Category: Golden State Warriors

The Warriors win again at home, defeat the Lakers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for golden state warriors

The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-98 Thursday night at the Oracle Arena. The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, retiring after the season, made his final appearance in Oakland. Bryant played about 28 minutes and left the game late in the fourth quarter. The fans, both Warrior and Laker fans, gave Bryant a standing ovation. The Lakers, who are rebuilding, fielded a very young lineup. They played the Dubs fairly even in the first half. Golden State did not shoot well from the floor as their field-goal percentage was just 35.6%. The Dubs led by one at the end of the first period and by three at the half 52-49. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson led the Dubs with nine each. Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with ten each while Lou Williams pitched in with nine.

The Dubs were not successful extending the lead early in the third period.  They had a seven-point lead midway through the period but the Lakers would not quit. The Lakers kept coming back and closed the gap to three trailing 73-70. At this point, the Warriors went on a 12-2 run to take a ten-point lead with 1:26 left to play.  Dubs lead by fourteen 86-72 after three periods.  Steph Curry made two key three-point shots in the period. Steph, at this point, had made eight three-point shots good for 24 points. He made a dunk late in the period. It was his only two-point basket in the game. Steph finished with twenty-six points.

The Warriors bench extended the lead to twenty to start the fourth period. Shaun Livingstone and Leandro Barbosa were huge off the bench. The Lakers tried but could not catch up. They did cut the deficit a little bit but the Warriors refused to wilt and the Dubs won again at home by a final score of 116-98.

Game Notes- The Warriors are 19-0 at home this year and have won 37 consecutive games in a row at Oracle Arena. Their record for the season is now 37-3. Steph Curry led the Warriors in scoring with 26 points. Klay Thompson had twelve and Draymond Green added seven and had nine rebounds to his credit. Shaun Livingstone, Leandro Barbosa and Harrison Barnes scored seventeen, fifteen and twelve respectively. With the loss, the Lakers drop to 9-32 for the season. Jordan Clarkson scored twenty for LA. Lou Williams added eighteen while Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell each had fourteen.  Kobe finished with eight.

The next three games will be on Saturday January 16th against the Detroit Pistons, Monday, January 18th against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Wednesday, January 20th against the Chicago Bulls.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: With Green hurt Warriors now getting into the really physical part of the schedule

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by David Zizmor’

photo credit: abc7news.com Golden State’s Draymond Green  is currently sitting out and resting

OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors loss on Wednesday night to the Denver Nuggets 112-110 was just one of those things it’s the tough part of the schedule. The W’s have a lot of road games between now and the end of February. It’s the really physical part of the schedule.

The Warriors are coming off a road game and are playing back to back with a game at the Oracle Arena on Thursday night against the Lakers. They’re tired just from the altitude in Denver alone and it’s really tough. Not having Draymond Green Wednesday night that was physical too.

The Warriors did a pretty good physical job on defense but the shots weren’t falling. That might be them just getting a little bit tired and a little worn down. It just seems a week or two their shots haven’t been falling quite as much as their offense has been lacking.

David gives you all the latest on the state of the Warriors this week listen to the podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball demographics reflect the USA

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

photo credit: pintablecoluringpages.co.uk One of the very few African Americans in the majors Coco Crisp of the Oak A’s

In the world, only China and India have a larger population that the United States of America. Today, of over 323 million people live in our country, the largest minority is comprised of Hispanics.US government statistics as of 2014 list Hispanics are 17.4% and African-Americans 13.2% of the total US population. It was some time ago that Hispanics passed African-Americans as the largest minority in the United States. in Baseball, Hispanic player participation in the game is much higher than the 17.4% and it keeps growing each year. With the relaxing of relations with the country of Cuba, more Cuban players are coming into the United States and are signed by major league teams.Since the 1800’s Cuba’s #1 sport has been baseball and not even the Cold War could stop Cuban players from coming into the United States.

 While Hispanics continue to increase in the major leagues, the same cannot be said about African-Americans, unlike some of the other main professional sports leagues in the country, the NBA and the NFL, Major League Baseball has been struggling in recent decades making baseball more attractive to African-Americans, but not much success there. For example, right here in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants, recently signed outfielder Denard Span, and that makes him, the only African-American on their roster as today and the Oakland Athletics with Marcus Semien and Coco Crisp.
Asian players have also been coming to the major leagues, although not in the same numbers as Hispanics/Latinos. According to SABR(Society American Baseball Research)as of 2012 Hispanic/Latino players made 26.9 % of all players in the major leagues, African-Americans 7.2% and Asian players 1.9%. Most recent and according to SBN(Sports Business News)The percentage of Hispanic/Latino players increased from 28.4 percent in 2014 to 29.3 percent on 2015 opening day rosters.The percentage of Asian players decreased from two percent in 2014 to 1.2 percent in 2015.
Statistically speaking, baseball is changing in step with the United States That is only fitting, since baseball still likes to be called The National Pastime.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
     

Draymond Green-Less Warriors Fall In Denver

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By Ben Leonard

photo credit: bleachereport.com Golden State’s Stephen Curry’s face says it all in the Warriors third loss of the season

Stephen Curry might be the reigning MVP, but Draymond Green might be nearly as valuable to Golden State. //

Without Draymond Green’s stifling defense, the Warriors (36-3) looked listless on defense in the high altitude at lowly Denver (15-24), falling 112-110 to snap a seven-game winning streak.

Interim head coach Luke Walton decided to rest Green. It made sense — he had been nursing a leg injury that had hobbled him. But it was evident that Golden State certainly missed Green’s athleticism and energy, yielding ten more points than their season average while allowing four Nuggets to score 18 or more points. 

Stephen Curry wouldn’t let his Warriors go down without a fight, dropping 38 points while draining 5 of his 12 three-point attempts. However, he might have been trying a little too hard to will his team to victory — he turned the ball over eight times, including a pivotal one with under 15 seconds left, with the Warriors down just two points. With a chance to be the hero, Curry lost his handle on the ball, allowing Denver to sink two foul shots to put the game on ice. 

Little-used power forward Jason Thompson took Green’s place in the starting lineup, but was relatively ineffective, scoring just four points in thirteen minutes on the floor. With that total, he almost doubled his minutes played this season, as he had seen the floor for just 18 minutes this season.

Danilo Gallinari led the way for Denver, dropping 28 points despite a poor effort from the field (5-14 FGA) — because he made 17 of 19 free throws. Will Barton also chipped in with 21 points for Denver.

 

Steph’s 31 points leads Warriors over Heat

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry scored 31 points to lead the  Golden State Warriors to their 36th consecutive home win at Oracle Arena with a 111-103 over the visiting Miami Heat on Monday night.

Draymond Green dropped 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Klay Thompson added 17 points for a Warriors team who improved to an NBA-best (36-2) on the season.

Golden State overcame a cold shooting night by Curry from 3-point range, who missed seven of his first nine 3-point but got plenty of help as the Warriors tied the Philadelphia 76ers (1966-67) for the fourth longest regular-season home win streak in NBA history. Chicago holds the record of 44 set in 1996-97.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points, while Chris Bosh and Gerald Green each scored 15 points for Miami (22-16), who entered Oakland winners of eight of their past 11 games at Oracle Arena.

Luol Deng finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Miami.

Andrew Bogut scored eight points to go along with nine rebounds for a Warriors team, that has won seven of their last eight games.

Golden State travels to Denver Wednesday to take on the Nuggets, while Miami heads to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Wednesday.

Warriors Use Three-Ball To Down Kings In Season Sweep.

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By Shawn Whelchel

USA Today photo Warriors Stephen Curry and Kings DeMarcus meet for Saturday’s battle at Sleep Train Arena

Sacramento refused to rollover easily against the Warriors on Saturday night, but sharp shooting down the stretch from Steph Curry secured Golden State’s fourth win of the season over the Kings with a 128-116 victory at Sleep Train Arena.

Scoring 14 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter, Curry’s sharpshooting skills from downtown helped to squash any notion of a late-game comeback from Sacramento, who trailed by just two at the half.

Curry-who dished out 11 assists while hauling in six rebounds to compliment his 38 points- had an impressive stroke from beyond the arc all night, putting through 8-of-14 attempts throughout the game.

But Curry wasn’t the only Warrior with the hot hand from downtown. Draymond Green earned 15 of his total 25 points from beyond the arc with a video game like line of 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Brandon Rush and Klay Thompson also scored in double-digits for the Warriors starting corp, putting through a combined 26 points between the two of them.

DeMarcus Cousins continues to solidify himself as one of the league’s top-big men, posting 33 points and 10 rebounds in 30-minutes of play. Rudy Gay had himself a solid showing as well, earning 23-points on 9-of-16 shooting. But the rest of Sacramento’s starters couldn’t match the pair’s offensive prowess, combining for just 19 points across the remaining starting unit.

Sacramento’s ability to score was on display tonight with an impressive 116 point total, but their defense continues to hamstring them, as the Warriors were able to shoot 56.3 percent from the field on the night, including 51.4 percent from beyond the arc for 57 of their total points.

After sweeping the season series, Golden State improved their record to 35-2, while Sacramento fell to 15-22 on the season, good for third in the Pacific Division. Next up for the Warriors is a matchup against the Miami Heat at Oracle Arena on Monday.

Warriors dominate Blazers on the road

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By: Eric He

The Golden State Warriors played a textbook game by their standards on Friday night, routing the Portland Trail Blazers 128-108 on the road on Friday night.

Klay Thompson paced the Warriors with 36 points, making 7-of-10 three-pointers. Stephen Curry added 26 points while Brandon Rush dropped 20. Draymond Green recorded his eighth triple-double of the season with 11 points, 10 assists, and 13 rebounds.

The Blazers cut into a 22-point Warriors’ halftime lead, starting the third quarter on a 10-4 run. But the Warriors responded with a 14-2 spurt to extend the lead back up to 25 at 92-67. Rush finished off the spurt with a couple of baskets.

Curry knocked down a three to end the third quarter, and the Warriors took a 106-87 lead into the fourth, a comfortable advantage they held throughout the fourth for another big win.

In a highly efficient first half, the Warriors shot 11-of-17 from beyond-the-arc, helping contribute to a 74-point half. The Blazers played relatively well, but the Warriors’ offensive was relentless. Thompson drilled a three in the final minute of the second quarter to give the Warriors a 24-point lead. They led 74-52 at halftime.

The Warriors jumped out on top early, holding the Blazers without a field goal for nearly the first five minutes of action. Two three-pointers by Rush put them up 15-4 midway through, and then Thompson took over.

Thompson poured in 19 points in the first stanza alone, scoring the Warriors’ final 14 points of the quarter. He made all five of his three-point attempts, and a jumper at the buzzer gave the Warriors a 38-21 advantage after one.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: The Warriors on the fringes of finishing the season with the best record ever

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–This Golden State Warriors team is phenomenal this season and verging on the historically great this isn’t a thing to be taken lightly. This team if they continue to go they way they’ve been going your talking about a team out there that ranks up there among the greatest of all time.

The Chicago Bulls in the mid nineties are the only team to have won 65 games in back to back seasons and the Warriors are now on pace to do that. They’ve won 67 last year and they’re on pace to win 65. The only danger is as always injuries and this team isn’t complacent.

The Warriors aren’t taking anything for granted their coming out playing hard every single night. Even with the state of injuries they’ve had they still manage to win most of their games. They lost the one game to Dallas last week when Curry was out with that shin injury he’s nursing.

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

Golden State Warriors Tuesday game recap: Curry gets kicked in the shins W’s kick Lakers out of court

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by Jessica Kwong

LOS ANGELES – If the Golden State Warriors didn’t go into Los Angeles with a sure win on Tuesday night, it became all but guaranteed a couple hours before tipoff, when the Lakers announced that Kobe Bryant would not play due to a sore right shoulder.

As expected, the Warriors claimed a 109-88 victory over the Lakers – who since the New Year were on a three-game winning streak, impressive for their standards. The biggest concern for Golden State during the lopsided match was that their star Stephen Curry kept getting kicked in the same bruised spot on his lower left shin, and kept going in and out of the game until he did not return.

Afterward, Curry called his injured shin, “a magnet, but I’ll be alright.”

“Yes it’s frustrating and annoying and there are a lot of adjectives you want throw in there,” he said. “Long-term, it’s not something that I have to worry about, it’s just playing through an injury that’s there. It doesn’t get worse if I play on it, unless I get kicked, and that’s happened three times since I did it. Hopefully it won’t keep happening again.”

Curry added that he’s been “trying all sorts of pads and stuff,” but he’s not worried about it when he’s out on the floor and that’s his goal.

Warriors’ Interim Coach Luke Walton said he didn’t take the game out of Curry’s hands when he wanted to play – despite Golden State’s double-digit lead throughout – because trainers said Curry could be out on the floor.

“I played with a guy like that,” Walton said, drawing a comparison. “Kobe wouldn’t sit out for anything. Most of the time, he was still able to play at a level that made us a better team. Occasionally, he was shooting left-handed three pointers because he couldn’t lift his right shoulder and Phil (Jackson) had to take him out.”

“But you give players of that caliber the benefit of the doubt – unless the staff says he shouldn’t be there and then we’ll pull him out.”

The game at Staples Center started off competitive, with both teams tied at 12 points, but that only lasted about half of the first quarter. The Warriors took the lead but the Lakers – also without D’Angelo Russell due to a sore throat, kept within about 10 points of the defending champions through the second quarter.

By the second half, the Warriors’ lead snowballed, reaching some 30 points, and dipping down into the 20’s occasionally as the Lakers attempted to fight back. Golden State’s Draymond Green said his team could have shut out Los Angeles at the start of the third quarter, and finally did so by the end of the quarter.

“I think we played ok. I think we played good,” Green said. “I just think, for a while there we could of put them away and we didn’t. And we kind of kept letting them stick around. Other than that, I think we played really well.”

Klay Thompson, the Warriors’ leading scorer with 36 points, called their 33-2 record “surreal.”

“It feels like we’re a good team, but this good” was hard to believe for him. He attributed it to depth and his teammates making sacrifices.

Green came short of a fourth consecutive triple-double.

“Y’all were expecting that. I was just out there trying to do what I do, but it didn’t happen, oh well, I really don’t care,” Green said. “Good game, I didn’t play a good game but we did, so I’m cool with that.”

The Warriors face the Trail Blazers in Portland on Friday.

     

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Oakland will lose the Raiders

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

photo credit: tnation.t-nation.com Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis

ALAMEDA–Monday the 4th of January 2016, was the dateline for teams to present plans to the NFL to move to Los Angeles. The San Diego Chargers, the St Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders, at least one(maybe two)will leave for Los Angeles, the second media market in the country that hasn’t had an NFL team for the past 20 years. By mid January, one or more teams have to be approved for the proposed move and three-quarters of owners have to vote to make it possible, if not(no decision by then)it could get tabled until next year.

The Rams proposed a stadium which could house two teams in Inglewood, LA area. Another plan would be for the Chargers and Raiders to share the facility at Carson. By far the Rams have the best option with $450 million in possible subsides, while the poorest would be the Raiders. The franchise relocation fee is $550 million dollars, and no team has received enough support from NFL owners to make the move. Committees are meeting during this first week of the year in New York.
The Chargers released this statement:
“We have tried for more than 14 years, through nine separate proposals and seven different mayors, to create a world-class stadium experience for fans in San Diego. Despite these efforts, there is still no certain, actionable solution to the stadium problem. We are sad to have reached this point.”The Rams statement:

“The Rams  informed the National Football League today that the Rams propose to relocate to the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. The relocation would be effective for the 2016 NFL League Year.”

And the Oakland Raiders were the last to release a statement::

“In accordance with the relocation policies, the Oakland Raiders submitted a relocation package to the NFL. The matter is now in the hands of the NFL’s owners. An owners’ meeting is scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas on January 12 and 13, 2016.”

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Are the San Francisco Giants willing to spend on Yoenis Cespedes?

The Giants signed two starting pitchers to strengthen their 2015 weak rotation, by signing free agents Jeff Samardzija for $90 million dollars and five years and then Johny Cueto for 6 years and $130 million dollars. The “first row” of free agents outfielders available as of today are: Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and Alex Gordon. Cespedes would be the ideal fit for the Giants in a stadium where a good right handed power hitter can do very well, but Cespedes is looking for a long deal of four years at least and most teams are probably pondering the situation; as he would turn 31 years of age this 2016 season. Alex Gordon, with less power but a Gold Glove could be a good option also, and of course Justin Upton who could provide some power in the middle of the lineup. Cespedes probably is the best fit, and he would be back in the Bay Area, where he originally began his career with the Oakland Athletics. The Los Angeles Angels are very much in need of a power bat left fielder, but owner Arte Moreno said recently he is not going for the big free agents this year. However, he has said that before, and has also changed his mind. He has the money, so I would not be surprised if he signed a guy like Yoenis Cespedes.

 

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Are the Warriors receiving enough national recognition?
If the Warriors played in New York, or Los Angeles, or even Chicago, we would be reading that this 2015-2016 is “the best NBA team ever, but they play in the Bay Area, Oakland, to be exact. If we determine the best team by winning record, the history books show that the best three teams ever where all Chicago Bulls;  1995-98,  72-10, 1996-1997,   69-13 and  1991-1992, 67-15, the Michael Jordan and company teams. The Warriors are 32-2, on a pace to become the best record ever, all they have to do is to win 41 of their next 48 games, then the numbers will show that they are the best on a regular season in the NBA history. Notice the Bulls (above) have the best two records ever on consecutive seasons, and that means that if the Warriors win the NBA title again, they will make some history also. Easy to forget here in Curryland, that the San Antonio Spurs have a 30-6 record.
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Brazil looking for Vinganca
In Portuguese, the world Vinganca means “revenge” and this next World Cup of Soccer, the world’s greatest sporting event, will take place in Brazil, this year and Brazilians who were totally embarrassed during the last World Cup by Germany who defeated them 7- 1 are looking forward to playing this time in front of the greatest futbol audience in the world. Brazil has won five World Cups more than anybody and they are the only team to have qualified to every World Cup. When you are the host country, you automatically qualify, so that was sort of good news for the Brazilians this year.  Germany is #2 all time with four World Cup titles. Brazil is the fifth largest country(by territory)in the world, only Russia, Canada, United States of America and China are larger, but there is not bigger passion for one sport in the world but for Futbol in Brazil. Because the way they lost to Germany last time in the final game, where 95%of the Brazilian people were either listening on the radio or watching on television, the media in Brazil considers this 2016 World cup as their most important in their history.
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Amaury Pi Gonzalez is a former candidate for the Ford C Frick Major League Baseball Hall of Fame and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com