Category: Golden State Warriors

Rockets force Game 5 with high-scoring win over Warriors

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By: Eric He

It was an emotional game, a chaotic game, one that saw the Warriors lose and then suddenly re-gain their leader, put up a valiant fight, only to lose in the end.

With a 128-115 win in Game 4 on Monday night, the Rockets stayed alive and forced a Game 5 back at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.

Stephen Curry left the game in the second quarter with a head injury but returned in the third quarter after an entire nation’s worth of basketball fans held their collective breaths.

The Warriors cut a 15-point lead down to six in the fourth quarter on threes from Klay Thompson and Curry. But a 104-98 advantage for the Rockets quickly went back up to 13 on a 8-0 run by James Harden with 6:39 to play.

They never recovered, unable to cut the lead down to more than eight.

Harden finished with a game-high 45 points and was 7-of-11 from three-point range, making pivotal shots that stopped more than a few Golden State runs.

With 5:52 to play in the second quarter, Curry exited the game after falling hard contesting a layup attempt by Trevor Ariza. Curry fell hard on his head and stayed down for several minutes. He was diagnosed with a head contusion and did not return.

The Warriors were down 55-36 at the time of Curry’s departure, but surprisingly picked it up without their MVP. Thompson stepped up and knocked down jumper after jumper; a three by Leandro Barbosa cut the lead down to 61-51 with 3:16 to play.

Curry finished with 23 points, even with the injury. Thompson was the Warriors’ high scorer with 24 points.

Golden State trailed 69-59 at halftime.

They trimmed the lead into single digits several times during the third quarter, but the Rockets responded with a strong close to the quarter. A three by Harden put the Rockets up 90-71, and they led 99-84 heading into the fourth.

The Warriors got off to an abysmal start, allowing the Rockets to shoot 77.3 percent from the floor in the first quarter. Houston scored the game’s first 12 points as Josh Smith knocked down two three-pointers.

A dunk by Dwight Howard capped off a 19-3 start by the Rockets, and not even Curry’s three-point prowess could counteract Houston’s dream start.

The Rockets ended the first quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 45-22 lead after one.

Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard, left, and Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut, right, go after a rebound during the first half in Game 3 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals Saturday, May 23, 2015, in Houston. AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Warriors Dominate Rockets Take 3-0 Series Lead

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AP Photo/David J. Phillip

By Jeff Hall

HOUSTON –

The Warriors displayed total  domination in game three and completely outplayed the Houston Rockets on their home floor. The Warriors blasted the Rockets with a 115-80 win.

Both teams struggled early on the offensive end in the early minutes of the game The Rockets shot 36.8 percent in the first quarter. The Rockets got off to another slow start in the series and missed 10 of their first 16 field goal attempts.

The Warriors had a 12point lead at the end of the first quarter. Andrew Bogut got off to a great start with 10 early points and began the game 4 of 4 from the field. The Warriors spread the floor well in the early going and had 10 assists as a team. The Warriors shot 46.2 percent in the first quarter and the Rockets shot 36.8 percent The Warriors led 30-18 at the end of the first.

Stephan Curry had three first quarter points and three assists.

The Rockets did a great job of keeping Curry quiet at least in the early going on offense, for a large part of the first half, but the Warriors showed that they have so many weapons to put points up on the board and proved to the Rockets that the Warriors have strength from all over the floor.

Both Bogut and Dwight Howard got into foul trouble, each with 3 fouls in the first half.

The Warriors took a 17 point lead in the second quarter and The Rockets began to show frustration when Jason Terry Committed a Foul on a Curry 3-point attempt. Curry made all three of the free-throws to give the Warriors their largest lead of the game and when curry began to perform the way he normally does, the game began to get away from the home team Rockets.

James Harden, like many of the Rockets did not have a very good start in the first half. Harden was one 0f eight from he field and had just 8 first half points. Dwight Howard was five of eight from the field scoring 12 first half points

At the half, the Warriors had a 25 point lead over the Rockets, The Rockets poor shooting in the first half put them far behind and a spread out offense of the Warriors. Curry led the way with 18 first half points.

The Warriors had a 63-37 first half lead.

In the third quarter the Warriors got of to a rocky start, that was until Curry did what Curry does and started making shots high off the glass and from beyond the arc and the Warriors went on an 8-0 run half way through the third quarter

Curry scored 40 points and was seven of nine from 3-point range.  Curry left the game with four minutes remaining in the game

James Harden led the Rockets in scoring with 17 points. Harden was  three of sixteen from the field

The Rockets shot 33.7 percent from the field and were out rebounded by the Warriors 60-39.

Notes: With the win the Warriors have won six straight playoff games

Curry passed Indiana Pacers Reggie Miller for the most 3-pointers in a single postseason. Curry passed Miller playing nine less playoff games

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Rockets have Harden, Cavs have LeBron & W’s have multiple weapons

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by David Zizmor

The Houston Rockets have James Harden and he gets some help from Dwight Howard whose been injured for most of the year and they lost a couple other good players to injuries in various stretches of the season. Harden has done a lot for the Rockets in helping them achieve their success so far and that’s the main reason why some folks argue that Harden should be the MVP instead of the Warriors Stephen Curry. For a good portion of the season Harden was by himself because Howard was out hurt.

I don’t agree with them but it’s a fair case to make, Harden is a fantastic basketball player and at times is unguardable as we’ve seen in this series. If you watch that game on Thursday in the fourth quarter when Harden really got going it was nothing you could do about it. The Warriors Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes had great coverage on Harden.

Thompson and Barnes provided good strong defense and they forced Harden to take some really difficult shots but he was hitting every single one of them. Guys that are as good as Harden go through periods like that where no matter what you do and no matter how strong your defense it’s never going to be enough.

Curry is the same way and Thompson can be the same way, Thompson scored 37 points in a quarter because of one those hot streaks, we’ve seen it plenty of times in Oakland where a Warriors player gets on fire you can’t stop them no matter what you try to do. Harden is that guy from the Rockets there’s not a lot of those guys in the league.

The Warriors are unfortunately playing several of them in this post season, like the New Orleans Pelicans Anthony Davis, the Memphis Grizzlies have some offensive players Marcus Gasol and Zach Randolph, and with this Rockets team Harden is as tough as they come before Golden State has to possibly face the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron.

David Zizmor does Golden State Warriors commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Harden’s Buzzer-Beater Blunder Lets Warriors Escape with Game Two Win 99-98

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

It was a dream situation for coach Kevin McHale with the second Most Valuable Player holding the rock with the chance at a game winning shot as the clock ticked off its final seconds.

It turned into a nightmare when James Harden failed to even hoist up a potential buzzer beater. Harden’s Houston Rockets instead fell to the Golden State Warriors 99-98 Thursday night at Oracle Arena and now trail the Western Conference Finals 2-0.

In game one the Warriors trailed early before mounting a comeback for the victory, but Thursday appeared to be a reversal of fortunes. Houston trailed by 12 51-39 with 5 minutes left in the first half but managed to outscore the hosts 16-4 down the stretch to head to the half tied at 55-all.

The Warriors outscored the Rockets 22-20 in an evenly played 3rd frame, building up to the drama of the 4th. Twice, Golden State built a six-plus point lead over the final 12 minutes, but couldn’t put away the visitors.

With just 1:39 left in regulation and Houston trailing 98-90, James Harden went on to score six consecutive Rockets points to only one made free throw by Draymond Green for the Dubs. With 33 seconds left, the architect of the near comeback Harden found Dwight Howard for an alley oop to put the Rockets down by just one.

The Warriors still maintained the final position and seemed content to drain the clock and force Houston to take the game winner after Harrison Barnes missed the lay-up with 7 seconds left. Harden rebounded the ball and streaked to the other end of the court seeking a mid-range jumper. Instead he lost possession of the ball, and ultimately a chance at the game winning shot.

Despite showing his frustration by knocking over a set of curtains on his way off the court, Harden performed exceptionally Thursday, coming an assist shy of a triple-double after scoring 38 points and pulling down 10 boards while only going to the free throw line 10 times. Howard, deemed good to go after Josh Smith landed awkwardly on his leg in game one, played 40 minutes and collected a double-double with 17 boards and 19 points.

The Rockets appeared to forget that Stephen Curry wears the crown as reigning MVP, because throughout the night the Human Torch found himself wide open from beyond the arch. He punished Houston to the tune of 33 points over 36 minutes, including 5 treys on 11 attempts. Andrew Bogut, named to the second-team all defense earlier in the day, rebound from what he dubbed a poor performance in game one to score 14 points. First-team all defense award winner Draymond Green pitched in 12, while All-Defense snub Thompson pitched in 13.

The series now shifts to Houston and the Toyota Center where the Rockets went 30-11 in the regular season. Game 3 tips off Saturday night a 6 p.m.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Oakland needs Golden State Warriors

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–During the past few years downtown Oakland became famous for the demonstrations, the Occupy movement, the riots, the anarchist covering their faces while destroying windows, cars, stores an anything on theirway, all that negative stuff that was all over national television, while on the other side of the bay, the Giants had three World Series parades in the last five years and were seen celebrating in front of a million people down Market street.

I am not trying to compare Oakland to San Francisco, because everybody knows that San Francisco’s beauty and status ranks very high over Oakland, and over many other cities.

The Golden State Warriors have not won an NBA championship since the 1974-1975 season; and this year they look like they are going to repeat for the first time since then.

There were rumors that if the Warriors captured the NBA title this season, there will be a parade in San Francisco, but that is incorrect. Even the thought of the Warriors planning to build an arena in San Francisco and eventually move there, they still are playing in Oakland territory, and if the win the NBA title the Victory Parade
will be down Broadway in downtown Oakland.

It is not a ‘done deal’that the Warriors will be playing in San Francisco, there is opposition to their arena in that city led by the Mission Bay Alliance, and as we all know (those of us that have lived here for many decades)one of the toughest things to do in San Francisco is to build any type of sports venue.

There are environmentalists that would favor the survival of a two billion year smelt that lives under the docks, over any type of building, and residents that have complained already that their view of the bay will be obstructed by building an arena for the Warriors. Campaign consultant and San Francisco political guru Jack Davis is leading the charge to stop the new Warriors arena with Mission Bay Alliance.

Common sense tells us that eventually the Warriors will build their new arena in San Francisco, it is a happening city, one of the most expensive cities in the country and with the influx of the high technology crowd moving up north from San José/Silicon Valley, there is plenty of money by the Golden Gate. So in the long run, the possibility of the Warriors playing in a new arena in San
Francisco is very big.

However, today 2015 the Golden State Warriors are still an Oakland team, and should have been named the Oakland Warriors a very long time ago. Other franchises have changed their “generic”names, to reflect the city where they actually play. Regardless, the City of Oakland can use a parade, a festive affair that brings people together in a
positive celebratory mode.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Angels Spanish TV voice and the A’s radio Spanish voice and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Curry is definitely the game changer when W’s need a lift

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–The Warriors had a hiccup in games two and three of the second round with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Warriors defense was not as intense as it needed to be. Their offense was way off they weren’t hitting the shots. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr sat them down after game three and they watched a tape of the game instead of practicing. The Warriors after that review saw for themselves that they looked lackadaisical they just weren’t doing the things that you need to win in those two games in the playoffs against an experienced Memphis team.

If you want to beat a team like the Grizzlies with two powerhouse guys down low like Marcus Gasol and Zach Randolph you really got to put the effort in. There’s no doubt about it this was a really rough series for the Warriors, the Warriors really had to get physical in a way that I haven’t seen them get all season long and in decades.

The Warriors are a team that have the capability and they learned it all own their own and experienced it all on their own. Until they did that and saw that in games two and three they had a lack of effort in games two and three. They beat the New Orleans Pelicans in the four game sweep and it wasn’t an easy sweep by any means as the Pelicans Anthony Davis made sure of that.

Except for that big come back in the New Orleans series when they were really tested even in that big comeback they were really playing their game. They didn’t need to elevate themselves to any degree. That late comeback performance against the Pelicans was something we saw them do several times. The Grizzlies were a team as physical as would find in the NBA.

The Warriors need to learn how they play and change their strategy and with an adjustment all the way around. When the Warriors got to game six on Friday night and actually games four, five and six the Warriors really came out ready to play. They were ready for those three games, the last three games with the Grizzlies the W’s were fantastic.

From start to finish that was the best sequence of games that we’ve seen them play all season long because the Warriors were ready on offense and they were ready on defense. Memphis really didn’t get anything going too hard against them. The Grizzlies appeared to be making it close but the Warriors kind of shut it down. The Warriors will be going through some drills between now and Tuesday night which is game one of round three of these playoffs.

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

Andrew Bogut of Golden State Warriors

Curry Leads Warriors to the Conference Finals

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AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

By Jeff Hall

MEMPHIS–

The Golden State Warriors are headed to the Conference finals for the first time in thirty-nine years with a 108-95 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Warriors came out hot with all five Warriors starters scoring points in the first five minutes of the game. Klay Thompson started well for the Warriors with nine points under half way through the first quarter and it was a quarter the Warriors dominated. The Warriors opened the game 11 of 15 in field goal shooting in the first.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had 11 points in the First quarter and together their combined 22 points outscored the Grizzlies in the first quarter that ended with the Warriors leading 32-19. Thompson was 3 of 3 from three-point range and Curry was 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.

Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies in scoring with six points. Mike Conley had four points for the Grizzlies in the first.

Both Curry and Thompson slowed down in scoring in the second quarter, but the Warriors continued their solid defensive play to sustain their big lead and by the half the Warriors lead was 58-49 over the Grizzlies.

Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with 14 points in the first half.

Once again the Warriors played extremely well on both ends of the court holding the Grizzlies in scoring and the Grizzlies’ Bench scored 19 points in the first half.

The Grizzlies stayed in the game thanks to the pure toughness of Marc Gasol who practically carried his team on his back in the third. Gasol helped to shut down the Warriors offensively and defensively. Gasol stopped 4 shots that came his way within the paint. The Warriors became cold shooting in the third and that allowed the Grizzlies back into the game. The Grizzlies pulled within one point with three minutes remaining in the third . Wiping away the Warriors largest lead of 15 points reducing it to five but with no time remaining Curry knocked the wind out of the Fed-ex Forum after he fired up nearly a full court shot and gave the Warriors a 76-68 Warriors lead with a seventy-five foot basket to close out the third. That Basket drove the Warriors into the Western Conference Finals. 1976 is the last time the Warriors have made it this far in post-season action.

After the Curry shot the Warriors went on a 14-4 run to begin the fourth quarter. and the Warrriors held the lead through the entire game.

“We’ve come along way since I’ve been here.  We came to play every night, it’ nice to see the results” said Curry after the game.

Curry led all scoring with 32 points and was 8 of 11 with the three-point basket. Klay Thompson had 19 points and Draymond Green had 14.

The Warriors did not allow the Grizzlies to score 100 points in the series.

Up next the Warriors will face the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers – Houston Rocket series. Game one is scheduled for Tuesday Night at the Oracle Arena.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Warriors playing like money in the bank

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez & Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors you can’t stop them you can only contain them and not for long either. The work of Draymond Green worked again stopping the Grizzlies Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph the Warriors played some awesome ball against the Memphis Grizzlies in game five on Wednesday. Game six was dominated quickly when the Warriors made work of the Grizzlies in the first quarter.

Gasol has played a seven years in the league he’s a veteran but the Warriors are a better team the Warriors won game five by 20 98-78. The Warriors have got great depth out of Andre Iguodala and David Lee. Lee has come off the bench and has been very good, Iguodala has been a great defensive player. Warriors ace Stephen Curry brings his A game every night he’s the MVP what else can you say.

There is no doubt about it this might be the best team for the Warriors of all time in their history. They had great players like Rick Barry, Clifford Ray, Charles Johnson, and George Johnson from the 1974-75 championship season. This year’s team have completely overwhelmed the Grizzlies, the three pointers are falling and their shooting is awesome, this very well could be the best Warriors team ever.

The 74-75 Warriors were like lighting in a bottle they went all the way but you have to remember that Clifford Ray was no Nate Thurmond. The Warriors had George Johnson, Charles Johnson and Phil Smith at center. They went deep in the 75-76 post season but they never made another finals appearance again. The Warriors will face either the Clippers or the Rockets for the next round depending on the outcome of their game on Saturday night.

Green held off a 6’9 Randolph and Gasol 7’1, the Warriors Matt Barnes has been a great help, Klay Thompson, Iguodala, Leandro Barbosa, Lee, Festus Ezeli, and the Warriors destroyed the Grizzlies defensively and there is no reason why they can’t go all the way with a club like this with good defensive players.

That’s a good point comparing this year’s Warriors to that 74-75 team where they got lighting in the bottle, this Warriors team has been pretty good from the beginning. So it would be a bummer if they didn’t make it, even the national media didn’t give the Warriors any respect for them to make the finals, but they certainly have their attention now.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s, the Spanish TV voice for the Angels, and does News and Commentary. Jerry Feitelberg is also a talk show host for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Warriors Take 3-2 Series Lead, Momentum in Romp of Grizzlies

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By: Ben Leonard

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The Grizzlies’ stout defense had been the Achilles heel of the Warriors so far in this series. Memphis got a taste of its own medicine on Wednesday at Oracle Arena, falling 98-78 to the high-flying Warriors. So when Stephen Curry was in MVP form and Klay Thompson finally found success, it spelled doom for the Grizzlies, who find themselves in a 3-2 hole with the series heading back to Memphis.

It didn’t help that lockdown defender Toney Allen was out with a hamstring injury. Without his presence on the outside, Golden State was able to make 14 of 30 attempts from downtown, including outscoring Memphis 27-3 from long range in the first half. Vince Carter and Jeff Greens simply could not replicate the jolt of energy that Allen brings to the court.With no three point shooters in Memphis’ lineup, the Warriors were able to coast after burying the Grizzlies early. Golden State was up eight at the half, but it felt like much more, especially after being down 13 points early, eventually leading 74-57 at the end of the third quarter.

After finding themselves down 2-1 in the series, the Warriors have rediscovered their regular season mojo, namely strong defense and outside shooting. Curry was a huge part of the Warriors’ resurgence, scoring 18 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assists. He went 6 of 16 from three, and took just three shots from inside the arc, missing all of them. But it’s not like the Warriors need him to drop 50. Klay Thompson, who had struggled in the series’ early going, scored a game high 21 points for Golden State, making 3 of his 4 three point attempts, going 7 of 16 from the floor overall.

Marc Gasol had a solid game in a losing effort, scoring 18 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. However, it wasn’t enough with Draymond Green locking down fellow big man Zach Randolph, who was held to just 13 points by Green’s tight defense. Randolph and the Grizzlies face elimination on Friday night when they return to Memphis. The Warriors have the momentum in this series, and will get another chance to defend their home court even if they lose Friday. Good luck, Memphis.

 

Warriors rout Grizzlies in Game 4

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

In decisive fashion, the Golden State Warriors allowed their fans to breathe a huge sigh of relief with a 101-84 blowout victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals to even up the series at two games apiece.

After struggling the last two games, Stephen Curry stepped up in MVP fashion, scoring 33 points to lead his team to victory. Four other Warriors — Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Harrison Barnes — also scored in double figures.

Up 61-44 at halftime, the Warriors maintained separation throughout the second half. Back-to-back threes by Curry and Thompson gave the Warriors a 74-49 advantage midway through the third quarter.

To underscore the importance of the game, Steve Kerr rode the starters for a majority of the second half despite the large lead. And they finished off the job, not allowing the Grizzlies to make any sort of run.

The Warriors ran away from the Grizzlies with a dominant second quarter, dropping 33 points. Up 28-20 after the first quarter, a three-pointer by Andre Iguodala gave them a 37-26 lead, their first double-digit lead since Game 1.

Then Curry took over, scoring 15 of the Warriors’ last 20 points of the half. He had 21 points in all in the first half, including a 6-0 spurt to put the Warriors up 47-33. He closed the half with a ridiculous three-point play, drawing Jeff Green in the air with a pump fake and knocking down the jumper.

A layup by David Lee, who made a positive impact on the game, sent the Warriors into halftime up 61-44.

From the start, the Warriors seemed more confident than the previous two games. Green scored eight of the Warriors’ first 10 points, and Barnes contributed early on as well. The Warriors ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run, capped off by a deep three from Curry to give the Warriors a 28-20 lead.