It was a pretty first half followed by an ugly second half, but the Golden State Warriors emerged out of Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors with a 115-110 victory to remain perfect at 12-0.
Much of the second half was played at a halfcourt, slow tempo, and the Raptors were able to keep the Warriors at bay and stay in the game.
With 38 seconds left, DeMar DeRozan made a layup to cut the Warriors lead to 109-108. After a defensive stop, the Raptors had a chance to take the lead but a questionable foul was called on Lowry.
After a pair of free throws by Stephen Curry, the Raptors, without a timeout, needed a three to tie but Kyle Lowrie went for a layup instead of a three-pointer, and was still denied at the rim.
That allowed the Warriors to come away with a tight win to become just the seventh team in NBA history to start the year 12-0.
Toronto didn’t score a field goal for nearly nine minutes in the fourth, but still managed to take the lead with free throw shooting, as the Warriors got themselves in foul trouble.
Lowry’s foul shots at 5:54 put the Raptors ahead 98-96, their first lead since the first quarter.
But the Warriors responded with a quick 7-0 run out of a timeout, starting with a lob from Draymond Green to Andrew Bogut to tie the game back up. Curry made a three, and Green’s floater put the Warriors ahead 103-98.
The Raptors’ first field goal since the 11:26 mark came from Lowry, whose three cut the lead to 105-103 with under three minutes to play.
Curry finished with a game-high 37 points to go along with nine assists. Klay Thompson had 19 points. For the Raptors, Lowry and DeRozan both recorded 28 points.
Up 16 at halftime, the Warriors allowed the Raptors back in the game on the strength of a 20-8 spurt. Toronto knocked down some open shots to cut the lead to six at 73-67 midway through the third.
Curry kept the Warriors ahead and Andre Iguodala’s late basket gave Golden State a 90-83 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
The Warriors went on a scintillating 28-10 run in the latter portion of the second quarter to build up a comfortable halftime advantage.
With the game tied 35-35, the Warriors took over. Thompson heated up with several jumpers, and his three with 3:25 to play gave the Warriors an eight-point advantage. The Warriors then ripped off 10 unanswered points, starting off with a steal and layup by Curry on the ensuing inbounds pass.
An alley-oop from Thompson to Andre Iguodala incited a Raptors’ timeout, but that did little to slow the Warriors’ momentum. In almost mirror, Festus Ezeli and Iguodala both grabbed tough rebounds that led to threes by Thompson and Curry, respectively to give the Warriors an 18-point lead.
The Warriors led 63-47 at halftime. Thompson had 18 points to lead the way.
The Golden State Warriors narrowly avoided an upset at Oracle Arena on Saturday, as the Brooklyn Nets squandered an early lead to fall in overtime by a score of 107-99.
The Warriors kept their perfect streak alive, as they moved to 11-0 on the season in a tightly contested matchup. Nobody expected the 1-9 Brooklyn Nets to contest the reigning NBA champions at home, but the Nets used a first quarter offensive flurry to back the Warriors into an early corner on Saturday.
Despite lackluster frames in the first and third quarter, the Warriors biggest playmakers were able to force an overtime showdown after clutch play from Andre Iguodala led to a 97-all tie at the end of the fourth quarter. Nets C Brook Lopez had the chance to hand an upset to the Warriors, but barely missed the tip-in to complete the win.
After allowing the lowly Brooklyn offense to take charge at multiple points throughout the game, the Warriors defense stepped up big in overtime, allowing just two total points to the Nets while outscoring them by eight in the overtime frame to secure their 11th win of the season.
Steph Curry led all scorers with 34 points, despite a lackluster night from the field, where he shot just 13-of-31. Draymond Green followed for the Warriors with a triple-double featuring 16 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Leading the charge for the Nets was a familiar face in Oakland in PG Jarret Jack, who dumped in 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Followin Jack was SF Thaddeus Young who scored 26, while Lopez finished with a respectable 18 despite the missed tip.
The win was the first overtime bout for the Warriors, who have been steadily dispatching their foes in the NBA while contending their NBA title. Despite falling prey to the early trap, the Warriors rebounded with their usual stout defense and clutch offensive play to stay perfect on the season.
The team will take a brief hiatus before returning to action against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday at Oracle Arena.
Behind 46 points from Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors poured it on in a 129-116 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.
Curry went 8-of-13 from three-point range and made all eight of his free throws. He scored 21 points alone in the first quarter as the Warriors dropped 40 points to lead by 13 heading into the second.
An 8-2 run to start the second gave the Warriors a 48-30 advantage. Minnesota cut the lead down to as little as six, but a run by Golden State to end the quarter, finished off with a Curry layup at the buzzer, put them back up by double digits.
The Warriors fended off several pushes by the Timberwolves to climb back in the game, especially in the end of the third quarter when an 13-0 spurt threatened the Warriors’ large advantage. A putback by Kevin Martin with 9:47 to play trimmed the lead to 99-94.
But Curry and the Warriors regained command, as a barrage of threes and quick baskets built up the lead again as the Warriors wound up winning comfortably.
The Warriors advance to 10-0 while the Timberwolves drop to .500 at 4-4.
MEMPHIS, Tenn — Anchored by league MVP Stephen Curry’s 28 points, the Golden State Warriors tied a franchise-best 9-0 to start a season (held by the 1960-61 Philadelphia Warriors), with a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies 100-84 Wednesday night at FedEx Forum.
Andre Iguodala scored 20 points and Harrison Barnes added 19 points for Golden State, who shot 41 percent (11-of-27) from 3-point range. Curry, who is human after all, shot just 9-of-21 from the floor (3-of-10 on 3s).
Marc Gasol finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Zach Randolph scored 19 points and seven rebounds for a Memphis team that has dropped their fourth straight game.
Golden State destroyed Memphis 119-69 on Nov. 2 in Oakland, the worst loss for the Grizzlies in franchise history.
Golden State, who built a 15-point first-half lead, got bullied in the post by Randolph in the third quarter, allowing the bruising power forward to score 12 points in the quarter pulling Memphis to a 55-53 deficit.
But the Curry and the Warriors, who looked sloppy at times committing 23 turnovers, had other plans.
Curry knocked down a 40-footer at the horn to end the third quarter, giving the Warriors a 74-63 lead. Curry, who also drilled a 62-footer in Game 6 of the Western Conference semi-finals that sent Golden State to the conference finals, also added five assists and five rebounds.
Back-to-back 3s from Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in the fourth quarter proved to be difference maker for Golden State, who found themselves up 86-71 with 6:29 left.
The Warriors (9-0) seems to have the Grizzlies (3-6) number after picking up their sixth victory in seven regular season games Wednesday night.
Golden State continues its back-to-back road trip Thursday in Minneapolis, while Memphis hosts Portland Friday.
The Golden State Warriors continued their winning ways Monday night by defeating the Detroit Pistons 109-95 at the Oracle Arena. The Pistons, coached by Stan Van Gundy, entered the game with a 5-1 record and had won three straight on the road. The Pistons’ stars are point guard Reggie Jackson and center Andre Drummond. Jackson scored twenty and Drummond had fourteen points and fifteen rebounds in Monday nights’ game.
The Warriors’ Steph Curry had a tough night as he missed five of his first seven shots and finished the night 7 for 18 and 22 points. Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 24. The Warriors led 27-15 after the first period and 55-46 at the half. The Dubs played good defense and were able to keep the Pistons at bay but could not put them away. Golden State led by 15 with seven minutes left in the third period but the Pistons clawed their way back due to the play of Stanley Johnson and Marcus Morris. Johnson, coming off the bench, notched twenty points for Detroit. The Pistons trailed by just four points 80-76 at the end of the third period. The Warriors then outscored the Pistons 29-19 in the fourth period to ice the win. They were able to run the court. The Pistons could not keep up with the pace, and the Dubs pulled away. Final score 109-95 for Golden State.
Game notes- The Warriors improved to 8-0 for the season and remain the only unbeaten team in the NBA. Detroit drops to 5-2. The Warriors had five players in double figures. Andrew Bogut was cleared to play, and he had 8 points in nineteen minutes of action. Festus Ezeli and Mo Speights played well and kept Andre Drummond under control.
The Warriors defeated the Piston for the ninth straight time, and they won their 23rd straight home game. The Warriors will be Memphis on Wednesday to play the Grizzlies for the second time this season.
OAKLAND–With every Golden State Warriors win(undefeated this young NBA season)you can see more and more yellow and blue Warriors flags flying in cars around the Bay Area. However interestingly enough the San Francisco 49ers flags, are not seen as often. Could it be the Bay Area is your “front-runners’area for sports teams? Furthermore; Giants flags are in storage for the winter, but the San José Sharks are still flying high in the South Bay, interestingly enough they are not selling out every game like they used to at the tank. Of course, everybody wants to be identified as a winner, and it is just human nature, but sometimes its so obvious that the only thing you can do is laugh.
Notice I didn’t mentioned Oakland Raiders. I think the Raiders fans are in a conundrum, since it could be soon the famous logo could have L.A underneath, a possible move of the Raiders Back to The Future flag could be in the foreseeable future, although they are also competing with the Rams. That make the Athletics fans dream of a ‘nicer and gentler’ Oakland Coliseum,without sharing it with the Raiders, maybe even Mr Wolff would even considering remodeling the maligned park?
These are very interesting times in the Bay Area, a football team with uncertain future, another one with no quarterback, a basketball team that refuses to lose and two baseball teams licking their wounds because less that memorable seasons, and a hockey team celebrating their 25th season but with more empty seats.
Buckle your seat belts, it is going to be a bumpy ride this winter.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is a talk show host on Sports Radio Service and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
The Golden State Warriors unexpectedly found themselves trailing the Sacramento Kings with six minutes to play in the game.
But the defending champions, who had been lackadaisical up to that point, found their game when they needed it most. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both drilled three-pointers as the Warriors outscored the Kings 25-13 from that point on to win 103-94 in Sacramento on Saturday night.
Curry’s three with 42 seconds to play put the Warriors up 97-88 and served as the exclamation mark on the victory.
The defending MVP struggled on the night, shooting just 2-of-10 from three-point range. But he still had 24 points and six rebounds. Thompson recorded 18 points, while Festus Ezeli had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Warriors committed 18 turnovers and were sloppy throughout the game. They led 20-14 after the first quarter and 46-38 at halftime, but allowed the Kings to hang around and stay in the game.
Sacramento nearly pulled it off too, as the Kings closed a 67-58 gap down to just four at the end of the third quarter
But what’s most important is the win, which the Warriors escaped with, advancing to 7-0 and remaining the only undefeated team in the NBA.
Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings had to face the undefeated Golden State Warriors without DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison on Saturday night. The result should have a very predictable “blow out” by the Warriors, but it was not walk over win for the defending NBA Champions.
Golden State defeated the Sacramento Kings 103 to 94. It was a two-point game with four minutes to go in the contest. No one – Warriors fans or Kings fans – could believe this game was so close at the end.
The Kings played tough, hard-nosed basketball, but in the end, the talent of Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green and Iguodala proved to be too much for Sacramento to handle with a short-handed team.
Frankly, the Warriors came out flat or overlooking the Kings in the first half. The Kings took an early lead in the first period and held that lead until the 3:35 mark in the quarter. Golden State stepped up their play with scoring from former King Jason Thompson, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala. The Warriors established a 20 to 14 lead after one quarter. Most people in the building expected them to just continue to stretch that lead in the second period.
Golden State did open up a 14-point lead with scoring from Klay Thompson (8), Iguodala (4) and Marreese Speights (4). Just as the game appeared to be headed for a runaway, the Kings came back with a 3-point basket from Marco Belinelli. Belinelli was then fouled attempting a 3-pointer and converted three free throws to cut the Warrior lead to eight.
At the half, Golden State led the Kings 46 to 38.
Sacramento came out strong in the third quarter as center Kosta Koufos scored six unanswered points. The Kings cut the Warrior lead to one on a Koufos lay-up at the 7:31 mark. Sacramento then took the lead when Belinelli sank another 3-point basket from 25-feet out. Golden State then went on 12-0 run that again threatened to put the Kings away. Again the Kings – led by Belinelli – closed the gap to four points. After three quarters, the Warriors led the Kings 72 to 68.
The Kings continued to keep the game close early in the fourth quarter. Sacramento took the lead 79 to 78 on a Rajon Rondo 19-foot jump shot with 6:37 to play. The game stayed close until the Warriors opened up a 10-point lead with under two minutes to play. The teams traded baskets and fouls, but the Kings were unable to find that something extra to propel them back into the game.
The Warriors defeated the Kings by nine points, 103 to 94.
Kings
Marco Belinelli on Saturday night showed why the Kings signed him to a 3-year contract. He scored 22 points shooting 5-for-11 from the floor. The Italian sharp-shooter was 3-for-6 from 3-point range. He went 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Twice Belinelli converted 3-point plays from the charity stripe after being fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer.
Rudy Gay stepped up for Sacramento against the Warriors. He shot 10-for-25 from the field scoring 22 points for his team. Gay showed an aggressiveness that George Karl would like to see more of on a nightly basis.
Rajon Rondo handled the point for 44 minutes against Golden State. With Darren Collison inactive due to a hamstring issue, Rondo was the only point guard on the floor for Sacramento. He put together a rare triple-double scoring 14 points, pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out 15 assists. After the game Kings head coach George Karl said, “He knows how to do that, he has great history of leading teams and tonight he was very special.”
Center Kosta Koufos recorded a double-double scoring 12 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. Omri Casspi put up 10 points. Willie Cauley-Stein added six points with two nice finishes off lob passes under the basket.
The Kings shot .437 (38-for-87) from the field. They went 6-for-19 (.316) from 3-point range. The team continued to improve from the free throw line making 12 of 16 attempts (.750).
Sacramento turned the ball over 22 times which resulted in 29 Golden State points. The Kings were out-rebounded 46 to 45.
Warriors
Steph Curry led the Golden State scoring with 24 points. Curry scored 21 of those points in the second half of the game. He did not have a great game from beyond the 3-point line shooting just 2-for10 from long distance.
The much anticipated Curry versus Curry match up did not occur as Seth Curry did not play for the Kings. Seth Curry was nursing an ankle sprain coming into the game.
Klay Thompson put up 18 points shooting 7-for-16 from the floor and hitting on 4 of 11 3-point opportunities.
Harrison Barnes (13), Draymond Green (10), Festus Ezeli (10), and Andre Iguodala (14) all scored in double figures for the Warriors. Ezeli made it a double-double game by recording 12 rebounds.
As a team, Golden State shot .413 (38-for-92) from the field. They were a dismal .205 (8-for-39) from 3-point land. The Warriors were impressive at the free throw line converting 19 of 22 opportunities (.864).
The Warriors scored 19 points off second chance opportunities. The Kings scored nine second chance points.
What they said after the game
“It was a pretty impressive game, but they (Kings) have fought through four games in five nights. Obviously there was some fatigue there (shown by) our turnovers in the first half. They kept fighting. I thought our leader was Rondo. Rondo was incredibly into the game, incredibly intense. His defense on (Stephen) Curry was first class. I just wish we would have (had) more gas in the tank to finish off the game,” said Coach George Karl.
“There’s a lot of good we can take out of it (the game) as a team,” explained Rudy Gay. “But I think we’re overdue for a win – we need one bad. It’s another game I thought we could’ve had.”
“Our guys played hard and we knew it would be a tough game coming in,” said Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton.”Sacramento – they compete. Like I said before the game, they haven’t been winning a lot of games but they’ve been playing hard and (been) in the games. We couldn’t get out shots to go in tonight which happens but we found a way like you said to grind it out and come out with a victory.”
“Definitely not pretty but we overcame missed shots, turnovers, kind of a sluggish first half,” said Stephen Curry after the game. “With our defense, we gave ourselves an opportunity to have some minute runs. Pretty much had control of the game the whole way through. They made a decent run to take the lead by one in the fourth. Made some plays down the stretch and pulled it out. That defense allowed us to overcome a poor shooting night.”
Up next
The Kings have Sunday off, but their day of rest will be short lived. Sacramento will host the very talented San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. DeMarcus Cousins is expected to be available for that game.
The Warriors will also have Sunday off and return to action on Monday night hosting the Detroit Pistons.
OAKLAND, Calif — In a game between the only undefeated teams in the Western Conference, Stephen Curry scored 31 points to lead keep the Golden State Warriors past their bitter rival, the Los Angeles Clippers 112-108 in front of a sellout crowd at Oracle Arena Wednesday night for their fifth straight win to begin the season.
“We’re better than we were last year,” said Curry after the game to ESPN’s J.A. Adande. Curry nailed 7-for-11 three-pointers, including the go-ahead three with a minute left to go.
Curry’s 25 made threes are the most made by a player in his first five games to start a season in NBA history. His 179 points are the most through five games since Michael Jordan’s 182 points during the 1991-92 season.
Golden State (5-0) overcame a 10-point lead with just a little over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to Harrison Barnes who went on a 8-1 run in 38 seconds highlighted by his back-to-back threes. Barnes finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in a game that had a playoff-type atmosphere to it.
Klay Thompson scored 16 points and Festus Ezeli, starting for injured center Andrew Bogut, finished with 10 points. Ezeli’s block on Blake Griffin’s dunk attempt in the first quarter sent shock waves through Oracle Arena.
Draymond Green chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.
Chris Paul led the Clippers with 24 points and nine assists on 9-for-15 shooting, but four points came just after halftime. Paul also missed two crucial free throws late in the fourth quarter.
Blake Griffin finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but went scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles (4-1), came into the game winners of four straight, just like the Warriors but dropped their eighth straight game in Oakland and find themselves looking up at Golden State in the Pacific Division.
Let’s face it, these teams don’t like each other. Golden State feels the Clippers don’t respect them or the NBA Championship the Warriors won last year; while Los Angeles believes that Golden State are arrogant and were “lucky” to even win the franchise’s first title in 40 years.
With the win, Golden State becomes the first defending NBA Champion since the 2010-11 to start the next season 5-0.
Golden State will try to add to its 21 straight home victories Friday night when they will host the Denver Nuggets.
Both teams will meet each other three more times, with the next installment coming up Nov. 19 when Golden State heads to Los Angeles.
The Golden State Warriors won their fourth game of the season Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Oracle Arena. Monday’s game was the first meeting between the two teams since the Warriors eliminated the Grizzlies in the playoffs last season. In that series, the Warriors lost two of the first three games but rallied to win the next three to eliminate Memphis and continue their run to the NBA title. The Warriors knew that they would have to contain Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph to win. The Warriors stopped them cold and after a very low scoring first period, they put on a performance at both ends of the court to blow the Grizzlies away, beating them by fifty points. The final score was 119-69 for Golden State.
The first period was fairly even as the Grizzlies slowed the game down. The Warriors did manage to take a six-point lead with 4:03 left to play in the period, but the Grizzlies came back and led 22-21 at the end of the first twelve minutes of play.
The second period belonged to the Warriors. Steph Curry and company picked up the tempo of the game. The Warriors moved the ball well. They ran the court and dazzled the Grizzlies. The Warrior defense was spectacular as they held the Grizzlies to just 28& from the floor. The Grizzlies could not make a three-point shot. Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli blocked shots and cleared the boards for the Dubs. The Warriors led 29-26 with almost three minutes played in the second period. They never looked back. They increased the lead to eleven leading 4-0-29 then 47-31 with two minutes left in the half. The Dubs finished the half with a nineteen point lead 53-34.
The Warriors, led by Steph Curry’s twenty-one points in the third period, iced the game for Golden State. Curry was brilliant again. At one point, he made two steals on defense. Curry demoralized Memphis with his brilliance. The Warriors were on a 52-16 run at this time in the game. They finished the third period with a 93-49 advantage. Interim coach, Luke Walto, pulled his regulars from the contest. Ian Clark, James Michael McAdoo, Brandon Rush, Jason Thompson and Mo Speights played the entire fourth period. Final score 119-69.
Game Notes- Steph Curry finished the night with thirty points to lead the Warriors in scoring. Klay Thompson had fourteen and Ian Clark, coming off the bench , finished with fifteen. Festus Ezeli had ten rebounds. Draymond Green recorded nine and Mo Speights had eight. Green had eight assists to lead the Warriors in that category. Leading scorers for Memphis were Marc Gasol with thirteen and Michael Conley with ten.
The Warriors set another record as they won their twentieth straight game at home. They face the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night at the Oracle Arena. The Clippers, led by Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, are aiming to send the Dubs a message. The Dubs and the Clips do not like each other, and the game should be a bruising battle between two elite teams. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.
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