Category: Golden State Warriors

Warriors win fourth straight game, drop Jazz

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — You think after having four days off would make you sluggish.

Don’t tell that the Golden State Warriors.

Fueled by a 12-0 run to open up the game, Golden State found themselves up 28-13 after the first quarter, 54-32 at halftime, and 85-57 before Utah outscored the Warriors 31-16 but it wasn’t enough as Golden State picked up their fourth straight win Friday night 101-88 over the Jazz at Oracle Arena.

Andre Iguodala led six Warriors in double figures with 17 points, Harrison Barnes finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Klay Thompson had 14 points, and Marreese Speights scored 14 points for the Warriors who shot 50 percent from the field (41-of-82).  The Warriors

Golden State, came into the game leading the NBA in shooting percentage (49.9), and holding opponents to an NBA-low 41.1 percent from the floor. Golden State held the Jazz to 42.7 percent (35-of-82) from the floor.

“We contested shots and made it difficult to pass the ball,” said Andrew Bogut. “We have good chemistry out on their on the floor.”

Bogut finished with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting (his third straight game shooting at least 74 percent from the floor), and Draymond Green finished with 11 points and nine rebounds for Golden State (9-2), who are off to their best start since the 1972-73 season.

Stephen Curry, who is fourth in the NBA in scoring at 24.8 points per game, finished with just eight points, but dished out 10 assists and five rebounds.

The real story in the game was the Warriors commitment to not turning the ball over, which has been the team’s forte early in the season. Golden State dished out 19 assists to just two turnovers in the first half, before finishing with 28 assists and 13 turnovers for the game. The Warriors came into tonight’s game second in the NBA averaging 25.5 assists per game.

“I thought there was a little rust, offensively early,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.” “I told the guys if we took care of the ball and share the ball, we can win a lot of games.”

Enes Kanter had 18 points, Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward scored 12 apiece, and Derrick Favors finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz (5-8), who have lost their fourth game in their last six.

Trey Burke finished with two points on 1-of-8 shooting from the floor.

Golden State now will hit the road for five games in nine days that starts Sunday against an Oklahoma City (3-11) team that is missing it’s two superstars, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

 

Warriors Bigs Center of Attention in Blowout Win over Lakers

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Golden State Warriors flexed their offensive muscle for a second consecutive night, routing the host Los Angeles Lakers 136-115 Sunday night after romping over the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night. Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut each earned double-doubles for the Warriors, while Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 44 points for the struggling Lakers (1-8).

Curry topped the Warriors (7-2) with 30 points and 15 assists, hitting 10 of 19 field goals and five threes, but it was the Golden State bigs that stole the spotlight. Marreese Speights collected 24 points, including 8 from the field while pulling down nine rebounds off the bench. Starting center Andrew Bogut cracked double digits in points in the first quarter, finishing the night with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Even Ognjen Kuzmic and Justin Holiday, called up from the Warriors D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, saw playing time with coach Steve Kerr electing to rest his starters with the game out of hand early.

The Warriors hit 46 of 86 field goals, good for a 53.5 shooting percentage. While the turnover numbers were still somewhat high, the 16 committed Sunday are an improvement on the NBA-worst 20.1 the Dubs are averaging a game.

With Bogut on fire in the first quarter, the Warriors took a 34-23 lead. 21 of the 23 points came courtesy of Bryant, with the Mamba bent on passing Michael Jordan’s career points total this season. A 40-32 Warriors scoring margin in the second quarter put Golden State up 74-57. They put up 41 points in the third, while yielding only 24 to Los Angeles. With the reserves in, the Lakers outscored their visitors 36-21 in garbage time for the final score of 136-115.

After winning both ends of a back-to-back, the Warriors get a lengthy respite. They next take the Oracle Arena hardwood Friday night against the Utah Jazz to kick seven straight games against teams at or below the .500 winning percentage.

Thompson, Curry, Warriors thump Hornets

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Klay Thompson was the lead man with 21 points, Stephen Curry chipped in 19 points and nine assists as the Golden State Warriors shot 52 percent from the field on 45-of-87 shooting to cruise to a 112-87 victory over the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

Harrison Barnes had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 13 points and nine rebounds for Golden State, who are off their best start since the 1994-95 season and remain atop of the Pacific Division at 7-2.

Marreesse Speights gave a boost off the bench for Golden State, scoring 13 points and six rebounds.

“That was a great effort tonight, I thought that was our best effort of the season. We really put it together both offensively and defensively,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.”We’re heading in the right direction with our offensive execution. The last six minutes were a little tough, committing five turnovers, but it was just a small mark on a otherwise great game.”

The Warriors have had trouble holding on to the ball early on in the season, leading the league with 21 turnovers per game.

In three of their past five games, Golden State committed 74 turnovers. In their last two victories over the Brooklyn Nets and now Charlotte, the team committed just 24 turnovers.

“We were able to control the ball. It shows when you control the ball, good things happen,” said Curry, who had just one turnover and shot 8-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc.

Golden State  leads the NBA in shooting percentage, and destroyed Charlotte from beyond the arc with 11 3-pointers made, and holding a 48-30 edge in points in the paint.

The Warriors out-rebounded Charlotte 51-31, and held the edge in fast break points, 27-9.

Al Jefferson scored 19 points, Lance Stephenson had 16 points, and Brian Roberts finished with 17 points for Charlotte (4-6), who struggled from the floor shooting just 38 percent on 32-of-84 shot attempts.

Kemba Walker scored just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.

The Hornets were playing their second game of a back-to-back, after winning in Phoenix Friday night, 103-95. With the loss, Charlotte fell to 1-5 on the road.

Saturday’s game was the first of a back-to-back for Golden State, who travel to Los Angeles Sunday to take on the 1-8 Lakers.

Game Notes

  • Golden State has sold out 87 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 18, 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
  • Saturday’s game marked Klay Thompson’s 200th start in the NBA.

 

 

 

 

 

Warriors hold court, drop Nets

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — All five starters scored in double figures, led by Klay Thompson’s 25 points as the Golden State Warriors snapped a two-game losing skid with a 107-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets Thursday night at Oracle Arena.

Draymond Green and Stephen Curry scored 17 points apiece. Green added seven rebounds and tied a career-high with seven rebounds.

“Everyone on our team contributed tonight,” said center Andrew Bogut. “Coach [Steve Kerr] told us he wanted us to be aggressive tonight and we were.”

Bogut scored 11 points and grabbed 14 of the Warriors 45 rebounds. Harrison Barnes finished with 12 points, but the story of the game was how controlled Golden State ball, committing just 11 turnovers tonight.

“Happy to get back into the win column,” said Curry. “We got a deep team and everyone is capable of having a big night. ”

For a team that is leading the league with 21 turnovers per game, it was definitely refreshing to see the Warriors to limiting the turnovers.

“That was great,” said the Warriors head coach. “Just three turnovers in the first half and 18 assists, that was huge…we’re just scratching the surface.”

Golden State shot a blistering 51 percent from the floor (25-of-49) in the first half, but cooled off a bit to finish the game shooting 46 percent (41-of-90). The 3-point line was kind for the Dubs, who connected on 11-of-34 shots (32 percent).

Former Warriors backup point guard Jarrett Jack scored 23 points on 10-of-10 shooting off the bench for Brooklyn.

Brook Lopez and Deron Williams each finished with 18 points for the Nets, who shot a putrid 39-of-88 (45 percent) from the floor and a nightmarish 3-of-16 from behind the 3-point arc.

Joe Johnson finished with 12 points for Brooklyn, who fall to 4-4 on the season.

At 6-2, the Golden State Warriors will look to finish up their three-game homestand Saturday night when the Charlotte Hornets  (that’s right, the Charlotte Hornets) come into Oracle Arena.

 

Parker, Spurs handle Warriors

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND –Klay Thompson returned to the starting lineup after missing his first game with a sore hand scoring 29 points but it wasn’t enough as the San Antonio Spurs followed up a victory Monday night in Los Angeles over the Clippers, with a 113-100 victory over the Golden State Warriors in front of a sellout crowd of 19,596 at Oracle Arena on Tuesday night.

“The hand was sore, but credit to the training staff for working me hard the last few days to get me right,” said Thompson. “It felt good to be back out their, but it just didn’t click tonight…the turnovers are killing us, but we got to cut it down. We got too much talent not to get up shots.”

Harrison Barnes scored 11 of his 22 points in the first quarter to go along with eight rebounds, while Marreese Speights chipped in with 11 points to lead the Warriors off the bench.

Stephen Curry added 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the floor, including 0-of-7 from 3-point range, snapping a streak at 75 games in which Curry made at least one 3-pointer. Overall, Golden State shot 38-of-70 (54.3%) from the floor, but it were the 20 turnovers that continues to plague the Warriors.

“I thought we executed for the most part…but we need to take care of the ball better,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “The Spurs played their best game of the year tonight.”

It was Golden State’s fourth straight game with at least 20 turnovers this season, and are averaging 22.5 turnovers per game, which leads the NBA.

Tony Parker finished with 28 points and seven assists, Kwahi Leonard scored 19 points and six rebounds for San Antonio, who dominated Golden State in the paint, outscoring the Warriors 48-28. The Spurs only committed eight turnovers the entire game.

Tim Duncan scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Manu Ginobili added 17 points off the bench for San Antonio (4-3), who continue their four game California swing when they return to Los Angeles Friday to take on the hapless 1-6 Lakers, before finishing up in the capital city against the surprising 5-3 Sacramento Kings on Saturday.

After winning their first five games to open the season, Golden State (5-2), has dropped their last two games, but will look to get back on the winning note as they will continue their three-game home stand Thursday with the Brooklyn Nets coming to Oracle.

Game Notes

* One week after Klay Thompson won the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging a league-leading 29.7 points per game for games played on Tuesday Oct. 28 through Sunday Nov. 2, the other member of the “Splash Brothers” won the same award the next week as Stephen Curry was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played on Wednesday Nov. 3 through Sunday Nov. 9. Curry averaged an NBA-tying 30 points per game, to go along with 4.7 3-pointers made,  seven assists per game, and six rebounds per game.

*The Golden State Warriors have waived guard Nemanja Nedovic, the team announced today.

As a rookie in 2013-14, Nedovic appeared in 24 games and posted averages of 1.1 points, 0.5 assists and 0.6 rebounds in 5.9 minutes per contest. The 23-year old guard spent 15 games with the Warriors’ D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, tallying 14.9 points, 4.2 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 28.5 minutes. He did not appear in a game for Golden State this season.

Suns hand Warriors First Loss of the Season

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

Nobody’s perfect. That includes the Golden State Warriors. After starting the 2014-15 season off with a five game win-streak, the best start to a season since the mid-nineties, the Warriors (5-1) finally succumbed to an opponent Sunday night. In falling to the Phoenix Suns on the road 107-95, the Warriors were the last of the unbeaten teams to fall this season.

Golden State, missing David Lee for a second-consecutive contest due to a hamstring injury, also played without Klay Thompson. The shooting guard was pulled from the line-up suffering from a hand injury.

The Warriors were up 79-71 heading into the fourth quarter, but were outscored 36-16 in the final frame. For the second consecutive night, Golden State turned the ball over 26 times.

Stephen Curry was the highest scorer for a second straight night. The Warriors point guard notched a double-double, scoring 28 points to go along with 10 assists. He also turned the ball over a career-worst 10 times. Draymond Green, in the starting line-up as Lee’s substitute, put up 22 points.

Isaiah Thomas led the Suns (4-3) with 22 points off the bench, while starter Goran Dragic and reserve Gerald Green posted 19 points apiece.

The Warriors return home for a three-game homestand, with a contest against the scuffling defending champion San Antonio Spurs opening up the set on Tuesday. After that the Brooklyn Nets stop by Oracle on Thursday, then the Charlotte Hornets close out the trio of games Saturday.

Golden State Warriors commentary: Kerr can go to anyone now on the bench and the W’s are still phenomenal

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by Matt Harrington

PHOENIX–The Golden State Warriors start has been good but their going to get better, they won a big game in Houston on Saturday night 98-87 despite that they turned over the ball 26 times in that game. That’s something that head coach Steve Kerr has echoed on fixing after each game. These Warriors looked good but their going to be better.

The Warriors on average have turned the ball over 21.6 times on average per game that’s the loweest number in the NBA that’s a great improvement over last season. The Warriors are not fully healthy with David Lee out with that hamsstring strain, Klay Thompson was out in Phoenix against the Suns with a hand injury. The Warriors have not been playing at full strengh.

You talk about a 5-0 record going into Phoenix the team is not entirely healthy, their not getting the normal starting guys that they would, that’s quite an accomplishment this early and it’s hard to go 5-0 in any professional league especially at the start of the season when your not healthy. Winning on the road and keeping a perfect record through five games is hard especially when you have a couple back to back away games like they had this weekend.

The Warriors are a team that uses their legs their an uptempo team but that takes a little bit of toll. To come out with these wins and they played Phoenix in Sunday night it’s tough to play on the road in the NBA. The Suns have a bunch of greyhounds on that team they like to run the court and they like to get points in transition. It’s a huge accomplishment to win back to back games for Golden State.

To win at home as well is a tough accomplishment which they won that opening night game against the Kings that was electric. The Warriors are winning anywhere they could play a game on the moon right now. The road right now is tempting the Warriors by the time they return home they’ll have a good idea what they’re team identity would be.

The Warriors will be at home next against the Brooklyn Nets, you talk about Brooklyn and a team that’s coming from back east and from New York that’s always a tough test but the Warriors are really starting to jell right now and the Warriors are hopeful that Lee will be back from his injury if not the Warriors will definitely be tested. As of right now their getting help from forward Draymond Green whose been phenomenal he had 24 points Saturday night in Houston.

Green scored a career high with that 26 and he’s been pretty hot, everybody has been playing pretty hot. Kerr could plug in anybody and it seems like they’re having a good night. There’s still so much more basketball to come and it will be a wait and see if they can keep this up.

Matt Harrington is a talk show host covering Golden State Warriors basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo image: google images

Warriors Last of the Unbeatens Left Standing

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The list of the unbeaten in the NBA has been trimmed down to one. In a battle of teams with unblemished records, the Golden State Warriors topped the hosting Houston Rockets 98-87. Stephen Curry collected a double-double, scoring a game-high 34 points for the Warriors while reeling in 10 rebounds.

Curry hit 13 of 19 field goals and dished out five assists to hand the Rockets (6-1) their first loss of the 2014-15 season. Andre Iguodala pitched in 15 points off the bench while starter Draymond Green collected 14.

The Dubs (5-0) turned in their best defensive performance to date this year, holding the rockets to a .349 shooting percentage. Houston hit only 30 of 86 shots attempted. James Harden (22 points) and Isaiah Canaan (21 points) topped the Rockets in scoring.

The Rockets managed to outscore the Warriors 56-48 in the first half before the Warriors turned on the defense. The Dubs allowed a scant 21 points down the final 24 minutes while scoring 50 of their own for the victory.

Golden State puts its perfect record on the line in the second game of a back-to-back against in Phoenix Sunday. The Suns have played .500 basketball this season, winning three and losing three.

Warriors remain perfect, shutdown Clippers

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry led the way with 28 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, helping the Golden State Warriors to a 121-104 victory over their Pacific Division rival, the Los Angeles Clippers in front of 19,596 fans Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.

Five players finished in double figures, including Draymond Green who had a career-high 24 points and eight rebounds. Green was red-hot from the field, especially from deep, connecting on 4-of-6 from behind the arc.

“I thought we got out to a quick start,” said Green postgame, “I thought our energy was great and we just stayed aggressive.”

Klay Thompson scored 19 points after getting into early foul trouble. Harrison Barnes finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Andrew Bogut scored just six points, but grabbed 14 rebounds. Golden State out-rebounded Los Angeles 39-30. Leandro Barbosa led the “Dubstitutes”with 13 points.

David Lee, playing in his first game of the season due to a pulled hamstring, scored six points in seven minutes of action before re-aggravating his hamstring in the first quarter. Lee did not return to the game.

“It was good win, but we can definitely get better,” said Curry, who shot 9-of-18 from the field (4-of-8 from 3-point range.)

Jamal Crawford scored 24 points and DeAndre Jordan finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who drop to 3-2 on the season.

Blake Griffin scored 14 points, and mustered only one rebound.

Chris Paul scored 15 points and dished out 12 assists, but was clearly frustrated for much of the night after shooting just 6-of-15 from the field. Paul also picked up a technical foul in the third quarter after complaining to officials after an apparent elbow from Curry.

Golden State shot a blistering 58 percent from the floor and nailed 15-of-25 3’s, but it was the ugly 23 turnovers that soured the team’s first 4-0 start since the 1994-95 season.

That season, Golden State won their first five games in a row to start the season.

Warriors Down the Blazers

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[tags NBA, Professional Basketball}

by Jerry Feitelberg

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—
The Golden State Warriors were in Portland, Oregon to take on the Trail Blazers Sunday night.

The game was a tremendously exciting game that went down to the wire with the Warriors pulling out a victory by a score of 95-90 to start the season 3-0.

The first period was dominated by the Warriors and guards Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Curry and Thompson each had eight points in the first six minutes of the game. The Warrior defense was strong as

Andrew Bogut blocked four shots early in the game and the Warriors held the Blazers to just 26% from the floor and led 30-22 at the end of the first 12 minutes of the game. The second period was very fast paced as the teams raced up and down the court trading baskets. The Warriors continued their good defense but they need another scorer to help out on offense. Thompson had 20 points while Steph pitched in with eleven. The Blazers leading scorers were Wesley Matthews with thirteen, LaMarcus Aldridge had nine and Robin Lopez added seven and the half ended with the Warriors leading 51-48.

The second half was as exciting as the first. Portland played great defensively and cooled off Klay Thompson. The Warriors defense was also good but Portland took a 68-62 lead with 1:12 left in the period. Portland controlled the boards all game to keep them in it but the game was tied at 68 at the of three periods of play. In the fourth quarter , guard Leandro Barbosa came up big to keep the Warriors in it and it didn’t look good for the Dubs when Portland took a 3 point lead with 4:03 left to go in the game. The W’s, however ,took a one point lead, 85-84, when Thompson knocked down a terrific jam shot over the Blazers’ seven foot center, Robin Lopez. The lead didn’t last long as the Blazers came back to go up by two with just two minutes left. The score was 90-88 at this point. The Warriors defense came up huge as Portland would not score again . The Warriors closed to one down 90-89 and Klay Thompson scored with just 8.7 left. The Warriors got the ball back after a replay showed that the ball went out of bounds off a Blazer player that gave Thompson the opportunity to make the play.

With 4.5 seconds left, The Warriors stole the ball as the Blazers attempted to put the ball in play and Steph Curry went to the line and he knocked down two free throws. Curry then stole the throw-in

and was fouled again and he made the shots to give the Warriors a 95-90 win.

Notes- The Warriors blocked seven shots tonight and had seventeen turnovers while Portland turned the ball over eighteen times. The 3-0 start is the first time since the 1994-95 season that the Warriors havestarted this well The 94-95 team went 5-0.

Klay Thompson ended the night with 29 points while Steph Curry had 21 and Andrew Bogut had a double-double. LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds for Portland.

The Warriors meet the LA Clippers Wednesday night at the Oracle Arena at 7:30pm.

Jerry Feitelberg
jyf1938