Category: Golden State Warriors

Curry’s Triple-Double, Romping of Lakers Clinches Playoff Berth for Warriors

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By Matthew Harrington

The Golden State Warriors locked in their spot in the 2014 NBA Playoffs Friday night at the Staples Center, riding a Stephen Curry triple-double to a 112-95 dismantling of the host Los Angeles Lakers. By matching or outscoring the Lakers (25-54) in all but one quarter the Dubs clinched their second-consecutive playoff berth under coach Mark Jackson and their first back-to-back postseason qualifications since 1992.

Warriors All-Star Curry fired off 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds over 34 minutes for his fifth-career triple-double. Klay Thompson and reserve Marreese Speights finished with 16 points apiece. David Lee joined Curry in double-digit rebounded with 10 boards.

Nick Young paced the forum purple with 25 points, and Jordan Hill and Ryan Kelly pitched in 18 and 14 respectively. Hill also had a game-high 12 points.

Golden State (49-30) nailed 48.9 percent of shots attempted, including a 13-for-25 clip from beyond the arc. The injury-riddled Lakers hit 39.3 percent of their field goals including only 9-of-28 from downtown. The Warriors dominated the glass with 57 rebounds to LA’s 42.

Both sides finished the first 12 minutes with 26 points. The Warriors rode a huge second quarter to pull ahead 58-42, notching 32 second-quarter points to Los Angeles’ 17. Golden State survived a Lakers 26-25 third quarter scoring margin before finishing off the home team with a 29-26 run to wrap up a playoff bid.

For now, the Warriors sit 1.5 games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for sixth-place in the Western Conference with Golden State boasting a game in hand. The Portland Trailblazers sit 2.5 games ahead of the Warriors with three games remaining for the Dubs meaning in all likelihood, Golden State will be returning to Los Angeles and the Staples Center to face the third-seed Clippers when the playoffs begin. For now, the task at hand for Jackson’s side is a showdown with the Blazers on Sunday in Portland before the second half of a back-to-back against Minnesota at Oracle. The Warriors then get a chance to wrap up the regular season with revenge against the Denver Nuggets, 100-99 winners in a April 10th showdown in Oakland.

Warriors lose heartbreaker to Mozgov, Nuggets, fail to clinch playoff birth

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By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (48-29) lost the Denver Nuggets (34-44) in ugly fashion, 100-99, Thursday night, at Oracle Arena. Losing by one point doesn’t look so bad on it’s face, but the Warriors let a 20-point lead slip away, got out-worked for long stretches, were thoroughly dominated on the glass, and couldn’t convert on their first chance to seal a playoff birth. Stephen Curry nearly saved the day with a last-second floater, but wouldn’t be outdone by Kenneth Faried, who followed with one of his own.

The Warriors played well out of the gate. They quickly built a double-digit lead, a lead that grew to 20 just four minutes into the second quarter. From there the momentum swung to Denver’s favor, and for Golden State it all went down hill. The Nuggets kept chipping away, as the Warriors play slipped. Denver finally grabbing their first lead of the contest half way through the fourth.

Curry did his best Superman impression to try and salvage the win, but came up just short. He scored the Warriors last eight points to bring them back, very briefly giving them the lead. The last two of those points were a thing of beauty. With less then a minute to play, Curry somehow came down with a rebound, took it the length of the court weaving through several defenders, and floated a shot over Denver’s big front court. The shot gave Golden State a 99-98 lead with five seconds to play.

Unfortunately for Curry and the Warriors, Faried countered with his best Kryptonite impression. In those five remaining seconds he received an inbound pass, backed down Draymond Green, got up a floater of his own that he would sink to drown Golden State’s hopes for a win.

Faried may have hit the game winner, but the night belonged to Timofey Mozgov. The big center scored 23 points to go along with a career-high, and an NBA-high this season, 29 rebounds. He also had three blocks and a steal. Faried chipped in a big double-double as well, adding 18 points and 17 boards.

In the losing effort, Curry was the standout, but did struggle with his shot for much of the night in the face of heavy pressure from the Denver defense. He had a team-high 24 points, six assists, and four steals. Klay Thompson was their only other consistent offensive option, contributing 21 points.

Unfortunately Golden State’s other three starters had very poor nights. Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green combined for 14 points, on six-of-15 shooting.

The Warriors will have another shot at clinching tomorrow night in Los Angeles, when they will be facing off with the Lakers at the Staples Center. The game begins at 7:30 PM.

Warriors update report: A Lacob A’s purchase could be his gift to Oakland for moving Warriors to the City

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by Ken Gimblin and David Zizmor

OAKLAND–If Joe Lacob and the Golden State Warriors were able to purchase the Oakland A’s and move them to the Howard Street Terminal at Jack London Square and build a new stadium at the Jack London Waterfront. The A’s are valued at a baseball modest price of $500 million and it would be Lacob’s tribute to the city of Oakland in saving the A’s from leaving town while he plans to take the Warriors to San Francisco.

Lacob is a work in progress on two fronts as the Warriors are in a political battle to try and defeat Proposition B the San Francisco Waterfront height requirement that limits the size of any development over 40-105 feet on the city’s Embarcadero. The voters will be asked in June if the height limit shall be enforced as the Warriors are looking to build a brand new arena at Piers 30-32 but they have been met with much opposition in the Embarcadero neighborhood. Prop B is most likely to pass if put in front of the voters in the San Francisco June election.

Meanwhile Lacob has approached A’s owner John Fisher about the sale of the A’s and Fisher has made it clear that the A’s are not for sale something that Fisher’s business parter Lew Wolff has indicated. Wolff who has stated several times that Jack London Square is a not a viable site for the A’s and he would like to move the team to downtown San Jose but with the Giants territorial rights in place the A’s are bound in Oakland and Alameda County.

The only question that has remained is how long will Fisher and Wolff hold out at the Oakland Coliseum, the management and players have complained about the sewage, water, rain drain, locker room issues at the park just for starts and the A’s want out of the Coliseum. When asked about building a new stadium at Jack London Square and the Howard Street Terminal Wolf said that Jack London Square is not a viable location for the A’s and the A’s have their hearts set on moving to San Jose.

Meanwhile San Jose Mayor Chuck Reid and the city are suing Major League Baseball for the league to clear the territorial rights of the Giants and allow the A’s to move to San Jose. That the A’s have said they want to move to San Jose and that MLB should not allow the Giants to stand in the way of the move. But none the less the document stating the Giants have territorial rights makes it clear the A’s can not move to San Jose.

This brings Fisher and Wolff right back to the drawing board and at some point will the A’s realize that running around on a hamster’s wheel or another Ground Hog Day at the Coliseum continue? Then they might realize they have to live with the Coliseum (that’s the only way they’ll be able to keep the team) or will they sell it to the highest bidder who will keep the team in Oakland and build a downtown stadium for the team.

The Warriors could be one of two major suitors to buy the A’s, the other interested parties are Dryer’s Ice Cream and Clorox. The A’s are concerned about corporate sponsorship but these suitors seem to believe if they can purchase the A’s they also can take care of corportate sponsorship in Oakland.

In the meantime for Lacob he will have to wait to see when and what Fisher and Wolff will do as they bide their time in the rickety Oakland Coliseum a place they want to vacate as soon as possible. If they continue to spin their wheels they might have to face that day when they must sell the A’s and the Warriors for one would be a fitting customer knowing all that Lacob has done in owning sports franchises.

David Zizmor covers the NBA and Ken Gimblin is covering the arena developments for the Warriors and the Sacramento Kings for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors beat Jazz 130-102

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by George Devine, Sr.

The Warriors continued to advance their playoff prospects with a decisive 130-102 win over the Utah Jazz at Oracle Arena. The score was Golden State’s highest for the season.

Although Klay Thompson scored 35 points, Stephen Curry was just as impressive with 31 points–more than one in each of 29 minutes–and a career-high 16 assists. Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala each had 11; Harrison Barnes and Jordan Crawford each had 10. Of Thompson’s 11 field goals, Curry assisted on 8. This was the first game in which Curry and Thompson both scored over 30 points. Curry made half of his 10 3-point attempts.

Golden State shot 100% from the charity stripe and outdid Utah in percentages on field goals (57.8-45.3) and three-pointers (51.5-30.8) despite committing 16 turnovers to the visitors’ 12. The Jazz were a mere 71.4% on free throws, considerably below the standard for the NBA. The home team was in triple digits before the third period ended.

The victory gave the W’s their first season sweep over the Jazz. The return of Andrew Bogut to the court, after a bruise in the pelvic area, strengthened the inside defense and befuddled Utah. Still, Trey Burke impressed with 24 points and 15 assists; Alec Burks also scored 24. Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward each had 10 points.

David Lee remained inactive, for the sixth straight time, with a sprained right hamstring, and an MRI revealed a nerve inflammation which could keep him on the bench for at least the rest of the regular season.

Assistant coach Darren Erman was also missing, on a more permanent basis. He was fired the previous day for “a violation of company policy” according to the team’s administration. Another assistant, Brian Scalabrine, was reassigned recently to the team’s NBA developmental league team in Santa Cruz, California, owing to “philosophical differences” with head coach Mark Jackson.
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Warriors commentary: It’s a tale of two different meetings with the Spurs and the Kings

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by David Zizmor’

OAKLAND–For the Warriors this past week they played in San Antonio the hottest team in the league and then turned around and played the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at the Coliseum Arena and held the Kings to 69 points. The Spurs have won 19 in a row and when the Warriors lost to the Spurs they weren’t playing with Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut, or David Lee all of whom were out with injuries.

Then you add in the fact that the Spurs are the hottest team in the NBA and the Warriors playing in the Alamodome is the hardest place to play in the NBA where they lost on 111-90 on Wednesday night. The Warriors haven’t won a regular season game there since 1996. It’s just a rough spot and the Warriors were going to have a rough time of it.

For the game against Sacramento it was back home for Golden State and they got their big man back on Friday night as Iguodala was back for that game. It was one of those cases where the Warriors had a really good game and when the Warriors are good their tough to beat. The Kings are already a bad team and when a bad team has a particularly bad game chances are they’re going to get steamrolled and the Warriors beat the Kings by 40 points 102-69.

This game was out of hand by the second quarter and you can even say by the end of the first quarter, the Kings couldn’t hit a shot. Part of it was the Warriors defense, part of it was just bad play by the Kings, also part of it was DeMarcus Cousins was probably the best player with Sacramento and he left the game with about a minute and a half in the game.

With Lee and Bogut out of this game the Kings attacked the middle and the Kings game plan just completely fell by the way side, the Kings were just completely discombobulated and they just didn’t know what to do. The Kings whole offensive game plan disintegrated and the Warriors were able to harrass them enough to keep them from getting any good shots whatsoever.

The Kings simply weren’t prepared and part of that is the Kings are just not a good team and they don’t particularly have good talent and part of it was the Warriors were playing very good defense the combination of the two put the Warriors ahead by about 15 in the first quarter and by 30 by the end of the second and by the middle of the third quarter they were playing the back up guys.

It gave some rest for the Warriors starters and Stephen Curry didn’t play that much, he got his 13 points and exited to have an nice easy night and it was a good chance for the Warriors to get themselves right and give them a little more confidence going into this final stretch here in the last couple of weeks in April.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Warriors arena at Piers 30-32: SF Mayor Lee damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t on Prop B endorsement

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos and former candidate for San Francisco mayor Quentin Kopp (now a San Mateo County judge) asked for the San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors, Former mayors of San Francisco Dianne Fienstein, Frank Jordan, Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom and current Mayor Ed Lee to join them in supporting Proposition B the height limitation measure for any development along the 7 1/2 mile waterfront.

Three big hopeful developers were on board the Warriors who want a new arena at Piers 30-32 plus a condo tower and hotel, the Giants who want to develop retail, condos, a hotel, a themed entertainment area and restaurants at the waterfront near lot A in the Giants current parking lot, and Forest City who currently owns property and a condo development that was formerly the Presido Public Health Hospital a veterans hospital on federal land at 15th and Lake Street in the City which is known today as the Presidio Landmark want to develop their other property at Pier 70 for retail and condo space.

Under Prop B development would be restricted to 40-105 feet in height unless voters vote in favor of a speciific project that would wave the height limitation. The city held an election last year on height restrictions Props B and C that were called the 8 Washington Condos and that was killed by the voters. The 8 Washington group wanted to develop at nearby Piers 30-32 new condos and hotels and after that election it’s going to be much harder to go to the voters and ask to lift the height restriction.

Lee is in a tough spot as the Yes on B campaign is working on him to endorse B and it would benefit San Francisco and that according to the Port Commission and the Giants in the long term and that the city would profit by $8.5 billion and $124 million for affordable housing fees. The Prop B measure made the ballot after more than double the required eligible ballots came in to put the measure on the ballot.

Acknowledging the momentum for Prop B and advised that Prop B will win Lee who at one time said the Warriors new arena would be a “legacy” to his administration has now turned around and said that he will not endorse Prop B nor would he campaign against it either because he doesn’t want to offend either side and that if he supported Prop B he would have well over 18,000 voters who got the measure on the ballot pleased that he’s with them on height limits.

If Lee was to stay in the pro delvelopment camp he would have such groups as the Sierra Club, Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods and a lot of voters who want to protect the waterfront who will more than likely come out against Lee in his re-election bid for Mayor. It has been said even from Mayor Lee’s stand point that Prop B will pass in June and that any development at the waterfront will more than likely have to be approved by the voters.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings arena developments for Sportstalk radio

Warriors dominate Kings, 102-69

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By George Devine, Sr.

With David Lee sidelined for the fifth game in a row due to a sprained right hamstring, and Andrew Bogut out for the fourth consecutive game with a bruise in the pelvic area, the Warriors were not in the best possible shape for their game against the Kings at a sold-out Oracle Arena. It didn’t matter, as Golden State gave up the least points all year to Sacramento, in a 102-69 blowout. Conversely, the Kings scored their fewest points of the season, in this David-Goliath matchup in which — unlike the Bible story — the giant triumphed over the slingshot.

The imbalance of power was conspicuous throughout the night: Golden State led by 59-27 at the half, and shortly after by 75-33 early in the third period.

The game gave the W’s an advantage in terms of playoff hopes: they are now 2.5 games behind fifth-place Portland and will be playing some of their less daunting opponents in their remaining six contests.

At first it appeared that the absence of Lee and Bogut would leave the Dubs vulnerable inside, allowing DeMarcus Cousins to score almost at will. As it turned out, Cousins did notch 19 points, which is hardly a banner night for him. He was in foul trouble within the first two minutes of the game, and another foul — a technical against coach Mike Malone — ensued when he tried to intervene in behalf of his big man. Another high scorer for the Kings, Rudy Gay, was good for only 10 points, roughly half of his average. Cousins contributed 11 boards, but the Kings were outrebounded, 58-44. Even with Cousins’ efforts, the Kings were outscored 54-28 in the paint. Isaiah Thomas, meanwhile, was missing from the Sacramento lineup for the sixth time in a row due to a right quadriceps injury.

For Golden State, Klay Thompson had 21 points and Stephen Curry 13. Jermaine O’Neal added 13 points and 9 boards, and Draymond Green was good for 10 in each of those two categories. In the mean time, the Kings turned the ball over 16 times. Most of those turnovers turned into fast breaks for the Warriors, a good number of them dramatic dunks that sent the crowd into a frenzy and the Golden State into a series of celebrations on the bench.

Kings downtown arena: Third Court of Appeals paves way for Kings to breakground at the downtown mall

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by Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–With the last piece of the property puzzle solved by the Third Court of Appeals in Sacramento favoring the ruling that the Macy’s building at the eastern end of the downtown plaza will be sold for $4.35 million via eminent domain, building and property owners U.S. Bank certified owners and CalPERS will be forced to sell which paves the way for the Sacramento Kings to start making plans to build their brand new arena.

The Sacramento City Council will hold a vote detailing the blueprints and plans for the new building and the vote will be held on May 13. Sacramento Assistant City Manager John Dengberg was besides himself by the court decision and was relieved that if the appeals ruling had gone the wrong way it could have held the arena build hostage until the appeals process was solved which could have lasted months.

The higher court upheld the Sacramento Superior Court decision on eminent domain that ruled the certified owners and CalPERS to sell the building and construction for the new arena should start at the beginning of June with the demolition of the Macy’s building. For City officials it’s ka sara sara to some of the toughest parts of the court battles in making a dream come true for the Kings and the City, “it’s a huge deal, we’re very pleased” said Dengberg.

The new arena will be at the eastern part of the mall, the Macy’s building will be torn down and it will be turned into a Kings workout, training and player development center. The 17,000 seat arena will run the team $448 million in private and public funding. The City says that the money will come from the general fund for it’s share to the price tag of $258 million.

The City said they will recoup the money to pay back the fund by city owned parking lot fees and taxes on ticket sales made at all Kings games and all events at the new arena, “a lot has been accomplished in the last year we’re negotiating the final wrap ups” said Dengberg.

The issues that the city council will vote on on May 13th will include asking the Planning and Design Commission to review the layout and blueprints for the new arena and the mall, zoning changes that will allow the Kings to construct digital scoreboards at several of the major freeway exits in the city, the council will also vote on the overall terms of the deal for the financial funding portion on the city’s part hence the $258 million, the project will include the new arena, offices, retail, housing and hotels in the neigboring area just a block or more from the arena.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors arena developments for Sportstalk radio

Spurs too much for Warriors

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By George Devine, Sr.

Despite a 16-5 run by Golden State in the third, the Spurs dominated as they beat the Warriors, 111-90. This win extends San Antonio’s streak to 19 games and its lead over the Thunder to four games, which augurs very well for them in the playoffs. Tonight’s victory marks 31 straight wins at San Antonio over Golden State and a sweep of the season series.

Leading the charge for the home team was Tony Parker with 18 points and 8 assists. Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills scored a baker’s dozen apiece. Marco Belinelli had 12 and Kawhi Leonard had 11.

For Golden State, Marreese Speights scored 22, and had 9 rebounds; Jordan Crawford hit for 16. Klay Thompson had 15 points and Stephen Curry scored 11. With 6:23 to go in the third period, Thompson’s second trey narrowed the lead to 71-61 and Speights, two minutes later, cut it to 74-67 on two free throws, on an evening when Golden State was 100% from the charity stripe. Speights was particulary strong from the inside and was 10 for 16 in field goals. But the Spurs could not be stopped: San Antonio jumped out to a 17 point lead in the first frame, and although the visitors cut it to seven in the third quarter, the Spurs then went on a 13-0 run to end the quarter.

Andrew Bogut, David Lee and Festus Ezeli all rested, and one can only wonder how much better Golden State could have done with a full complement.

Turnovers were abundant, as each team had 13. The Warriors actually had higher percentages on field goals from beyond the three-point line (38-21) but trailed in all other statistical categories excepting free throws, where they missed none and the Spurs shot a usually respectable 86%.

Curry Surprises Jackson With Buzzer-Beater Over Mavs In OT On Coach’s Birthday

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By Matthew Harrington
Warriors coach Mark Jackson received quite the birthday gift from his All-star guard Tuesday night at American Airlines Arena in Dallas. Stephen Curry hit the game-winning shot with .1 seconds remaining in overtime to cap a Golden State 122-120 upheaval of the Dallas Mavericks (44-31). As coach Jackson blew out the 49 candles on his cake, the Dubs created a little bit of breathing room in the Western Conference playoff picture. Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs entered play Tuesday with 44 wins, just one less than their foes from California. The Warriors (46-28) have two games in hand over Dallas.

Curry’s game-winner in the extra session, his third career buzzer-beating basket, was a culmination of a 43-minute, 23-point effort. Fellow guard Klay Thompson topped Golden State on 27 points, going 11-for-24 from the field including 4-of9 from downtown. Jermaine O’Neal, starting at center with Andrew Bogut not making the trip nursing a sore groin and David Lee in street clothes for the third-straight game, picked up 20 points and 8 rebounds. Marreese Speights’ 9 rebounds paced the Warriors.

Ex-Warrior Monta Ellis did his best to sink his former franchise, shooting 11-for-23 with 27 points. Mavs perennial All-Star Nowitzki contributed a game-high 33 points over 39 minutes of play and converted the double-double on a game-high 11 boards.

The Warriors connected on a blistering 57.1 shooting percentage, making 52 shots on 91 attempts including nearly half (15) of their 31 shots from beyond the arc. Mark Cuban’s club held the advantage in turnovers, forfeiting possession 8 times to the visitors’ 12. The Mavericks somehow managed to keep Golden State from going to the free throw line for the entirety of the second half.

The Warriors overpowered their hosts in the first, racing out to a 30-21 lead after twelve minutes of play. Dallas bombarded Golden State with 41 second-quarter points, the most the Warriors have yielded in a single frame this season, while limiting the visitors to 23 points for a 62-53 halftime edge.

It took the Warriors nearly ten minutes of play in the third to catch up to Dallas when Speights rolled in a layup to make it 78-all before Vince Carter hit one of two free throws to restore the slim Mavs one-point edge. The Warriors would score seven of the last nine points for an 85-81 lead after three frames.

Dallas capped a 10-5 run to open the fourth with a Carter basket to pull ahead 91-90 nearly four minutes in to the final stanza of regulation. The Warriors briefly wrestled the lead back from their foes but found themselves trailing 106-102 with 1:43 until the final horn. Andre Iguodala and Thompson sandwiched three-pointers around an Ellis jumper to knot things up a 108 a piece with a minute left but that would be the last basket of regulation as the teams would require an five-minute overtime to decide the victor.

Dallas opened the final five minutes on a Dirk jumper before Jermaine O’Neal hit only one of two free throws to pull the Warriors within one at 110-109. O’Neal represented the first Warrior to head to the charity stripe since Thompson completed the and-1 play with 2:55 left in the second quarter. From there the two teams would go shot-for-shot over the next five baskets before a Thompson trey preceded a Curry 16-foot jumper to put the Dubs up 118-117 over halfway through OT.

The Mavs’ Jose Calderon responded with a three of his own before O’Neal took a Draymon Green feed to the rim to knot things up at 120-all. The Warriors were looking for a quick basket to force a last-possession chance, a goal achieved when Green connected with O’Neal with 28 seconds left.

On the penultimate Dallas possession of the game, Ellis tried to take the winning shot but he was rejected on the layup by O’Neal. On the next Warrior possession Curry connected on the off-balance jumper with a tenth of a second remaining. The Mavs couldn’t connect on the in-bound deflection play, and after a brief review, the Warriors win was official.

Golden State looks to give Jackson a second belated gift Wednesday evening. They continue on to a showdown in San Antonio with the Spurs at the AT&T Center where they haven’t won since Valentine’s Day of 1997, just six days before then 31-year-old point guard Jackson was dealt from the Denver Nuggets back to the Indiana Pacers. After the second leg of the Texas road trip the Warriors return to the West Coast for a showdown with in-state rivals, the Sacramento Kings, Friday night at Oracle Arena.