Category: Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: For W’s in game five it’s no fun missing Green

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

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.

David has a full podcast on the NBA Finals click below to listen in at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Warriors second half struggles lead to Game 6 loss

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

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.

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News, and Commentary: Did Green’s kick to OKC’s Adams fuel current suspension?; plus Sharks losing cup & MLB updates

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

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

Splash Brothers return: Warriors win 108-97

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Finals-Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

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.

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: Expect Warriors to snap out of it for game four on Friday night

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

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.

David does the Warriors podcasts throughout the NBA Finals at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Cavs explode in Game 3, romp Warriors by 30

Published on by jhawkes51Leave a comment

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

AFP photo: Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James drives on Golden State Warriors Draymond Green during game three at Quicken Loans Arena Friday

CLEVELAND, OH — It wasn’t a must win game for Cleveland.

It was the game to be had.

After dropping the first two games in Oakland by a total of 48 points, Cleveland drummed the defending NBA champions in Game 3, 120-90, Wednesday night to trim Golden State’s lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals series, 2-1.

Cleveland, who improved to 8-0 at home in the postseason, responded in a huge way with big games by both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

James, who called Game 3 a “do or die” game, finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists to pace the Cavs, who never trailed in the game. James shot 14-for-26 from the floor  in 40 minutes of action, after shooting just 7-for-17 from the floor in Golden State’s 33-point win in Game 2.

Cleveland outscored Golden State in the first quarter, 33-16, thanks in large part to Irving.

Irving got Cleveland rolling early with 16 of his 30 points in the first quarter on 7-for-9 shooting. Irving shot 12-for-25 from the floor for the game and added eight assists.

“We’ve got to give the same effort Friday night,” James said postgame. “It started defensively and trickled down to the offensive side.”

J.R. Smith scored 20 points, and Tristan Thompson finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds (7 offensive). Cleveland controlled the boards, outrebounding Golden State 52-32.

Richard Jefferson, who started in place of Kevin Love, finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Love sat out Game 3 due to symptoms from a concussion he suffered in Game 2 after taking an inadvertent elbow in the back of the head. Love didn’t pass the NBA concussion protocol and his status is unclear for Game 4 Friday night.

If Love is ready to go for Game 4, Cleveland could be reluctant to put him back into the starting lineup as the starting five of James, Irving, Smith, Jefferson and Thompson meshed well together and played faster against Golden State. The Cavs dominated the paint by outscoring the Warriors 54-32.

“Coaching staff gave us an excellent game plan and we executed it for 48 minutes,” added James. Cleveland shot 15-for-20 in the third quarter en route to finishing 52 percent from the field as a team for the game.

Golden State was hit in the mouth early and couldn’t recover from the punch that Cleveland landed to their chin.

Stephen Curry scored 19 points, mostly in the second quarter, after he and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson (10 points) combined to shoot 0-for-8 in the first quarter. Thompson left the game briefly after taking a Timofey Mozgov knee to the left thigh while fighting through a screen chasing Irving.

Curry and Thompson, who haven’t had the games fans have been accustomed of seeing from the preeminent backcourt in the league, finished the game 10-for-26 from the floor.

“We were soft,” said coach Steve Kerr. “When you’re soft, you get beat on the glass and turn the ball over.”

Cleveland treated Game 3 like it was a street fight, resorting to Eastern Conference basketball by being physical with Golden State and pressing them into tough shots. The Warriors were 1-for-11 on catch and shoot 3s, before finishing 9-for-33 from behind the 3-point line.

Harrison Barnes had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Andre Iguodala finished with 11 points.

Draymond Green was off with just six points on just 2-for-8 shooting. Green added seven rebounds and seven assists for Golden State, who dropped their fifth straight Game 3 dating back to last year’s NBA Finals, where Cleveland took a 2-1 lead before Golden State rallied to capture the title by taking three of the last four games.

Golden State did show some fight late in the second quarter, outscoring Cleveland 27-18 before trailing 51-43 at halftime.

“We’re in good shape,” Curry said. “”Not the way we wanted tonight to go … We have a great opportunity on Friday to keep control of the series.”

This was an embarrassing loss for the Warriors, who still are in the driver seat but know that if they have any chance of taking a 3-1 lead, it must limit the turnovers (18 for Golden State compared to 13 for Cleveland) and get better performances from Curry and Thompson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warriors Take 2-0 Series Lead With Dominant Win

Published on by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By Ben Leonard

USA Today photo: Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James speaks with the media after second loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday

As Draymond Green goes, the Warriors go. After a controversial play involving Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams in the previous series, Green seemed rattled and uncomfortable.

But on Sunday, Green seemed to find his comfort zone, and the Warriors rolled along with him to a dominant 110-77 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, giving them a commanding 2-0 series lead. Although it seemed in serious doubt just over a week ago, Golden State is now on the cusp of winning its second straight NBA title.

Green scored 28 points to pace Golden State (his most since Game Three vs. Portland), leading the way by nailing a team-high five of eight three-pointers in the contest. He also made eleven of his twenty field goal attempts, also leading the team in that category.

The Warriors started out hot early, and never looked back. That hadn’t been the case in earlier playoff games, in which Golden State seemed to coast early on, had to come back, and eventually outlasted the opponent. They took a commanding eight point halftime lead that could have been much more, had Steve Kerr not pulled Stephen Curry with a few minutes left in the second. Without Curry, a fifteen point lead quickly melted to just that eight point margin.

But with Curry back in in the second half to complement Green’s scoring outburst, the Warriors blazed past the Cavaliers, holding them to just 33 points in the second half.

Curry had 18 for Golden State, and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson had 17, as the Cavaliers did well to keep the dynamic duo relatively in check. They picked up some of the slack for Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, who combined to score just 7 points in 50 minutes.

 

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors bench proves their deep; expect Splash Bros to come out bombing in game two

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo by larrybrownsports.com: Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr breaks clipboard during a down third quarter at Oracle Arena during game one Thursday

On the Warriors podcast with David, There was just that one quarter the third quarter where the Cleveland  Cavaliers caught up to the Golden State Warriors and the W’s went on a run to put the game away. It was during the Cavs run when Warriors head coach Steve Kerr slammed the clipboard and it splintered into seven or eight pieces. It was caught on video so everybody got the chance to look it over.

So everybody got see what it looked like when coach Kerr turns into the Incredible Hulk and destroying that clipboard but this was a great game for the Warriors for a number of reasons the biggest being that Steph Curry and Klay Thompson had a really bad a game by their normal standards we’ve seen games where Steph has an off night Klay has an off night it’s really, really rare to see where both have an off night.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcast during the NBA Finals at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Warriors take Game 1 over Cavaliers behind bench

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

AP photo: Cleveland Cavaliers Kyrie Irving (2) shoots the ball against the Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) in game one at Oracle Arena on Thursday night of the NBA Finals

Stephen Curry had just 11 points. Klay Thompson finished with a mere 9 points. And yet, the Warriors beat the Cavaliers easily in Game 1, 104-89, behind a fabulous performance by the bench on Thursday night at Oracle Arena to jump ahead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

The Warriors’ bench scored 45 points, paced by 20 points from Shaun Livingston, 12 from Andre Iguodala and 11 from Leandro Barbosa. Golden State’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 45-9.

After the two teams traded leads in the third quarter, the Warriors brought a six-point lead into the fourth quarter and the bench went off to extend the advantage. Livingston and Barbosa connected on an array of baskets, pushing the lead to 16. with 8:34 to play. It was a 21-4 run with Curry and Thompson on the bench.

Late three-pointers by Curry and Thompson shut down any Cavaliers’ hopes of a comeback.

The Warriors got off to a strong start, looking more comfortable and relaxed than in their series against the Thunder. They led by nine at halftime.

Curry and Thompson’s combined 20 points was their lowest total for the season. Yet, the Warriors’ bench picked up the slack, and the defense limited the Cavaliers to 38.1 percent shooting.

The Splash Brothers will have to get going at some point, but the fact that they underperformed and the Cavaliers were still blown out does not bode well for Cleveland moving forward.

Game 2 will be Sunday at 5 p.m. PST.

Historic season not over yet, Dubs back in the NBA Finals

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

Down in the Western Conference Finals three games to one, the Golden State Warriors looked lost, worn out and defeated. While the Oklahoma City Thunder seemed unstoppable and their path to the NBA Finals appeared clear.

But did people forget that this Warriors team won a record setting 73 games? If anybody could come back down three games for just the tenth time in league history, it would be these guys. And the Warriors showed their resiliency and in game seven their fearless leader, Steph Curry showed that his second MVP selection, an unanimous decision, was no fluke.

The best player on the planet and his team defeated the Thunder, 96-88, in a tough game 7.

The first quarter was all Thunder as their defense was relentless and made Golden State take tough shots. The Warriors only scored 19 points, while Kevin Durant looked to be locked in. Oklahoma City showed up in the first and gave the impression that they had forgotten about the past two games.

However, the second quarter was different and the Warriors went back to what they do best, shooting the three ball. Klay Thompson got off to a rough 0 for 7 start, but knocked down four triples in the second to help his team cut the Thunder’s lead, who looked poised to take a big lead.

At the half, OKC led Golden State, 48-42 and out of the half, the MVP reigned supreme.

Curry made three big triples in the third and the Warriors played tremendous defense. The defending champs outscored the Thunder, 29-12, in the third quarter. The third quarter was the turning point and the home team never looked back.

While Curry had a solid third quarter, his clutch performance in the fourth proved why he is currently the best player in the NBA. Curry went 5-6 from the field, including 2 for 3 from beyond the arc for 15 fourth quarter points. Curry absolutely went off and made the big shots when the Thunder tried to make a come back of their own late in the game.

The Warriors lived by the three in tonight’s game, shooting 45.9 percent from behind the three point line. Their defense also did a great job of not allowing Durant the ball and holding their opponents to a shooting percentage of 38.2 percent.

Durant did finish with 27 points on 10 of 19 from the field for a team high and Russell Westbrook totaled 19 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. But Westbrook had difficulty shooting as he went 7 of 21 on the night.

Curry finished with a game high 36 points, hitting 13 fields goals on 24 tries with seven of those field goals coming from three point range. The Warriors win was definitely a collective effort as the team had to come together strong to make this incredible series come back. Thompson ended the game with 21 points of his own as the Splash Brothers once again guided their team to one of the franchise’s most important victories.

The Warriors spent a ton of energy on winning this series and that could be a factor as their next task begins on Thursday. But, the Warriors are headed to back to back finals. They have a player who won back to back MVP trophies. And now, repeating as champions is in plain sight.

The Cavs and LeBron James look better than the team the Warriors saw last year, but again do not count out the Western Conference Champions. History is unfolding right in front of our eyes, can the Warriors be historical once again?

Tune in to ABC on June 2 at 6 p.m, where Golden State and Curry will take on James and company at Oracle Arena in front of a rambunctious Oakland crowd.