Category: Golden State Warriors

Warriors commentary: Warriors hot enough to do some damage this post season

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–The Warriors had a blip on the radar screen when they lost a really bad game to the Cleveland Cavaliers but since then they’ve righted the ship with a couple of good wins. One was a nail biter up in Portland and then a big blow out win against Orlando and then another closer than expected win over Milwaukee.

Some people are concerned after that Cleveland win it was kind of a return to the pattern that we had already seen back in January and February where the Warriors played down to the level of their competition and Cleveland is not a good team and at this moment their not expected to make the playoffs.

So the Warriors losing to the Cavs in Oakland was a real eye opener and was a real puzzler because the Warriors are such a good team and they’ve been playing such good basketball and to see them falter against such a lousy team like Cleveland on their home court was really bothersome.

So after losing to Cleveland it was up to Portland on the road and it was a real tight game against a very good team that their battling with. They beat Portland by a point and that really calmed some nerves around the Bay Area, for the Warriors that was a tough game 113-112 victory. Portland is never an easy place to play especially when they have a good team.

You don’t want to say Orlando was a test the W’s next game on Tuesday the 18th because the Magic are one of the worse teams in the league, the Magic have one of the worst road records in the NBA. So beating the Magic isn’t necessarily an accomplishment but at the same time because the Warriors had struggled against Western teams at home it was good to see the Warriors blow them out 102-89.

The game with the Magic was one of those games where the starters were pretty much on the bench for most of the fourth quarter as the Warriors had this game in hand. It was’nt a close one for the Warriors who did a great job.

The next game against Milwaukee it was a little tiring than you would expect with a 115-110 win at home, but you have to keep in mind that Andre Iguodala has been out for the last couple of games, Andrew Bogut is a little gimpy he’s been playing the last game or two and he’s not a 100 percent yet.

With Milwaukee it’s weird their the worse team in the league by record but they actually put forth an effort they have a nice antidote to the Philadelphia 76ers who lost 21 games in a row. The Sixers are clearly trying to put a bad team on the floor and lose as many games as possible their now four game short of the all time NBA record for a loss streak at 26.

Daivd Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Kings downtown arena: Eminent domain ruled for Macy’s building Kings ready to buy property

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by Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–It was once a men’s department store but after Macy’s closed shop it remained vacant and the owners one group known as “the certified owners” who are reportedly with U.S.Bank and CalPERS who own the property didn’t have a tenant and it was left empty.

When the Sacramento Kings and the City of Sacramento secured the Kings to stay in Sacramento the shopping at the Westfield Downtown Plaza began. The Kings purchased 96 percent of the Plaza property with the exception of the empty Macy’s building which sits at the edge of the Plaza near the entrance to Old Sacramento.

The valuable property is targeted by the Kings to be used for a gym, work out and conditioning area for the team. On Thursday Sacramento Superior Court Judge Raymond Cadei ruled in favor of the Kings and the City and granted the plaintiffs eminent domain rights to the purchasing price at $4.35 million.

While CalPERS had no objection to eminent domain to take their share of the property the certified owners did, objecting to the purchase price. The certifieds say that the property purchasing price should be raised to $10 million and that CalPERS controls the property and the certified owners own the building.

The Macy’s building is in the footprint of where the Kings arena and property would be. The Kings plan to begin construction in the spring of 2015 and plan to have the arena ready by September 2017 and the NBA pre season begins October 2017.

Cadei made his ruling based on the financial needs of the city and the Kings, saying that CalPERS and the certified owners are not profiting from having a vacant building sit unused when the Kings need the property to start construction for their new arena as soon as possible.

Notice for the tenants at the Downtown Plaza will go out this year asking tenants to move so that the Kings can begin construction and tear down needed retail space. The certified owners and their attorneys plan to haggle with the court and the Kings on the final purchase price for the property right now it’s been declared at $4.35 million for the sale price.

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

Splash Brothers lead Warriors to 111-107 victory over Bucks

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By Gabe Schapiro

They didn’t make it look easy, but the Golden State Warriors (44-26) scratched out a win against the Milwaukee Bucks (13-56), 111-107, Thursday night, at Oracle Arena. Coming into the contest, the Bucks had the worst record in the NBA. However, you wouldn’t have known it from watching the game. The Warriors played far from their best, but you have to give credit where credit is due, and Milwaukee played hard. Despite a big disadvantage in free throw attempts, and an uncharacteristically poor shooting night from beyond the arc, Golden State found a way to hold on.

The game was close throughout. Every time the Warriors made a small run and made people think they were about to run away with it, as they probably should have against an inferior opponent, the Bucks swung back and played tough. Heading into the locker room Golden State grasped a slight 53-51 lead.

After briefly trailing towards the end of the third quarter, the Warriors would lead the rest of the way, but never managed to convincingly put Milwaukee away until the final buzzer rang.

For Golden State, it was their talented backcourt that led the way. Stephen Curry had a game-high 31 points and 11 assists. He was one of the few Warriors to have some success from three-point range, hitting three-of-five. Klay Thompson wasn’t nearly as efficient, but added another 29 points.

Andrew Bogut had a strong game going up against his former club. He finished with eight points and 12 rebounds. David Lee contributed his nearly customary double-double, posting 22 points and 12 boards.

On the negative side, Harrison Barnes struggled mightily starting in place of the still out Andre Iguodala. He failed to score a point on seven field goal attempts, to go along with two turnovers. The bench also had a pretty quiet night, outside of a solid 12 points from Jordan Crawford in just 12 minutes of play.

For the Bucks it was a true team effort that made the Warriors sweat it out. A whopping seven players finished in double figures, four of whom did it from the bench. Brandon Knight was the standout, producing a team-high 27 points and six assists.

Golden State will rarely be able to turn in this kind of performance and still eek out a win, but thankfully they timed it against a bad team at home. They’ll need to clean up their mistakes for their next matchup against the best in the West, the San Antonio Spurs. The game is this Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 PM, at Oracle Arena.

Kings downtown arena: Judge looks probable to rule for imminent domain for parcel building

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by Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–Sacramento Superior Court Judge Raymond Cadei looks to be leaning toward ruling in favor for the city and the Sacramento Kings to get the last road block removed in order to get the Kings new arena build underway. Although Cadei has not made an official ruling in the immienent domain case for the city and the Kings to buy the old Macy’s men’s store that sits near the Downtown Plaza and near Old Sacramento entrance.

Cadei is expected to be making a ruling this week, Cadei made a tentative ruling in favor of the city and the Kings. The parcel which is owned by CalPERS and certificate owners or U.S. Bank owns the building and CalPERS has said that they have no objection in selling their share of the building. Attorneys for the certificate owners are said not to be satisfied with the purchase price offered by the city at $4.35 million.

The owners argued in court on Tuesday that according to property tax roles the property is more like $10 million. The Kings not the city would purchase the property. The Kings have spent $36 million purchasing the rest of Downtown Plaza. Cadei said he needed more time to study the arguements from the owners side but he did indicate that the property was needed to be sold to the Kings so that they can start building the new arena.

Cadei added that any further delay with a 2017 deadline set by the NBA to have the arena ready would put the project in jeopardy and that the building is sitting vacant and that CalPERS or the certificate owners would not suffer any financial consequences as a result of relinquishing the building but the city would suffer in trying to obtain the property. The property owner’s attorney George Speir said that the imminent domain process was flawed and that the City Council who got the lawsuit started voted only to cover the land and not the building. The land share is controlled by CalPERS and the building is controlled by the certificate owners.

CalPERS who is happy to sell would get their share covered while the certificate owners will not get anything for the buidling which is their share of the property. The debate now is about the price and Cadei could question the city and the Kings about the asking price if Cadei sees that the certificate owners are shortchanged in the deal. Otherwise Cadei could rule for the Kings asking price at $4.35 million and CalPERS and the certificate owners would have to work the shares of the money out.

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

Shorthanded Warriors make it look easy, beat Orlando 103-89

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By Gabe Schapiro

No Andrew Bogut or Andre Iguodala? No problem. The Golden State Warriors (43-26) didn’t skip a beat despite two of their starters being out with injuries, easily beating the Orlando Magic (19-49) 103-89, Tuesday night, at Oracle Arena. Orlando has struggled mightily this season, but when Bogut and Iguodala were ruled out, the defensive backbones of the team, there is no doubt that it had some nervous for this one. Those concerns were fairly quickly put to rest, however, as all three of Golden State’s other starters picked up the slack. After the first quarter, this contest was rarely ever in any doubt.

The game started as a bit of a dogfight, in a tightly played opening frame that saw 13 lead changes. After 12 minutes the Warriors exited from the fray with a slim three-point advantage. There wouldn’t be another lead change the rest of the way.

Golden State slowly started pulling away from the Magic, and really slammed the door shut in a big third quarter, which saw them outscore Orlando 30-19.  The end of the bench saw some action late, as they eased to the victory.

It was nearly all good signs from the Dubs on this night. It was 14 minutes into the contest before they committed their first turnover. It was the third quarter before they missed their first free throw.

The three normal Warriors starters who did play in this one all had very strong games. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and David Lee finished with 23, 20, and 20 points respectively. Lee finished with a double-double, adding 10 rebounds to his line. Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes got the starting nod in the place of their injured stars, and while both struggled offensively, they chipped in in other ways. Green hauled in nine boards, dished out three assists, and had two steals. Barnes had five rebounds and three assists.

Golden State’s bench, which saw a little extra play tonight, had a strong game as well, particularly Mareese Speights and Steve Blake. Speights hasn’t played much recently, but clearly came in ready to go. He contributed 13 points, eight rebounds, and a block in 23 minutes. Blake also put up double-digit points, finishing with 12 to go along with four assists.

In the loss five Orlando players finished in double figures. Nikola Vucevic led the way with a team-high 15 points. Tobias Harris performed admirably off the bench, adding 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Their backcourt really struggled, combining for just eight points.

The Warriors have now won two straight, and will look to make it three this Thursday, when they will be taking on the Milwaukee Bucks. The game starts at 7:30 PM, at Oracle Arena.

Splash Brothers Will Slumping Warriors to Rally Past Portland Late in 113-112 Thriller

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By Matthew Harrington

Whatever message the Warriors discussed in a team meeting following their second-straight loss Friday night, one that saw a 15-point Golden State lead swing into a loss against the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers, certainly stuck with the Splash Brothers. It just took some time in Sunday evening’s 113-112 win over the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center for the backcourt tandem of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry to take over. The emerging faces of the franchise rallied Golden State (42-26) 18-point deficit in the third quarter to cap a wild comeback while avoiding a three-game losing skid for the first time since November 20-23 of this season.

Thompson, absent from Friday’s 103-94 loss to attend his grandfather’s funeral in the Bahamas, and Curry chipped in 15 points apiece in the fourth quarter, scoring 30 of 36 Warrior points in the pivotal period. The guards combined for 64 points, including 28 second-half points for Curry and 23 for Thompson to push the Dubs to their 15th triumph in 21 tries away from the friendly confines of Oracle Arena. The dominant road run is the first of its kind in franchise history.

After Curry’s 37 points and Thompson’s 27, including the eventual game-winner, David Lee finished third on the team with 16 points in only 24 minutes of play. Warriors forward Draymond Green had a team-high eight rebounds before fouling out. Damian Lillard led Portland (43-24) with 26 points while Nicolas Batum added 23 of his own to accompany a game-best 14 rebounds. Blazers center Robin Lopez converted a double-double as well, collecting 10 rebounds and 14 points. LaMarcus Aldridge sat out his second-consecutive game with a lower back contusion suffered in a 103-90 Blazers loss at San Antonio Wednesday.

Golden State opened the game again struggling to address the woes that sparked Friday’s closed-doors discussion. The Warriors found themselves trailing the team directly above them in the standings 55-44 at the half Sunday night. Portland, entering play with a 3.5 games ahead of the Warriors for fifth in the Western Conference, built on its first half success in the third. The Blazers took their largest cushion of the night, an 18-point separation, after Nicolas Batum hit a three to make it 70-52 Blazers 4:11 into the quarter. The Dubs chipped away with a 25-15 run over the final four-plus minute stretch to cut the deficit to 85-77, setting up the thrilling fourth-quarter momentum shift.

12 minutes away from only what would be only the second three-game losing streak all season, Golden State rallied to tie the game at 96-all with just over half a quarter. The Warriors evened the score courtesy of string of play where the Dubs limited Portland to 11 points while scoring 19 of their own over the first half of the final period of play. After Curry hit the free throw on Portland coach Terry Stotts’ technical foul, Thompson connected on only the second of two attempts from the charity stripe to give the Warriors their first lead since the first quarter now standing six minutes from the final whistle.

The lead changed hands five times over the next 5:49 of game time before Thompson,who arrived in the States late Saturday night, buried a three with just 11 seconds remaining on the clock to swing the scoreboard in  the Warriors’ favor 113-111. Golden State’s Andre Iguodala fouled Batum on a bid to even the game with five ticks left on the clock but the Blazers forward missed the potential tying shot after getting the first free throw to fall. Batum followed his miss and came up with the rebound, but his three-pointer from far out fell a few feet short of the basket as the buzzer sounded for Portland’s fifth loss in six games.

Warriors Center Andrew Bogut departed the game with 6:22 to play after suffering an apparent ankle injury on a layup attempt. Warriors coach Mark Jackson dismissed any concerns about the Aussie’s health, saying that Bogut asked to be subbed back in. Barring any setbacks, he should be on the Oracle Arena floor Tuesday night when the Warriors take on the Orlando Magic.

Warriors squander fast start, lose an ugly one to the Cavs 103-94

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By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (41-26) only managed to put together one good quarter, ultimately falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers (26-40), 103-94, Friday night, at Oracle Arena. Early on Golden State led by as many as 18, only to find themselves down by as many as 16 in the second half of the contest. The disappointing loss snaps a five game home winning streak for the Warriors. Klay Thompson missed a rare game to attend his grandfathers’ funeral, and it appeared that his presence was missed. At times it appeared that Stephen Curry was playing by himself, and they simply couldn’t get stops when they had to.

The Warriors got off to a lightning fast start, opening up a 20-4 lead within the first six minutes of the game. The Cavaliers composed themselves a bit, but were still looking up at a 32-16 deficit heading into the second quarter. All five Golden State starters had an assist, and the bench scored four field goals, more than they did in the entire contest against the Los Angeles Clippers two days ago.

That’s where most of the good news would end for the Warriors, however, as Cleveland caught fire and Golden State’s wheels all but flew off. In the second frame the Dubs were badly outplayed, and helped the Cavaliers case with far too many turnovers. Heading into the locker room the Warriors lead had shrunk to just one point, at 53-52.

Unfortunately for Golden State, the third quarter was more of the same. Their mistakes didn’t stop, which led to them being outscored 68-39 in the second and third quarters combined. Heading into the final 12 minutes, the Warriors found themselves down 84-71.

Golden State tried to put together some semblance of a comeback, but nine points would be as close as they could get to the lead. Cleveland finished out the game with relative ease, in one of the Warriors more disappointing losses of the season.

Curry had a pretty strong game amidst the sloppy play, finishing with a game-high 27 points and eight assists. He was five-of-10 from beyond the arc, and added three steals. Draymond Green was fantastic off the bench for another glimmer of a bright spot, tying a career-high with 18 points, to go along with nine rebounds and as always good hustle defense. The most glaring stat of the night, however, was probably the Warriors 17 turnovers.

For the Cavs Spencer Hawes was a force in the paint, posting a double-double. He had a team-high 22 points, and a game-high 13 rebounds. Their young backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters had good games as well, combining to score 34 points, dish out eight rebounds, and grab five steals.

The Warriors followed up a five-game win streak by losing their last two. They’ll look to get back to their winning ways this Sunday, March 16, against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Warriors arena at Piers 30-32: With height measure voted down new arena might have a shot at piers

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Waterfront advocates lost a major volley after putting up a strong fight and nearly getting a ballot measure for the June election that would ask voters if there should be a height restriction for waterfront buidlings. Propositon B was voted down by the San Francisco Democratic party in a 13-12 vote to keep the measure off the ballot.

The measure would require voter approval for any new buildings at the waterfront over 40-105 feet, the party wanted to keep the measure off the ballot because without it it would allow development proposals such as the Golden State Warriors proposed arena at Piers 30-32 who almost considered looking at other alternatives. The Warriors want to build at Piers 30-32 a new 12 story arena, a 17 story luxury condo, and a ten story hotel.

The condo and hotel would be built across the street from Piers 30-32 where the new Warriors arena would play. The condo and hotel would be owned by the Warriors and the condo and hotel would help pay for the new arena. The political machine of San Francisco came out and got the vote out with the political help of the local trade unions who want jobs and to get the contstruction for the new arena.

The Union memebers called Proposition B a job killer if the ballot measure made the June election and with the knowledge that the voters would surely vote to restrict the height limit at the waterfront no unlimited height they would miss out on construction jobs for the new arena. With the party voting down the measure it could create a path for construction on the new arena, condo and hotel for the Warriors.

Committee member Hene Kelly who voted for the measure said that the proposition was not anti labor, “I do not beleive Proposition B is an enemy of the building trades.” There were other committee members who chose to abstain and did not vote in the narrow vote. Jon Golinger who is running the Yes on Proposition B campaign said that this was all politics with the real estate establishment of San Francisco, “It’s a sign that the real estate lobby is fully in control of this Democratic Party.”

The measure now goes to a legal challenge which will be argued in front of San Francisco Superior Court Judge Marla Miller. The hearing is designed to strike the measure from appearing in the June election. The lawsuit was filed by Tim Colen executive director of the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition, Michael Theriault, a leader of the Building and Construction Trades and Corrine Woods, a neighbor of the project site.

The Giants who said they wanted to construct a retail and condo complex at a parking lot by AT&T Park are underwriting the lawsuit. The Giants are in the fight for keeping the height limit measure off the ballot and it means profit for the team if they can get the complex started. The Warriors were mentioned for constructing the new arena in the Giants lot A if they can’t build at Piers 30-32 but with no height restriction in place the Warriors could construct at Piers 30-32 if the judge throws out the proposition on Monday.

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

In Battle of the Streaks, Warriors Halted by Griffin, Clippers

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By Matthew Harrington

On a night when the Los Angeles Lakers received the bleak prognosis that Kobe Bryant would sit out the rest of the season due to injury, the other two California franchises garnered the major headlines while stoking the flames of a heated, burgeoning rivalry. With the Lakers glory days behind them, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers took the Staples Center Court Wednesday night with bragging rights as best of the West Coast on the line. The Warriors ultimately succumbed to the Blake Griffin show, dropping a hotly-contested 111-98 verdict to split the season series with their Southern California rivals. The Pacific Division leaders snapped Golden State’s five-game win streak, adding a ninth-consecutive win to LA’s total.

Clippers All-Star Griffin scorched the Warriors for 30 points and 15 rebounds, including his 3,000 board of his career in the third quarter. Griffin is now the third player in NBA history to shoot over 50 percent with 6,000 points, 3,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in the first four seasons of a career, joining Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Charles Barkley. Guard Chris Paul finished a pair of rebounds shy of a triple-double, collecting 16 points and 12 assists to hand the Dubs their fourth-straight loss to the Clippers at the Staples Center.

Klay Thompson went 10-for-19 from the field, finishing with 26 points including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to lead Golden State in scoring. David Lee chipped in 20 points. The Warriors reserves scuffled from the field, connecting on only a trio out of 25 chances, but Draymond Green connected on 7-of-9 free throws and Harrison Barnes and Jermaine O’Neal pitched in three each to help the bench to a 20-point contribution.

The two teams matched each other point-for-point in the first quarter, wrapping up the first 12 minutes at a 29-29 stalemate. The lead changed hands nine times in a frantic second quarter that saw the Warriors escape to the half nursing a slim two-point edge at 56-54.

Golden State outscored the home team 20-15 over the first six and a half minutes of the second half to take its largest lead of the night at seven points but the Clippers closed the gap on a 10-3 run. Los Angeles tied it on a Willie Green three-pointer with 1:22 left in the quarter then scored the next five points unanswered to end the quarter on top 84-79. Jermaine O’Neal opened the fourth hitting three of four from the charity stripe to pull the Dubs within two, but it would be the closest the Northern California squad got. The Clippers dominated the run of play, outpacing the Warriors 27 points to 16 down the stretch for the win.

Looking to avoid consecutive losses, the Warriors welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers, currently two spots above Orlando for worst in the Eastern conference, to Oracle Arena for a Friday night showdown before a critical meeting with another of the Western Conference’s strongest teams. Golden State travels to Portland to face the Trailblazers Sunday evening.

Warriors remain hot, saddle Mavericks for fifth straight win

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By Joe Hawkes

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors haven’t been just on a roll since the All-Star break, but they are serving notice that they will be a factor come playoff time.

Ask the Dallas Mavericks.

Golden State had five players score in double figures helping the Warriors slow down the Mavericks, 108-85 Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. The Warriors picked up their fifth straight win, and improved to 10-2 since the All-Star break, tied with the San Antonio Spurs (10-2) for tops in the NBA.

Jordan Crawford led Golden State with 19 points and led a Warriors bench that outscored the reserves for Dallas 53-34. Harrison Barnes also scored in double figures with 13 points off the bench.

Klay Thompson scored 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting, and Stephen Curry added 10 points, but was 4 for 12 from the floor (1 for 5 on 3s). David Lee scored six points, but grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds in 29 minutes. Golden State has made it a habit of outscoring their opponents in the third quarter.

In the last two games, the Warriors have outscored their opponents 62-30 after halftime, which has been key to keeping teams down and making it difficult for a comeback.

The real story was the play of Andrew Bogut.

Bogut provided a little more offensive punch for the Warriors, scoring 15 points (all in the first half) to go along with 10 rebounds. Bogut was a huge part of holding the Mavericks to 37-percent shooting from the floor, and handing Dallas (38-27) their second loss to the Warriors this season.

Former Warrior Monta Ellis finished with 15 points and Jose Calderon added 13 points and five assists. Dirk Nowitzki had 12 points, but scored just four points in the first half and was defended well by Lee for the majority of the game.

Dallas is having a hard time just holding on to the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and this loss further weakens their grip. Dallas leads the Phoenix Suns by 1.5 games in the standings with 17 games to go in the regular season.

This was a win that the Warriors needed, especially with the big game in Los Angeles against the Clippers Wednesday.

Golden State has won two of the three matchups against their Pacific Division foe this season, but the Clippers are hotter than the Warriors, winning their last eight games.