Category: Golden State Warriors

by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors are on a roll right now their sitting at 29-5 with the best record in the entire NBA they have the most wins and the fewest loses and their destroying teams. It’s not like their playing a lot of close games their winning by double digits most of the time which is amazing. You think about the history of the Warriors they won the championship in 1975 that was 40 years ago.

Which is kind of hard to fathom this team is as good a Warriors team since that championship team there were the two teams the championship team of 1974-75 and then there’s the team the year after the 1975-76 Warriors who were great but didn’t win it all in 1976. Right now this team is on a pace to be the best team in the history of the Warriors. This 2014-15 team is certainly on pace to be at least as good as any of those teams.

The championship for this season is a wait and see proposition but in terms of the regular season records and performance this team is as good as any the Warriors have ever had. Their a fantastic team their deep, they are competitive and they are really, really good. Their 29-5 and the record speaks for itself which is hard to believe a Warriors team who couldn’t even win 20 games all season in seasons past.

The Warriors are on the verge of winning 30 games before the end of January this team night in and night out come to play and they’ve already faced a little adversity for the first couple of months with Andrew Bogut out for a month with his ankle, center Fetus Ezeli is out again, so the W’s found their way despite some hic ups and even with those guys out they’ve adjusted that’s been the best part of this.

This team was good under former head coach Mark Jackson the last couple years and you can’t discount his contribution with this team he gave Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson the confidence to become the players they are. Head coach Steve Kerr has helped them to get to the next level in terms of giving them more confidence and more responsibility. He has also given them better plays and better offense to work with to take more advantage of their skill sets.

Right now your seeing those results on the floor as these guys are all stars, Curry is going to be an All-Star starter, Thompson may or may not make the all star team. It’s tough at the guard position because it’s so deep in the Western Conference as he may or may not make it. He’s certainly deserving of making it. Then you have forward Draymond Green who is fast of becoming one of the most dangerous defensive players and is just kind of a jack of all trades.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for http://www.sportsradioservice.com, listen to David’s Warriors podcast below

by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–The game that the Warriors played against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night was a fun game and it was against the number one team in the east versus the Warriors the number one team in the west. The Warriors came away the winner at the Oracle arena and this one was expected to be a little bit close 126-105 for the W’s win. We’ve seen a lot of interesting games between the Warriors and Raptors in the last few years. Especially last season almost a year ago, a little over a year ago where Toronto came into Oakland and promptly opened up a 27 point lead.

The Warriors stormed back and the Warriors won that one by double digits in a 30-40 points swing in that game which was really crazy. This game was a little bit different as Toronto jumped out to a lead somewhere in the second quarter but they were never able to maintain and they were trailing by a few points going into the half. The Warriors just had an amazing third quarter they shot the lights out all game long the Raptors just couldn’t figure out the W’s on defense.

No matter what Toronto tried to do they couldn’t hang with Golden State they just couldn’t stop the Warriors shooting. The Warriors went big, they small, they went middle no matter what they tried they weren’t able to defend the Warriors. When your the number one team in the east conference and your playing really great on the road like the Raptors have been you don’t figure your going to come into another team’s house and kind of lay a big egg like they did.

Toronto didn’t play a bad game but the fact of the matter is the Warriors played a great game and Toronto had no counter for it. That’s what the Warriors are doing these days team’s come in and give their best against the Warriors and end up losing that’s a sign of a great team. The Warriors after that big win streak (16) you would think “are they going to have a little bump in the road here are they going to slow down?” yes they lost a couple games and they came against some really good teams.

Games coming up vs. OKC and Indiana: The Warriors host the OKC Thunder on Monday night which is an exciting game as they have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to deal with and other guys like Serge Ibaka but the W’s feel like they can hang with anybody because they can. They’ve proven it. The Warriors are 26-5 on the season, that’s absurd there are recent seasons where the Warriors haven’t come close to 26 wins all season. Here we are this just past New Years and they have 26 games in the win column.

The Warriors have earned it, they’ve beaten all these teams already, they’re just playing confident basketball and it’s just not on the offensive side and they have the offensive fire power. Last season they were a very good defensive team let’s not sell them short the dubs are playing fantastic defense and that’s one thing they haven’t done in the past that you really notice when your watching this team. Their fantastic switching up their assignments.

The Warriors have OKC on Monday night and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

David Zizmor does commentary on Warriors basketball each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com Dave talks Warriors basketball on the podcast scroll down below to listen

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

When the best of the West took on the East’s Elite at Oracle Arena Friday night, the Golden State Warriors proved yet again why they shouldn’t be overlooked as candidates to host the O’Brien Trophy at season’s end. The Warriors (26-5) stayed true to their recent front-running pedigree, besting the Eastern Conference leading Toronto Raptors 126-105.

The Dubs rode starting forward Draymond Green’s first career triple-double to hand Toronto (24-9) its second-straight loss against a Western Conference foe. Green scored 16 points, pulled down 11 boards and dished out 13 assists for the team atop the standings in the West, while the Splash Brothers contributed gaudy numbers of their own.

Stephen Curry scored 32 on 10 of 18 shooting while Klay Thompson pitched in 20. Starting center Marreese Speights added 26 points over his 25 minutes of play, leaving Harrison Barnes (2 points) as the only starter to end the night in single digits.

For the upstart Raptors, reserves Greivis Vasquez (25 points) and Louis Williams (20) led the charge off the bench offensively and starting forward Amir Johnson notched the double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors held a slim five-point edge, leading 66-61 at the half but outscored the Raptors 31-23 and 29-21 in the final two quarters to pull away with plenty of breathing room for the victory. Golden State hit 49 of 92 shots from the field, good for 53.3 percent including 12 treys on 28 attempts. The Dubs limited the turnovers to just 9 Friday, well below the season average of 15.9 a game.

If the Warriors want to remain undefeated in 2015, they’ll have a tough road ahead. Golden State next draws Oklahoma City who now boasts a healthy Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in the lineup after hovering around .500 for much of the season without the superstar tandem. That game tips off at 7:30 Monday night in Oakland.

By: Ben Leonard

Follow Ben on Twitter @Ben___Leonard

With star center Andrew Bogut missing his tenth consecutive game on Tuesday with a knee injury, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr needed someone to step up off the bench. Long-time reserve center Marreese Speights did just that for Golden State, scoring twenty-three points as a starter, leading his team to a 126-86 victory over the listless 76ers, the team that drafted him in 2008. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists. The win moved Golden State to 25-5, while dropping Philadelphia to a lowly 4-26. The Sixers do have young talent in Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel, but Tuesday showed that they still have a ways to go to become a respectable team.

Golden State set the tone early, jumping out to a 32-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. After falling behind 6-0, the Warriors went on a 32-11 run to end the period, fueled by six points from Speights and eleven from star guard Klay Thompson. Thompson had a relatively quiet night after the first quarter, scoring just fourteen points in total, or three in the last three quarters. He had a poor night shooting the three-pointer, making just two of eight attempts in the victory.

After a long time on the bench to rest, Speights came back on the floor with 6:24 to go in the second quarter. He made an immediate impact, blocking Jerami Grant’s layup attempt and making four consecutive baskets. Speights’ efforts propelled the team to take a commanding 61-34 halftime lead.

With the outcome of the game in hand, the Warriors eased up a bit in the second half, resting starters and giving bench players opportunities to prove their worth. Leandro Barbosa came off the bench and took advantage of this opportunity for the Warriors, scoring seventeen points on five of nine shooting, including two of four from long range.

Golden State had lost two of their last three coming into Tuesday’s contest, showing the NBA that they are not infallible. They played exceptional basketball on Tuesday, turning the ball over just fourteen times in the romp over the NBA’s worst team. They blocked the Sixers’ shots eleven times, while getting blocked only twice. Even without Bogut, the Warriors proved that they can be dangerous in the post. Speights may not be the long-term solution at center, but he certainly looked the part on Tuesday.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN

By Robert Steward

LOS ANGELES–

Playing without big men Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli, both of whom were out with injuries, the Golden State Warriors went with a smaller lineup against the Los Angeles Clippers. Playing their second game in a row at the Staples Center following a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, the Warriors watched the Clippers shoot poorly in the first quarter and then did the same themselves in the 4th quarter as they were defeated, 100-86.

Following a stretch where the Clippers played 4 games in 5 days, including 4 different time zones, their fatigue showed as they started the game ice cold from the floor. After making their first shot, on a dunk, the Clips proceeded to miss their next 16 in a row. Despite shooting an atrocious 4 of 24 from the floor, Los Angeles only trailed, 20-18, after the first quarter. Jamal Crawford was the lone bright spot for the Clips, coming off the bench to score 10, including a pair of 3-point shots late in the quarter. Golden State shot better in the quarter, 9 for 21 from the floor, but the smaller lineup hurt the Warriors as the Clippers got second-chance shots following their offensive rebounds.

The shooting woes continued for Los Angeles into the second quarter as the Clippers trailed, 34-24, with 5:09 left in the half. At that point the Clips had only hit 7 of 36 from the floor, while the Warriors were 15 for 29. But the top guns for Golden State, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, were quiet in the first half. Towards the end of the quarter, LA started to come alive. After Blake Griffin had missed his first 8 shots, he made a dunk and then J.J. Redick, after missing his first 5 shots, hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 42-39 with 48 seconds left. Chris Paul hit 2 free throws with 30 seconds left to close out the scoring in the first half, trailing Golden State, 42-41, at the break. That the Clippers were down by only 1 at halftime was something of a Christmas miracle due to the fact that they shot only 28% from the floor, including 3 of 17 from beyond the arc. Crawford led Los Angeles with 12 points. The Warriors, while shooting 45% from the floor at the halfway mark, were only 3 of 13 from 3-point land themselves. Los Angeles had a 9-3 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Both teams started better in the third quarter, getting their transition game into gear with more of an up tempo pace. Matt Barnes gave the Clippers their first lead of the game since the opening moments with a jumper to make it 56-55 with 7:18 left in the quarter. The Warriors answered with a 3-pointer from Draymond Green and 1 of 2 free throws from Klay Thompson. But the Clippers then got it going with a 3 from Redick to tie it, along with a pretty reverse alley-oop from Paul to DeAndre Jordan. Paul then put Curry in the spin cycle with a nice fake and a driving layup, all the while being fouled by Curry. Paul hit the free throw to complete the 3-point play then followed it up with a 3-point shot of his own to complete an 11-2 Clippers run to lead, 67-61, forcing Golden State to call a timeout with 3:51 left in the quarter. In addition to the obvious difference on the offensive boards, Los Angeles went to the line twice as much as the Warriors, hitting 16 of 22 from the charity stripe, versus 5 of 11 for the Warriors as Paul closed out the third quarter with another nice fake on Justin Holiday, leading to another driving layup as the Clippers lead, 73-70, heading into the 4th.

A bright spot off the bench for the Warriors was David Lee, who hit all 5 of his shots from the floor to finish with 11 points in 19 minutes of playing time. After Lee’s dunk with 9:17 left to cut the Clippers lead to 78-74, the Warriors could not buy a bucket from the floor. They missed their next 10 shots from the floor as the Clippers went on a 19-3 run to pull away to a 97-77 lead with 2:55 left. Holiday broke the drought with a trey at the 2:40 mark. Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 15 points, but only hit 2 of 10 from beyond the arc. Curry finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists but also committed 5 turnovers. Harrison Barnes had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Green also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

For the Clippers, Crawford led all scorers with with 24 points in 28 minutes off the bench. Paul had 22 points, DeAndre Jordan had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and after missing his first 8 shots, Griffin finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Clippers held the advantage from the free-throw line, sinking 23 of 31, while the Warriors were only 12 of 22. Los Angeles improved to 20-10, while the Warriors dropped to 23-5. Golden State returns home to Oracle Arena on Saturday at 7:30pm when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves.