovers. The Cavaliers were held to just 20 points in the fourth quarter of the game.
Cleveland
Kyrie Irving led the Cavs scoring attack on Friday night with 34 points. He shot 14-for-28 from the floor and 2-for-6 from long distance. Irving had four rebounds and four assists in the game.
Kevin Love returned to the series after missing game three with concussion symptoms. Love did not start the game but he did play 25 minutes. He scored 11 points shooting 3-for-6 from the floor including one 3-point basket. Love also had five rebounds.
Tristan Thompson and JR Smith had 10 points each in the game.
The Cavaliers shot just 57.7-percent (15-for-26) from the free throw line. That statistic will haunt the Cavs over the weekend.
Up next
No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals. Teams are 0-32 when trying to make that happen. Now those are some bad odds.
The Cavaliers and Warriors will meet for game five on Monday night in Oakland at Oracle Arena. The Warriors will be trying to win the Larry O’Brien trophy in front of the hometown fans Monday night.
photo by sfgate.com: Golden State Warriors Klay Thompson on the floor during game three vs. Cleveland Cavaliers in NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena
On the Golden State Warriors podcast with David, In game three the Warriors Stephen Curry there is no doubt about it that he wasn’t hitting shots early he never got into a rhythm and he wasn’t having a huge impact on the game he had turnovers and it was all around just an ugly game and it was all around an ugly game for the Warriors.
You could always say he’s the MVP Curry is the leader if he does that than they follow the fact of the matter is the entire team looked awful last night. They were not just not playing with enough energy, not enough team intensity and that was the problem in game three and this Warriors team have lost five consecutive game threes now.
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