The Warriors have won a lot of games with their lights-out outside shooting to go along with crisp execution on both sides of the court. Friday night, however, was not one of those occasions.
The Boston Celtics’ defensive toughness made things extremely tough on Stephen Curry & Co., which was already missing Klay Thompson and Harrison to ankle injuries, throughout the game and appeared poised to end the Warriors’ NBA-record undefeated streak.
However, he overcame that and found a way to score 38 points, and the Warriors followed suit to keep the streak alive with a 124-119 double-overtime thriller over the Celtics Friday night inside Boston’s TD Garden.
“Nothing was pretty about this game the whole time,” Curry said. “I can’t say enough about every guy who stepped out of the floor, considering all the injuries we had.
“A lot of people thought we were going to lose this game, (but) we got it done.”
To get past the Celtics, the Warriors ratcheted up their defensive intensity and made big stops down the stretch. Shaun Livingston, for example, got a huge block on Isaiah Thomas’ 3-point attempt to force the game into overtime.
Draymond Green, whom head coach Steve Kerr has identified as the heartbeat of their team, made several big plays, particularly in the second overtime that saw him drive past Amir Johnson to give the Warriors a three-point lead. His impact was also reflected in the stat sheet, as he finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks and five steals.
“Everybody stepped up to the challenge,” Green said. “This was a complete team win. Everybody wants to be that team that knocks you off. We’ve been getting everybody’s best shot, but we continue to give our shot back as well.
“There’s no pressure; we’re just playing basketball and having fun.”
The Warriors are chasing one more streak. They have now won 28 consecutive games dating back to last season and only stand five games behind the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers as the longest winning streak in NBA history.
Some thought the Golden State Warriors’ undefeated start to a season would be stopped by the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.
But the Warriors put big numbers on the board in a 131-123 win over the Pacers on the road to advance to 23-0 and continue their record-breaking campaign.
Klay Thompson erupted for a season-high 39 points, making 10 three-pointers. Stephen Curry added 29 points as the Warriors controlled the game from the start.
A 79-point first half set the tone for a high-paced affair, featuring 29 first-half points from Thompson. Shaun Livingston and the bench played well to start the second, with Livingston’s jumper putting the Warriors up 62-42.
The Pacers went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 62-51, but Thompson answered with 12 points on four three-pointers to end the quarter as the Warriors responded with a 17-7 spurt. Thompson went 8-of-10 from beyond-the-arc in the first half alone and the Warriors led 79-60 at halftime.
Golden State began the half with three straight lobs to Andrew Bogut and went on an 11-3 run midway through the quarter, with Thompson bottoming a shot to give them 100 points at the 3:56 mark of the third. Curry added a setback jumper to end the quarter, which put the Warriors up 111-83 heading into the fourth.
With the bench playing the fourth, the Pacers made a little run, cutting the lead to 11 with four minutes to play. That forced Luke Walton to put Curry and Thompson back in. Chase Budinger’s layup made it a 127-120 game with under a minute to play, but Curry answered with a layup on the other end to put the game away.
The Warriors scored 44 points in the first quarter, and overcame a slow start with the help of a 19-0 run after being down 21-15 midway through. Thompson had 17 points in the quarter, including a three that gave the Warriors a 23-21 lead. Curry’s three-pointer with under two minutes to play put the Warriors ahead 37-21.
The Warriors led 44-28 after the first quarter and tied their season record for most points in the quarter.
It wasn’t as easy as it should have been, but they’ll take it. The Warriors found themselves in a position they haven’t been used to, but Stephen Curry and the Dubs (22-0) proved worthy of the now-unfamiliar task of coming from behind, pulling past the lowly Brooklyn Nets (5-15) 114-98.
Golden State had jumped out to an early lead, but eventually found themselves down by as many as five points midway through the third quarter, a major accomplishment for Brooklyn given the Dubs’ recent prowess. With the victory, Golden State is now just one win short of tying the 2012-13 Miami Heat’s all-time NBA second-longest win streak (23).
But Curry wouldn’t settle and willed his team to win, scoring 16 points in the third (including 11 in the last 2:10) to help the Warriors pull away, going on a 53-32 run to end the game. Curry finished his night with 28 points but was uncharacteristically bad from the charity stripe, making just one of four tries. He wasn’t alone in struggling on free throws — Golden State made just 12 of their 23 tries (52%), well below their season average of 75.8%.
Power forward Thaddeus Young led the way with a double-double for Brooklyn in a losing effort, dropping 25 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Former Stanford center Brook Lopez also chipped in with 18 points and 8 boards.
The next unlucky team to play the Warriors: the Indiana Pacers, who will square off at home with Golden State on Tuesday to try to end their incredible win streak. After Indiana, Golden State will have two more games left on its East Coast road trip, taking on Boston on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday in a rare back-to-back.
The Golden State Warriors hung on for a 112-109 win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday evening for their 21st consecutive victory to start the season.
Stephen Curry poured in 44 points, while Klay Thompson added 26.
The Warriors trailed 85-84 early in the fourth as the bench let a slim lead slip. Thompson and Curry hit consecutive threes and Shaun Livingston connected on a layup to give the Warriors a 92-87 lead midway through the fourth.
But the Raptors responded with a burst of their own and Lowry’s sneaky layup inside regained the lead for Toronto again with under five minutes to play. Down 98-95, Curry dropped in a tough triple to tie the game at 98-98. He made another three to give the Warriors a 102-100 lead at the 2:30 mark.
The Warriors went without a field goal for the rest of the game, but didn’t need to because they connected on their foul shots after Draymond Green was fouled. Curry sealed it with five seconds to play on a pair of free throws to put the Warriors ahead 102-99, and the Raptors turned it over on the ensuing possession.
Up by 10 at halftime, the Warriors were outscored by the Raptors 30-24 in the third quarter. Kyle Lowry had 13 points in the quarter and his three cut the lead in half at the nine-minute mark. The Warriors stayed afloat and maintained the lead with Festus Ezeli chipping in. Curry’s floater off glass put the Warriors ahead 83-79 heading into the fourth quarter.
Lowry scored 41 points for the Raptors, a career-high.
The Warriors trailed 5-0 early, but that would be the extent of their struggles. Curry knocked in his first four shots — all three-pointers — as he and Thompson scored 11 straight points to give the Warriors a 21-10 lead. That marked a 16-0 run for the Warriors in the first quarter which ended with them up 32-21.
But they let the Raptors into the game in the second quarter as Toronto capitalized on second chance points, grabbing rebounds off misses. The Raptors went on an 11-2 run to start the second, capped off by a three from DeMar DeRozan to cut the Warriors lead to 36-32.
The Warriors’ bench unit struggled in the second and the Raptors took a 43-42 lead halfway into the quarter. But still, the starters reentered and took control. Thompson, who had 19 in the half, hit a three to give the Warriors a 56-47 advantage. Another three by Thompson to end the half send the Warriors into the locker room with a 10-point lead at 59-49.
Back in Charlotte, where he grew up watching his father Dell Curry play for the Hornets, Stephen Curry felt right at home, scoring 40 points, including 28 in the third quarter to help the undefeated Warriors beat the Charlottle Hornets 116-99. Curry played college ball at Davidson College, just 20 minutes or so from Charlotte.
Golden State’s winning streak is now at 20 games, the longest to start a season in the modern era of the four major American professional sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL). The last team to do so was the 1884 St. Louis Maroons (MLB) — there’s no question we’re watching history unfold right in front of our eyes.
After Charlotte was down just nine points at half time, Curry took it into another gear in the third. In the last 7:26 of the third quarter, he dropped 24 points on 8 of 9 shooting from the field, while knocking down all five of his three point attempts, finishing the quarter with 28 points. His fifth quarter of the season with more than 20 points helped the Warriors take a commanding 93-21 lead heading into the fourth.
And then he sat on the bench for the entire fourth quarter — he deserved the rest. In just 31 minutes, Curry drained 14 of his 18 shots, and 8 of 11 three pointers.
Klay Thompson, who is having a bit of a down year by his (lofty) standards, was the only other Warrior in double figures with 21 points, including 18 in the first half.
Charlotte had four in double figures in a losing effort, including Frank Kaminsky with 16 off the bench. Niolas Batum scored 17, but Charlotte’s other four starters combined to drop just 16. Charlotte made just 9 of 31 treys (29%) as compared to Golden State’s 47.1%, ultimately the difference in the game.
Who gets the honor (or burden) of playing Golden State next? North of border, the Toronto Raptors (11-7) will try to end the streak on Saturday. Good luck.
OAKLAND–The current NBA champions are enjoying their most success in their franchise history, as an unbeatable team breaking records, but even when they were not winning the
Golden State Warriors enjoyed the loyalty rarely seen for a
professional team in the Bay Area. The first pro team I
covered in the Bay Area where the Warriors It was
in 1970 and they were playing at the Cow Palace in Daly
City, they were the San Francisco Warriors, later they moved
to Oakland and played at the Oakland Arena today
Oracle Arena and changed their name to Golden State
Warriors, Franklin Mieuli was their majority owner, Mieuli
a prominent Bay Area sports figure who also had a
stake of the San Francisco 49ers, was an eccentric but
gentle man who enjoyed sports to its fullest, and
was always at the arena cheering the Warriors. Hal
Childs was their Media Director and even then the Warriors
were a hot ticket getting loyal support from all over the
Bay Area. In those days I used to write for El Mundo
News, a bilingual weekly published in Oakland by
the Post News Group.
During the 1970’s when the Warriors won their first
NBA title 1974-75 the Bay Area success scene was all
happening in the East Bay, where the other team winning
championships. The Oakland Raiders, who also had a loyal
following, “cult like”to the present days, but the
Warriors enjoyed the strongest support. Also in the 70’s
the Oakland Athletics were winning World Series,
three-in-a-row, 1972-73-74, so yes, Oakland was
then appropriately named City of Champions.
Generations have passed and things shifted to the west side
of the bay, where the San Francisco 49ers were winning
Superbowls in the 1980’s, with the Bill Walsh teams, but
prior to that the 49ers were not really that hot of a
ticket. As a matter-of-fact, I remember doing an interview
for KIQI 1010AM radio back in 1980 with a young quarterback
fresh out of Notre Dame who just turned professional
by the name of Joe Montana. The Bill Walsh era ushered in
and the 49ers were winning big time. Last Sunday at Levi
Stadium in San José, half of the stadium was empty to see
the 49ers end the month of November with a 3-8 record. The
years prior to the Joe Montana teams, it was even hard to
give away 49ers tickets for free on the radio.
In the 1990’s I had the good fortune of working for
the Warriors as play by play(Spanish radio)under their
great Broadcast Director David McGahey(RIP)one of the best I
had the honor to work under, a man who knew and understood
the Bay Area media market, and truly enjoyed basketball. He
was always in tune with the marketing and broadcasting sides
of things and sent me to Secaucus, New Jersey(just minutes
from NYC)to an NBA Media Convention. The Warriors were a
very exciting team in the 1990’s with the likes of Chris
Mullin and they played during a time were many (to this
day)believe was when he NBA peaked with their best teams and
players, Bulls,Celtics, Jordan,Byrd,guys like Barkley,
K.Malone. The Dream Team (1992)was the first time active NBA
players represented the USA in the Olympics, their
coach was Chuck Daly and among the assistant coaches was P.J
Carlesimo, who later became head coach of the
Warriors. I always like Carlesimo for his great
enthusiasms for the game and traveled with him and
his Warriors teams during many games Warriors fans, San Francisco Warriors, or the current generation of Golden State Warriors fans has been as loyal
as any others in this Bay Area. Anybody that has followed
sports in this part of the country can agree with that.
When the team moves to San Francisco, they will more than
likely go back to their original name when they first moved to the west coast theSan Francisco Warriors, and there is no reason to believe that their fan loyalty would waiver. I can
only hear the great Bill King best professional sports
announcer in Bay Area history and once the voice of the
Warriors, and a man I truly enjoyed talking with ,
be with the nWarriors or with Athletics, saying from
heaven “Holy Toledo”!
Amaury Pi Gonzalez was the Warriors Spanish play by play announcer and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
The Golden State Warriors have been so dominant this season that many may have pushed the idea of actually losing a game out of their mind. That scenario nearly came to fruition on Monday night as the Utah Jazz took the Warriors to the brink in a hard-fought contest in Salt Lake City, as Golden State managed to escape with a 106-103 win on the road.
The narrow victory was a star studded affair, as Golden State leaned on its studs, including Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, to deliver them the road victory to keep their unbeaten streak alive. Curry led the Warriors with 26 points, while scoring some crucial buckets in crunch time late in the fourth quarter. Green added 20 of his own, including a crucial put back bucket to take the lead in the fourth quarter while drawing the foul. Thompson also added 20 of his own.
The score was tied with just under two-minutes to go after a Curry step-back notched things up at 99. Curry couldn’t put through a fastbreak layup on the next Golden State possession, but Green’s hustle put him in a position to clean up the miss and give the Warriors a 101-99 lead.
Golden State would foul on their next possession, sending the Jazz’s Derrick Favors to line, who would sink both free throws as apart of his 23-total points on the night, again notching things up at 101 each. But with the game on the line, the Warriors looked to their MVP to lead them out of danger, and Curry delivered.
The NBA’s best shooter would show off his skills with the game on the line, crossing over a Utah defender and stepping behind the arc to nail a three pointer to put his team up again. The Jazz would look to threaten the Warriors lead yet again, but a loose ball off a miss found its way to Curry’s hands, who would be sent to the line to seal the victory following a pair of free throws.
The three-point victory was the slimmest margin thus far for the Warriors, who remain unbeaten with a 19-0 victory. The 8-8 Jazz aren’t the bottom feeders of the NBA by any means, nor are they the league’s elite. But with the Warriors continuing to chase even more records, it served as a stiff reminder that anything can happen in this unpredictable league. It also showed that the Warriors have not forgotten how to scrap their way to a win, as they continue to find ways to do so no matter the scenario.
The Warriors road trip continues on Wednesday, with the team flying to Charlotte to take on the Hornets in the second game of this seven game road series.
There are three tiers in the NBA. The first tier includes the Warriors, Cavs, Spurs, Heat and Clippers – teams that are battling for titles. The second tier teams are fighting for the bottom two playoff spots in their respective divisions. The third tier teams are spending their off-season trying to figure out who they are going to draft in the lottery.
The first tier team known as the Golden State Warriors played the third tier Sacramento Kings on Saturday night and the results were predictable. The Warriors crushed the Kings 120-101 and improved to 18-0 on the season. The loss dropped the Kings to 6-12 after 18 games.
To be fair, the Kings did have to play without the services of their All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins (strained lower back). That is 27 points and “a whole lotta” defense up the middle that was not available to Sacramento for this game. Cousins has missed both games with Golden State this season, and it is not a coincidence that the Kings have lost both games.
The Warriors did put on their usual spectacular offensive show, but they also played outstanding basketball on the defensive end as well. The Warriors held the Kings shooters to just 39-percent (39-for-101) for the game. The Kings had to take 100 shots to score 101 points. You cannot win in the NBA with that shooting to scoring ratio.
The Warriors scored 120 points and took only 80 shots from the floor. Golden State was deadly from behind the 3-point line hitting on 16-of-30 (53.3-percent) attempts. They also made 31 trips to the free throw line and converted 26 of those attempts (83.9-percent).
Kings
Rudy Gay had a better night but not a great game against the Warriors. Gay was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points. He had to take 20 shots (7-for-20) to post those 20 points. Gay is playing hard but seems have lost his smooth shooting touch for the moment.
Kosta Koufos gave a great effort as he tried to fill the shoes left open by the lack of DeMarcus Cousins in the game. Koufos knows what he can do on the floor and he does it well. He scored 14 points and had seven rebounds in 22 minutes of playing time. Koufos had sit out much the second quarter with foul trouble.
Rajon Rondo had a quiet night scoring seven points and dishing out seven assists. It is tough to create assists when your players cannot get open or make baskets.
Omri Casspi – who was starter in the game – finished with 11 points going 3-for-10 from the floor. All three of his successful attempts were 3-point baskets.
Marco Belinelli was unable to provide a scoring punch off the bench. He scored just five points and was 0-for-7 from behind the 3-point line.
Seth Curry provided some entertainment for the crowd during “garbage time”. Curry scored nine points shooting 3-for-3 from downtown.
Warriors
Stephen Curry was the Warriors leading scorer with 19 points in 29 minutes of playing time. Curry did not play in the fourth quarter. He shot 3-for-6 from long range and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Brandon Rush put up 16 points getting the start in place of the injured Harrison Barnes.
Klay Thompson added 15 points shooting 6-for-10 including three 3s in 26 minutes on the floor.
Draymond Green (13), Festus Ezeli (11) and Marreese Speights (13) all scored in double-figures.
Golden State shot 48.8-percent from the floor going 39-for-80. They hit 16-of-30 3-point shots. The Warriors had 32 assists and just 14 turnovers in the contest.
What they said after the game
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better shooting team or better passing team in my whole career coaching. You give them an opportunity or you give them a mistake – they find it with the pass. A lot of times they find it with the 3-ball,” said Kings head coach George Karl.
“I’m going to write this off as an injury loss. Their defense without Cuz (DeMarcus Cousins) limit our options or somewhat limited our options to be successful. And, we didn’t finish a lot of easy shots early in the first half. I thought our shots were pretty good in the first half. In the second half, making the 3-ball got out of control and you over-react to the 3-ball and give up the layup. When you over-react to the layup you give up the 3-ball. They are team that has that genius. I don’t if they even made a mid-range jump shot,” added Karl.
Up next
The Kings will host the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. Sacramento is hoping to have Cousins back in the lineup to face the Mavs. Dallas defeated the Nuggets 92-81 on Saturday night at home.
The Warriors kick off a 7-game road trip in Utah on Monday night.
The Golden State Warriors’ perfect start continued on Saturday night with an 120-101 win over the Sacramento Kings at Oracle Arena to advance to 18-0.
Stephen Curry led the way with 19 points. Brandon Rush, who started in place of the injured Harrison Barnes, had a feel-good night with 16 points. Draymond Green finished with 13 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds for his second straight triple-double.
The Warriors led by 10 at halftime, but broke it wide open in the third quarter thanks to a surprising burst by Rush. His dunk followed by a three gave the Warriors a 61-46 lead. That keyed an 11-2 run by the Warriors, capped off by back-to-back threes by Rush, who had 14 points in the quarter.
Golden State outscored Sacramento by 11 in the quarter to take a 92-71 lead into the fourth quarter, which consisted of a lengthy amount of garbage time.
Their performance in the latter half of the game was a far cry from their start, which saw them fall behind 14-6. But Curry scored 17 of his 19 points in the first quarter to keep the Warriors afloat. Curry’s three with under a minute to play in the first pulled the Warriors within one, and Festus Ezeli’s basket before the buzzer gave the Warriors a 30-29 advantage after one.
The lead soon expanded in the second. The Warriors began the quarter on an 11-0 run, with six points coming from Marreese Speights. The Kings responded with eight straight to get back within three, but in a quarter full of runs, the Warriors poured in an 8-0 run of their own to go up by 11 again.
The Golden State Warriors just can’t stop and won’t stop winning.
With a 135-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns on the road on Friday night, the Warriors extended their NBA-best win streak to start a season to 17 games, advancing to 17-0.
Stephen Curry, who didn’t even play the fourth quarter, poured in 41 points, hitting nine three-pointers. Draymond Green recorded a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Leandro Barbosa added 21 points, the first time he’s gone over 20 points in a Warriors uniform.
The result of this game was never in doubt from the beginning. The Warriors jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Curry made five three-pointers in the first quarter alone, finishing with 19 points and six assists in just the one quarter.
Along with a season-high 44 first quarter points, Golden State made an NBA-record 15 three-pointers in the first half to take a 75-57 lead at halftime.
The Suns cut the Warriors’ lead to as little as 10 at 67-57 in the second, but the Warriors ended the half with an 8-0 run to take control. The Warriors broke the century mark with two minutes to spare in the third quarter, taking a 100-77 lead on a pair of Shaun Livingston free throws.
The Warriors finished off the fourth quarter and a convincing win on the road to continue their improbable start, with 135 points a team high on the season.
Next up will be the Kings at home on Saturday on the back-end of a back-to-back.
