Category: Golden State Warriors

Best-In-West Warriors Pass Test Against Eastern Conference Topping Toronto

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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.

Speights, Warriors Topple Woeful 76ers

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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

Curry’s 25 points carries Warriors past T’Wolves

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By Joe Hawkes

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry scored a game-high 25 points to go along with six assists helping the Golden State Warriors shake off a two-game losing streak with a comfortable 110-97 victory over the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night in front of 19,596 at Oracle Arena.

Klay Thompson added 21 points and five rebounds for Golden State, who out-shot Minnesota 46.6 to 44.2 percent from the field. Golden State led as much as 27 points in the fourth quarter, and forced Minnesota into 25 turnovers while committing just 14 turnovers.

Even with sporting the NBA’s best record at 24-5, Golden State has been brought back down to earth recently with back-to-back losses in Los Angeles to the Lakers and Clippers respectively. Warriors first-year head coach Steve Kerr, who is an even-keel guy, has voiced his frustration with his team’s lack of focus and commitment during games, but seemed satisfied after the game.

“I told our guys, `If we want to win in May and June, we have to play every possession,” Kerr said. “You just can’t completely lose focus and throw the ball where nobody is. Or maybe at a guy with a different color jersey. I was dumbfounded with some of the stuff that I saw. But as I said, a lot of great stuff, too.”

Thompson is clearly on board with what Kerr is trying to preach to his team.

“We’re still growing and we’re still getting there. I completely understand where Steve’s coming from,” Thompson said.

“I just think our team has a tendency, at times, to want to put on a show instead of just making the right play,” Kerr said. “What they need to understand is making the right play will provide the show.”

Minnesota (5-24) didn’t look like a team that wanted to be on the court.

Small forward Thaddeus Young scored 17 points, talented rookie Zach LaVine added 12 points and a game-high 14 assists, while Troy Daniels finished 14 points off the bench for Minnesota, who dropped their eighth straight game.

Rookie Andrew Wiggins finished with 10 points. Point guard Ricky Rubio missed his 24th straight game due to a sprained ankle.

Golden State has dominated the Northwest Division this season, improving to 6-0 on the season. With the win over Minnesota, Golden State have won nine straight home games, their longest home winning streak since the 1994 season where they won 10 straight.

The Warriors will have a chance to tie that 10-game home winning streak Tuesday with Michael Carter-Williams and the Philadelphia 76ers visiting Oracle Arena.

 

 

Warriors go cold in 4th quarter, drop second straight

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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.

Warriors Disappoint Against Lowly Lakers

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

For the first time in a successful debut season, rookie Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr cannot explain away a loss. It only took four times in the loser’s column for the Warriors (23-4) to final complete a game that, upon completion, had no silver lining.

The season’s first shortcoming against the Spurs proved a teaching moment for the then turnover-prone Dubs, but San Antonio is the defending champions for a reason. When the Warriors fell to the Phoenix Suns, it was a case of not having enough gas to truck through the second half of a back-to-back. The recent loss to the Memphis Grizzlies was a clash of the best of the Western Conference giants.

Tuesday night, the Warriors dropped a 115-105 decision to the lowly Los Angeles Lakers (9-19) at the Staples Center. Despite coach Byron Scott giving Lakers perennial All-Star Kobe Bryant a night off, the Warriors failed to stymy an offensive outburst from the home team. LA hit 46 of 89 field goals, good for 51.7 percent, turning Golden State’s routinely stout defense to Swiss cheese.

Seven Lakers cracked double-digit scoring, with Carlos Boozer (18 points) and starter Ronnie Price (17) leading the charge. Boozer went 8 for 11 from the floor in his 26 minutes of work, coming a rebound shy of a double-double.

Stephen Curry topped the Dubs with 22 points on 10 of 14 makes to attempts. Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson made six baskets and hit a pair of free throws, but also missed on another 11 shot attempts. In just his second game back from a hamstring injury, David produced 12 points in his 18 minutes of play off the bench.

The Warriors shot 46.4 percent as a team, just under two percent off their season mark and fell three rebounds shy of matching their foes at 42-39. Golden States’ downfall, aside from a loose defensive effort, was an inability to maintain possession. Kerr’s charges turned the ball over 19 times in LaLa land Tuesday, proving to keen to hand out gifts on the night before Christmas Eve.

The Warriors failed to outscore LA in a quarter until the fourth, but by then they were already down 95-73. A 32-20 Warriors fourth quarter turned the final score into a deceptively close margin of defeat.

The Warriors take Christmas Eve off before stealing center stage as the final Christmas Day game on the slate. With another SoCal rival, the Clippers, on the docket, it’s doubtful the Warriors will bring with them holiday cheer when they take the Staples Center court once again Thursday night.

The Warriors Roll Over the Sacramento Kings

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AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors played a terrific game Monday night against the visiting Sacramento
Kings beating them 128-108. The Warriors played very well in all phases of the game. They ran the court well, found the open man and shot a fantastic 53% from the floor. Their defense was great as they kept Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins contained all night. Sacramento played well but the Dubs were just the better team as their depth showed as the bench contributed 62 points in the victory.

The game also marked the return of star forward David Lee to action. Lee had played just under 7 minutes all season and had missed 21 games. He received a standing ovation from the fans when he entered the game with 3:01 left to play in the first period.The Warriors, as mentioned earlier, had a great effort from the bench. Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Mo Speights, Justin Holiday all made significant contributions to the win. Starting center Festus Ezeli and reserve guard Justin Holiday each had a career high in points scored. Ezeli had 15 and Holiday had 18.

The game started well for the Dubs as they took an early 9-2 lead/ The Kings came back to tie at 9 but the Dubs went on a 19-2 run to put them ahead and they Kings had to play catch up all night. The first period ended with the W’s ahead 36-20. It was more of the same in the second period. Sacramento could not claw their way back. The Warriors led by Klay Thompson and Steph Curry
ended the half ahead by 14 points 64-50.

The Warriors continued their excellent play and led the Kings by 23 early in the third period.
The bench was fantastic as they played so well that Steph Curry sat and watched his team dominate. They led 93-77 after 3 periods of play and won by a final score of 128-108.

Klay Thompson led all scorers with 25 points. Steph Curry had a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists. David Lee played 16 minutes with six points and 7 rebounds. Curry, by the way, played just 26 minutes. The Dubs had six players in double figures. They had 36 assists and turned the ball over just 12 times. They are now 23-3 for the season and have won 18 of the last 19 games played. Their home record is now 10-1 for the year.

DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Darren Collison added 17 while Rudy Gay pitched in with 13 and Omri Casspi notched 18 in a losing effort.

The Warriors next game is Tuesday night in Los Angeles against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jerry Feitelberg
jyf1938

Warriors slip by Thunder behind Curry’s 34 points

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry scored 34 points and handed out nine assists, elevating the Golden State Warriors to a 114-109 home win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night after clawing back from a 17-point deficit early in the game.

“We stepped up tonight,” Curry said after the game. “We had to battle tonight and once we got stops and transitions, we felt good.”

Golden State (22-3), bounced back tonight after snapping their franchise-record 16-game winning streak in Tuesday’s 105-98 loss at Memphis. The Warriors improved to 9-1 at home this season, and have won 17 of their last 18 games.

Oklahoma City came out and jumped ahead of Golden State, building a 40-32 first quarter lead. Kevin Durant scored 16 of his 30 points in the first quarter sinking 6 of his first 7 shots from the floor, including 5 for 6 from 3-point range. Oklahoma City made 15 of its first 25 shots.

The 40 points scored by the Thunder in the first quarter were the most points surrendered by Golden State in any quarter this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Durant appeared to be heading for big night, but sprained his right ankle late in the second quarter and didn’t return to the game.

The reigning league Most Valuable Player finished with 30 points in 20 minutes on 10 of 13 shooting, becoming the first player since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976 to score at least 30 points in 20 minutes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“I wanted to go back out and play, but thought I should be cautious about it,” said Durant after the game.

Russell Westbrook picked up the scoring slack for the Thunder, finishing with a team-high 33 points and eight assists. Serge Ibaka had 12 points, while Andre Roberson finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Six players finished in double figures for Golden State, who converted 32 assists into 48 made field goals (48 of 64) and shot 51 percent from the floor. Golden State shot the lights out from from 3-point range, draining 12 of 31 from behind the arc.

Draymond Green finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and a career-high nine assists.

Harrison Barnes and Shaun Livingston each scored 12 points, and Marreese Speights had 8 points. Barnes also grabbed seven rebounds.

The Warriors dominated the Thunder in the paint, outscoring Oklahoma City 52-36 and forced 15 Thunder turnovers, while only committing just nine. Golden State rattled off a 35-18 run in the second quarter to pull ahead of Oklahoma City, 49-48, which led to a 65-63 halftime lead for the Warriors who never looked back.

It took a total team effort for Golden State to snap Oklahoma City’s (12-14) seven-game winning streak, after continuing to play without center Andrew Bogut (right knee) and forward David Lee (left hamstring).

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr reaffirmed general manger Bob Myers’ recent comments that Lee could be back on the court Monday for the Warriors’ next home game Monday night against Sacramento

“David Lee will be back next week, probably,” Kerr said.

Bogut is a different story.

Bogut is expected to be out a number of weeks after undergoing platelet-rich plasma therapy on his right knee Wednesday.

 

 

Memphis ends the Warriors’ winning streak

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AP Photo/Brandon Dill

by Jerry Feitelberg

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All good things must come to an end and that is what happened Tuesday night in Memphis as the Golden State Warriors lost for the first time since November 11th and their franchise record sixteen game winning streak ended as they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 105-98.

The Warriors were without their two big men, Andrew Bogut and David Lee. Bogut missed his fourth game in a row due to a knee problem and Lee has missed over twenty games as he recovers from a hamstring injury. Their absence was huge as the two big men for Memphis, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, could not be contained by the smaller Warrior team. Gasol led the Grizzlies in the first half

with fourteen points and finished the game with twenty-four. Zach Randolph had seventeen points and ten rebounds and was a force underneath the basket all night.

The game started well for the Dubs. The Warriors had the lead after the first period 28-24. Harrison Barnes had nine points to put Golden State ahead. Things changed in the second period as the Warriors missed the first eleven shots while Memphis went on a 20-0 run to give them 44-30 lead with 7:12 left in the first half. From that point on till the end of the game the Warriors

could not catch up. They trailed 57-49 at the end of the half and it was more of the same in the third period and they trailed by eleven at the end of three. The Warriors went to a small lineup in the fourth period and they closed the gap twice to two points but the bigger Grizzlies kept the pressure on and

went on a 7-0 run late in the game and they beat the Dubs by a final score of 105-98.

The Warriors were led by Steph Curry who had nineteen points, seven rebounds and six assists. However, Steph had a tough night and made just one three-point shot all night. Draymond Green had just four points and he did not make a three point shot. Klay Thompson had twenty-two points and Marreese Speights contributed eighteen with eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Grizzlies were led by Marc Gasol who had twenty-four points and Zach Randolph’s seventeen points and ten rebounds. For Randolph, it was his fifteenth double-double of the year. Point guard Michael Conley scored seventeen and Vince Carter, coming off the bench had sixteen.

The Warriors are now 21-3 for the season while Memphis improved to 20-4 and are 12-1 at home.

After the game, Michael Conley said ” With Bogut and Lee out, we had the advantage down low.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr commented”I thought we were going to win but there was too much to overcome.” We “fought really hard. We got close but couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Warriors return home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night at the Oracle Arena.

Warriors extend winning streak to 16, defeat New Orleans in OT

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AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman)

By Robert Steward

NEW ORLEANS–

It was anything but easy in the Big Easy. The Golden State Warriors had quite the battle on their hands with the New Orleans Pelicans, needing overtime to win their 16th in a row, 128-122, to run their NBA-best record to 21-2. It was a battle of backcourts, as the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson went head-to-head with the opposing backcourt of Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday. The Warriors were without starting center Andrew Bogut, who missed his third straight game with tendinitis in his right knee. The Pelicans were also without their leading scorer, Anthony Davis, and his 24 points and 10 rebounds per game average.

Golden State opened the first quarter by shooting 55% from the floor, but New Orleans actually shot better at 61%.  The Warriors led 21-14 with 5:37 to go in the first before New Orleans went on an 8-0 run to go up, 22-21. The combination of Holiday, who had 10 points, along with Evans, who added 9, offset the hot hand of the Warriors’ Curry, who scored 13 on 5 for 7 from the floor, including 3 for 4 from 3-point range. However, the Warriors turned it over often and New Orleans converted those turnovers into points and led 31-28 when the quarter ended.

With 10:29 left in the second quarter, Golden State’s Harrison Barnes took an elbow to the mouth, following an aggressive pivot move by the Pelicans’ Dante Cunningham. Barnes was forced to leave the game and did not return for the rest of the first half. Two stitches were required to close the wound, and Coach Steve Kerr said in postgame remarks that Barnes will be visiting the dentist tomorrow. The injury to Barnes did not affect the Warriors, however, as Andre Iguodala came off the bench to spark the Warriors, hitting his first six shots, which included a strong dunk over the Pelicans’ Luke Babbitt on a long outlet pass from Draymond Green. Following a 12-2 run, Golden State led 48-41 with 4:13 left in the half. At the break, they had their biggest lead of the half, at 60-51, outscoring New Orleans, 32-20, in the second quarter. Despite the turnovers, the Warriors were strong on the boards, out-rebounding New Orleans, 18-8, in the quarter. Golden State’s bench was also a key factor, outscoring the Pelicans, 30-11, at the break.

In the third quarter, both teams mainly traded baskets, with the Warriors’ lead fluctuating between 7-10 points until 5:22 left in the quarter, with Golden State leading, 82-74. At this point in the game both teams’ backcourts were locked in quite a battle. The Warriors’ combo of Curry/Thompson had 40 points on 15 of 24 from the floor, including 6 for 10 from long range. The Pelicans were equal to the task with their combo of Evans/Holiday, who had 39 points on 17 of 27 shooting. Following a New Orleans timeout, the Warriors then played sloppy, turning the ball over three times, while missing two shots. New Orleans made the most of the opportunity and converted the mistakes into points, finishing an 11-0 run to take the lead at 83-82, forcing Golden State to call a timeout with 3:16 left in the quarter. But even with the timeout the Warriors still turned it over twice more, which New Orleans converted into more points, extending the run to 13 unanswered points before Golden State’s Shaun Livingston ended the streak by hitting a jumper to make it 85-84, New Orleans. When the quarter ended, the Warriors had been torched for 38 points, which was the most they had given up in any single quarter all year. Of course, when the team turns it over 7 times in a single quarter that doesn’t help. Both teams were tied at 89-89 heading into the 4th.

Although the Warriors took better care of the ball to start the 4th, it was the Pelicans who began to take control of the game behind the scoring of Evans, who had 8 of his team’s first 18 points of the quarter as New Orleans grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 107-99 with 4:16 left in the game. But with that much time and the shooting of the Warriors’ backcourt, it was more than enough for the Warriors to come back. Following a Pelican miss, Iguodala hit a 3 to finish a 7-0 run for Golden State, cutting the lead to 107-106 at the 3:10 mark. After Cunningham hit a jumper for New Orleans and Curry hit 2 free throws for Golden State to make it 109-108, New Orleans, Curry then drew a charge on Cunningham, which nullified a shot that would have extended the Pelicans’ lead. At the other end Curry airballed a short, off-balanced jumper that Marreese Speights grabbed out of the air and laid it off the glass all in one move to give Golden State the lead at 110-109 with 1:34 left.

Two free throws by Evans gave New Orleans the lead again at 111-110 with 1:22 left. On the Warriors’ next possession Curry made a bad pass, turning it over to the Pelicans but Evans missed a jumper with 49 seconds left. Iguodala missed a 3-pointer but Speights came up with a big offensive rebound and was fouled. He converted 1 of 2 for a 111-111 tie with 43 seconds to go. At the other end, Golden State’s Draymond Green came up with two big blocks on a layup by Evans and a long jumper by the Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson. Thompson missed a 20-foot jumper with 2 seconds left and both teams went into overtime tied at 111.

In the extra period, Curry took over, hitting 3 of 4 from the floor, including 2 from long range, scoring 8 points total. The Pelicans, on the other hand, went cold from the floor, missing 15 of their last 19 shots as the Warriors opened up an 11-point lead at 125-114 before the Pelicans made a brief 8-1 run to close the gap at 126-122. Two free throws from Thompson with 15 seconds left completed the scoring. Curry led the Warriors with 34, followed by Thompson with 29. Iguodala finished with a season-high 20 points, while Draymond Green had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, to go with 5 assists and 4 blocks, all the while logging 48 minutes of playing time. Golden State finished at 51% shooting, including 11 for 24 from 3-point range. They were also solid from the free throw line, converting 29 of 35. The Pelicans were led by Evans, who tied Curry with 34, and Holiday, not far behind with 30 points of his own. Anderson chipped in with 15 and Cunningham came off the bench to score 13 on 6 of 7 shooting. New Orleans also converted 19 Warrior turnovers into 23 points. New Orleans is now 11-12 on the season.

Golden State will look to extend its winning streak to 17 as they complete their 3-game road trip with a visit to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Tuesday night. Memphis is also one of the hottest teams in the league with a record of 19-4, good for first place in the Southwest Division. The Warriors are the ninth team in NBA history to begin a season at 21-2. The last team to accomplish that feat was Boston in 2008-09.

 

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Lacob maybe sorry about Jackson remarks but Kerr is taking dubs to the bank

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN JOSE–So far Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has that team winning as they’ve won 15 in a row and their 20-2. They’re playing great basketball, the Warriors are the best team in the NBA. Owner Joe Lacob who recently criticized former Warrior coach Mark Jackson about his performance and later apologized for it. Jackson was instrumental in building this current Warriors team.

It wasn’t for Jackson’s coaching that he was fired from the Warriors but there were many personality issues involved. He had issues with Warrior executive Jerry West last season who tried to give coaching tips to the players during practice and Jackson ended up asking West to leave a practice. He also had an assistant coach fired from the team and one of the top reasons that bothered Lacob and that Jackson was in full control of the team.Jackson had a house in L.A. and moonlighted he was a preacher when he wasn’t working traveled to the Southland to preach during last season another issue the Warriors had a problem with.

It was more personality than anything else because Jackson took the team to the playoffs last season he did a good job as head coach and the players liked him too. It would be interesting to know what he’s thinking now with the current success of the team, he’s probably thinking “wow that’s the same team that I had last year that’s now 20-2.”

Jackson now is doing analysis for ESPN for NBA games and it’s a different job doing TV you can criticize anybody when you are coaching your team, your the face of the franchise and good for him I hope that Jackson is successful in broadcasting.

Oakland A’s transition updates: What A’s general manager Billy Beane is doing is incredible, he does a lot of trading in the winter meetings but basically going into spring training 2015 he has a new team, except for Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, and Derrick Norris. You basically have a new infield. The A’s are going to use Brett Lawrie at third base and the best pitcher the A’s currently have at least as of today Sonny Gray.

The A’s recently let go of Jeff Samardzija who went to the White Sox he was a very good pitcher, it never ceases to amaze me what Beane does and he has a couple of trades left. Were going to have to wait as spring training is still a couple of months away Beane. Is Beane going to trade away some more players. Reddick on the same day when Beane traded former A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson to Toronto for Lawrie was wondering too and the A’s are rebuilding, You think?

Even the players wouldn’t be surprised if they traded Reddick and the players are questioning who their going to have, will they have enough to compete? You have to feel sorry for the A’s fans the people who the spend money to go and see these guys and now their gone. Right now they can’t identify with any player who has played at the A’s for more than three years and it’s very tough to have a following when you have so much changes of personnel every year.

San Jose Sharks update: The Sharks (17-11-4) third in the Pacific and who have won six of their last seven games and who won their third in a row on Saturday night against the Nashville Predators (19-8-2). Despite their recent success they have not been selling out their games at SAP Center but none the less are winning in streaks. The Sharks are a solid team after struggling for stretch earlier this season when they won only two in seven games back in November.

The Sharks have improved so much this month their getting great support to protect their goalie that they got great goaltending from Antti Niemi who stopped all 29 shots for San Jose for the 2-0 shutout Saturday. The Sharks improved to 17-11 are tied with Vancouver with 38 points and are 11 points behind first place Anaheim. The Sharks got goals from Tomas Hertl (7) at 5:01 in the first period and Joe Thornton (8) at 18:26 of the third period.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com