Category: Golden State Warriors

Speights’ career night leads Warriors blowout over 76ers, 123-80

Published on by gabeschapiroLeave a comment

By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (31-21) thoroughly dominated the rebuilding Philadelphia 76ers (15-33), 123-80, Monday night, at Oracle Arena. The 76ers came into this contest as one of the league’s worst, and the shorthanded Warriors made them look like it. The game was never close, as Golden State had the clear edge in every respect. Marreese Speights was going up against the team that drafted him, and certainly made it a special one.

In what would be a good indicator of the rest of the night, the game began with a Philadelphia turnover leading to a Stephen Curry three-pointer. As a team they hit four of their first five shots, including 3-3 from beyond the arc. They kept pouring it on from there.

It was the surprising Speights who provided the majority of the entertainment tonight. He has spent most of the season as a bench player with minimal impact. He was once again a bench player, but on this night his impact was anything but minimal He entered the game with four minutes remaining in the first quarter, and seemingly out of nowhere turned into the human highlight reel.

Soon after entering, Speights was fouled and hit two free-throws, and much like the Warriors as a whole, he just kept scoring. He hit his first seven shots from the field, including a rare three-pointer, and 5-5 from the free throw line. At the half he already had 22 points, his season-high. Heading into the locker rooms, Speights had helped the team build an already insurmountable 66-33 lead.

He kept it up in the second half. Golden State coasted to the easy win, and when the dust had settled, he had scored a career-high 32 points, in just 26 minutes. For good measure, he added eight rebounds and three blocks. At one point the beaming Warriors faithful rained “M-V-P” chants down on him. He received a resounding standing ovation once he was removed, when the Warriors emptied their bench in the final minutes.

In all, six Dubs finished in double figures. On a rare night when he won’t dominate the headlines, Curry was still fantastic. He contributed 23 points, including 6-9 from three-point range, along with eight assists.

Draymond Green started for the third consecutive night, with Andrew Bogut still out, and notched his first career regular season double-double. He posted 11 points, 10 boards, and four blocks.

For the 76ers, Michael Carter-Williams was probably the only bright spot. He had a team-high 24 points, as one of three Philly players to finish in double figures.

The Warriors have one more game before the All-Star break. It’s not one they can write off, however, as they always dangerous Miami Heat are coming to town. The game is this Wednesday, at 7:30 pm.

Warriors commentary: With Lee and Bogut out, W’s needs Barnes and Curry to ramp it up

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–Talking about the Warriors last few games they lost to the Phoenix Suns 122-109 on Saturday night and then they beat the Chicago Bulls the game before on Thursday night 102-87. The Bulls aren’t that good of a team the Warriors should beat a team like the Bulls every time when their playing in Oakland, so it not surprising that the Warriors beat the Bulls.

Just from the fact that the Warriors are struggling a bit in general lately so any win is a surprise right now the way their playing. They had Phoenix on the road last Saturday, that’s not an easy game and everybody thought at the beginning of the season Phoenix was going to be one of the teams that was tanking. Turns out that’s not the case their quite good, the Suns would be a playoff team if the season were to end right now.

The Warriors should be able to make it competitive against a team like Phoenix for three quarters and that’s typically something that happens on the road. You would wonder what would happen to the Warriors if Andrew Bogut and David Lee had been playing, they were both on the sidelines with injuries on Saturday. That definitely had a big impact on the game.

Of course those two were also on the sidelines for the game against Chicago before the Warriors won the Suns game, so it’s a frustrating stretch that the Warriors have been going through. They still have a couple of games before the All-Star break one of them is in Oakland against Miami the defending champs.

That game should be a lot of fun and if you remember back a month or two ago, the Warriors went on the road to Miami and won in Miami during that big ten game win streak that they had and that six game road winning streak that was so impressive. The Warriors are a long ways from that team and their just not consistent on a nightly basis.

Part of the reasons the Warriors lost, the game against Phoenix was because the three point shots were not falling, not from Steph Curry or anybody else. When the Warriors are shooting from the floor their threes aren’t hitting. They can get in a little bit of trouble, let’s face it they’ve avoided crashing the basket. The W’s are not a team that can drive the lane a lot.

This is frustrating for the Warriors because their a team that could, Harrison Barnes’ skill set he could hit jumpers and outside shots. There’s no question but this is a guy who if he wants to be a unique player or a very good one has to be a little more agressive in charging the basket and until Barnes does that and until someone else on the Warriors does that including Clay Thompson the Warriors are going to have trouble if that shot is not falling.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Dragic, Suns topple Curry and Warriors in the desert

Published on by jhawkes51Leave a comment

By Joe Hawkes

PHOENIX — With the Suns clinging to a 104-102 lead with seven minutes in the fourth quarter, Goran Dragic was relentless Saturday night, scoring 13 of his career-high 34 points in the final frame, steering Phoenix to a 122-109 victory over the short-handed Golden State Warriors Saturday night.

Phoenix (30-21) moves a half-game ahead of the Warriors (30-21) for the sixth-best record in the Western Conference, and dropping Golden State to third in the Pacific Division.

Dragic who many people believed should’ve been voted an All-Star this season, played like one, shooting 10-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range. Dragic was outstanding from the free throw line, finishing 8-for-10 and dished out 10 assists.

Gerald Green scored 25 points and five rebounds, while P.J. Tucker finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Marcus Morris had 14 points and six rebounds off the bench, Channing Frye finished with 13 points, and Miles Plumlee 12 points and seven rebounds.

Playing without center Andrew Bogut (shoulder) and power forward David Lee (shoulder/hip), Stephen Curry led Golden State with 28 points and nine assists in 41 minutes of action. Curry shot 10-for-30 from the field, and 3-for-10 from deep.

Harrison Barnes had his best game to date, scoring 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting. It was Barnes’s first 20-point game since Dec. 13.

Klay Thompson had 17 points, Andre Iguodala scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Jermaine O’Neal finished with 11 points.

With both Bogut and Lee sitting out the game, Phoenix out-rebounded Golden State 45-34.

Golden State will look to rebound at home Monday, when they will host the Philadelphia 76ers (15-36).

Curry leads shorthanded Warriors past Bulls, 102-87

Published on by gabeschapiroLeave a comment

By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (30-20) overcame a sluggish start, easing their way over the Chicago Bulls (24-25), 102-87, Thursday night, at Oracle Arena. The Warriors were without their two best big men, an already thin position, as Andrew Bogut and David Lee sat out due to injuries. Jermaine O’Neal and Draymond Green got the starts in their place. Despite the depleted roster, Golden State made much of the game look easy in a nice bounce back win.

The Bulls quickly opened up a 15-point lead in the first quarter, as the Warriors had an ugly start. The mood seemed grim, as it looked like it could be another poor outing for the scuffling Dubs squad. In the waning minutes of the first they seemed to slowly start righting the ship, ultimately carrying their regained composure through the rest of the game.

After chipping away at the lead in the second quarter, Golden State grabbed their first lead with 47 seconds left in the half. By the time the buzzer went off they had turned a 13-point deficit into a four-point advantage. They never turned back, building on their lead at the end of the third, and ultimately cruising to the victory with a strong fourth.

With two starters out, Stephen Curry stepped up with a great game. He scored a game-high 34 points on 13-19 shooting, 4-6 from three-point range, to go along with nine assists.

The other half of the splash brothers, Klay Thompson, did his part as well. He chipped in 22 points, 3-6 beyond the arc, to go with solid defense.

Harrison Barnes, who has been struggling as of late, had a good game off the bench. He scored 11, including a big three-pointer late to hammer the last nail into the Bulls coffin. He added six rebounds and two steals, in 29 minutes. Jordan Crawford also played well, scoring another 11 points in 21 minutes.

Four Chicago players finished in double figures, led by a double-double from Taj Gibson. He notched 26 points and 14 rebounds. Joakim Noah accomplished the rare rebounds-assists double-double, finishing with just seven points, but 10 boards and 11 assists.

The Warriors hope this is step one in regaining some consistency to their play. They’ve got the Phoenix Suns next up on the docket, when they travel to Arizona this Saturday, February 8. The game begins at 6:00 pm.

Dismal Shooting Dooms Dubs in Decisive 91-75 Defeat to Charlotte

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

What a difference a month makes. The Golden State Warriors started January smack dab in the middle of what would be a 10-game win streak, the second-longest in franchise history. In Tuesday night’s 91-75 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats at Oracle Arena the Warriors opened the second month on the calendar on a far less meritorious note. A 75-point output courtesy of a 31.2 shooting percentage against Charlotte (22-28) represented single-game lows in both categories for Golden State this season. The usually sharp-shooting Warriors (29-20) nailed only four shots from beyond the arc on 20 attempts in a night when the home team hoop had an air-tight lid over it.

No Warrior reached double-digits in field goals, with Stephen Curry (8 for 18), Klay Thompson (5 for 13) and David Lee (3-13) all struggling to make the baskets fall in front of the sell-out crowd. Curry’s 17 points topped all Warriors player, while Thompson added 12.

Al Jefferson led the Bobcats to the win on a game-high 30 points and Bobcat-best 13 rebounds for the double-double and guard Gerald Henderson dropped 17. Warriors center Andrew Bogut pulled down 15 boards to lead all players.

Things appeared to be going the Warriors way early, with the home team leading 7-5 just under three minutes into play, but Charlotte held the hosts to only three field goals to close out the first quarter holding a 26-13 lead. Golden State struggled to gain ground in the second 12 minutes, cutting the deficit to nine points a handful of times, but couldn’t sustain momentum. They faced a 51-39 Bobcat lead at the half.

The second half was another 24 minutes of futility for the Warriors, as Charlotte outscored Golden State 40-36 to maintain the lead and sweep the season series against. Charlotte is now 10-9 in its last 19 meetings with Golden State.

The loss proved another example for Coach Mark Jackson who called out the Warriors, losers of 6 of their last 10, for playing down to the ability of a lesser opponent during the tough stretch. Dually disappointing for Jackson’s squad is the missed opportunity for the Warriors, despite their struggles to move past the Phoenix Suns into second place in the Pacific Division. Phoenix, entering play Tuesday night a half-game up on the Warriors, lost earlier in the night 101-92 at home to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls will travel further west to square off with Golden State at Oracle Arena Thursday night. After the Bulls come to town, the Warriors hit the road, heading to the desert to face the team directly above them in the standings for a Saturday night contest in Phoenix.

Warriors arena at piers 30-32: Warriors back to the drawing board;voters avalanche City Hall with height control ballots

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard said it best this whole new arena idea about building on a few deteriorating pylons at Pier 30-32 wasn’t going to be the slam dunk as the NBA basketball team thought it would be. The drawing of what the UFO looking saucer arena would be with a bay window that would put any see through glass around here to shame overlooking the bay, Bay Bridge, and what would be the Warriors former home the East Bay was rejected for it’s size by registered voters in San Francisco in the size of 20,000 ballots whom have spoken loudly asking for a measure that asks voters to control the height of a new Warriors arena.

The main protest is that San Francisco residents do not want any of the proposed projects by the Warriors to block or be over sized in blocking the waterfront bayviews, “it’s difficult to build an arena over the water when we’re replacing two crumbling piers that are dilapidated and falling into the bay, we never said this was going to be easy” said Ballard. A San Francisco ballot measure that asks city voters should there be height control to not only the Warriors proposed 12 story new arena but also the planning of a 17 story luxury condo and ten story hotel to be built across the street from Piers 30-32 at the Embarcadero.

Jim Stearns spokesman for the height control ballots says any confusion over this issue between voters and City Hall should be cleared up after more than 20,000 ballots were double the minimum of 10,000 to qualify to get the measure on the ballot, “there’s been a disconnect between City Hall and the voters about waterfront height limits. We’re confident the voters want to have a say in what is developed there” said Steans.

Some of the voters or city residents do not want a Warriors arena at the piers at all but at the very least they want an arena with limitations to what was proposed in the original Warriors blueprints. The drawing of the structure left very little doubt that the hotel, condo or the arena should have height limitations according to those who signed the ballots. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee who called the new arena “a legacy” to his administration has backed off that stance and has recently said that it is up to the voters of San Francisco what the future of the waterfront should look like.

After the realizing the city voters are ready to squash any over sized building at the piers the Warriors go back to the architect and will redesign a new arena that will hopefully satisfy the residents height issues. The Warriors were hoping to have the arena done by 2017 but now have set their completion date at 2018 by that time it is expected that the Warriors will have both sides of the argument on board fully.

The Warriors have met with community leaders for and against the project on Tuesday at Pier 1 showing the Warriors schedule and the steps to be taken over the course of the months between now and 2018 on the development of the arena, condos, and hotel. There is little doubt after the Warriors backtracked on a new completion date that they will also introduce new height sizes for the three buildings.

The Warriors are concerned that the size reduction might cut into their business profits as the hotel and condo were designated to off set the new arena costs. While Ballard said piers 30-32 were dilapidating the Pier 1 meeting no doubt will aim to settle the arena being built at piers 30-32 regardless of the piers condition.

Meanwhile the ballot measure that will ask voters if there should be a height limitation on any new buildings at the pier 30-32 site will be on the June 2014 election ballot. It might be all for not as the Warriors sound like their prepared to adjust the size to satisfy the voters and waterfront residents so they can get the downsized project off the ground at a shorter version. The Warriors want to get an idea of when groundbreaking day is going to be they might have to go to the voter to find that out.

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

Warriors commentary: With upcoming road trip Warriors can close out first half big before All-Star break

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Daivd Zimor

OAKLAND–What we saw with the Warriors in their last game on the road against Utah is a team that was playing without David Lee. His presence on offense has been a really big boost for this Warriors team he’s one of the best inside scorers around basketball and one of the best in the NBA.

There was a reason why he was named to the Olympic roster just a couple of weeks ago and it was because of that ability, losing him definitely changes how the Warriors approach these games because they simply don’t have the same inside scoring presence without him. What happened in Utah was very interesting with the Warriors bench being thin with injuries to Jermaine O’Neal, Festus Ezeli and Lee.

Andrew Bogut has had a great week and a half as it is against Utah he was scoring points he was typical on his impact on defense but it was the offense that was really surprising. With Bogut everyone knew he had some kind of offensive skill but the Warriors haven’t called on him all that much. The Warriors do like to call on him as a passer but when we saw him in the last game he was somthing else he would hit a 19 footer with his foot on the three point line and it would have been a three.

Lee was running, he was cutting he was making moves around the basket, he was playing that brand of basketball that made him one of the top picks in the NBA way back when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks if the Warriors can get a little bit more of that kind of play out of Bogut they would be tough to stop.

Granted Utah is not a great test case because Utah is a lousy team but Bogut was showing some offensive skills that we really haven’t seen from him this season but we haven’t seen this all in one game. If the Warriors can coach that out of him every now then that would be a weapon other teams would have to worry about.

It’s worth noting that Bogut had that big game and Stephen Curry has the highest scoring night of the year with 44 points. In the last few games Bogut has really been the key for this Warriors, Curry is doing his typical Curry stuff and their starting to come around the defense is starting to come into play and we’ll see how they do in this final stretch towards the All-Star break they have a game against Charlotte, Miami, and Phoenix so they have some winnable games.

Miami is not a sure thing but if they beat Miami and they seemed to match up pretty well against them and whenever they play Miami they get up for it, it’s one of those things they rise to the occasion. Going into the All-Star break their 29-19. They have four games until the break they can win three out of those four and their capable of winning all four. This is an important stretch to put the Warriors in solid footing.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk Radio

Curry, Bogut steer Dubs past Jazz

Published on by jhawkes511 Comment

By Joe Hawkes

SALT LAKE CITY — So much for the Warriors inability to win back-to-games.

Stephen Curry scored a season-high and game-high 44 points, and Andrew Bogut scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, helping Golden State to a 95-90 victory over the Utah Jazz Friday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

Curry recorded his fifth 40-point game of his career, all on the road.

Golden State (29-19) picked up back-to-back wins for the first time since their recent 10-game winning streak in three weeks. Golden State took out the Los Angeles Clippers. 111-92, Thursday night at ORACLE Arena.

Curry was just deadly, shooting 14-of-26 from the field, including 8-of-13 from 3-point range.

Harrison Barnes, starting for the injured David Lee, scored eight points, but shot 2-for-10 from the field. Lee sat out tonight’s game with a left shoulder and hip injury. The Warriors are off until Tuesday when they host the Charlotte Bobcats (21-27), which will allow their power forward time to get healthy.

Klay Thompson had 11 points, but was a dreadful 3-of-20 from the floor, while Andre Iguodala finished 1-of-6 from the field with four points.

Golden State held the edge in points in the paint, outscoring Utah 36-28 down low.

Alec Burks led all scorers for Utah with 26 points off the bench, while Enes Kanter had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Jazz (16-30).

Diante Garrett chipped in 13 points off the bench.

Golden State swept the season series from Utah (3-0), and have won consecutive games in Salt Lake City for the first time since 1981.

“We knew we need to win this game to validate last night’s (against the Clippers) game,” said Curry after the game.

Warriors arena at piers 30-32: Polls show only 38% support new arena when luxury condo and hotel are thrown in

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–A San Francisco poll that was commissioned by the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club that was done by J. Moore Methods of Sacramento found that of San Franciscans polled when asked if a new 12 story Warriors arena that included a 17 story luxury condo tower and a 10 story luxury hotel only 38 percent of those polled favored the project, 53 percent voted thumbs down.

When KPIX CBS 5 asked if a Warriors waterfront arena would be supported 60 percent polled in favor before the condo and hotel were tossed in the mix in the December poll. In another December poll only 36 percent were in favor of any new development idea at Piers 30-32 among 400 possible voters.

The Warriors are determined to get the new arena done which has a target date of 2017 but the Warriors new arena may have to get a stamp of approval from such groups as the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, State Lands Commission and Army Corps of Engineers. There are many hoops for the Warriors to jump through before ground is broken.

One of the first is the environmental impact report, the report is essential in getting the building certified before construction, the evaluation of wild life and living animals land and in the bay have to be studied. So far the study has not even started and is reportedly behind schedule. Permits for construction can not be started without the environmental study. Once ground breaking starts the completion schedule calls for two years to finish the job.

The Warriors are looking at 2015 to get the project going and finished by 2017 the way things are going the schedule could be hung up by the environmental impact alone. According to Warriors owner Joe Lacob if the team has to wait another year for the project completion say 2018 then so be it, “It’s going to be a challenge, it’s about getting it right, if it takes a year longer, it takes a year longer.” said Lacob.

According to reports the Warriors will have to spend upwards to $180 million double the original figures to fix Piers 30-32, team officials insist that extra public monies will not go into the $1 billion arena. The following costs for the projects read like a laundry list of items that the Warriors must achieve while the clock to meet the 2017 deadline ticks, 2.3 acre property assessment at $30 million, rent credits for the property at $2 million per year or the Warriors can lump out at $30.4 million, and proceeds from bonds which is from property taxes priced at $50-60 million.

The heighth of the building is what got potential voters worried, the Warriors wanted a 12 story sized arena measuring in at 125 feet high on reconstructed piers, the Warriors are planning to recoup on their investment by building a 175 foot condominium and 105 foot hotel across the street from the arena when they can book rooms and sell condos. In November Propositions B and C which were called the 8 Washington condos were rejected rather handily by San Francisco voters.

The rejection of the building of a new condo tower and luxury hotel in props B and C is almost identical to what the Warriors would ask voters to vote on again after they turned down the B and C measures last year to build a new hotel. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee campaigned with two other former San Francisco Mayors Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom for the project with support from the business community and a large number of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the measure still lost.

Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos who is against the new arena at the waterfront said that the residents of the waterfront not only want to retain the beauty of the views of the Embarcadero but the project is a just for profit measure that won’t benefit local residents or the city. Agnos also said at the time that Warriors owners Lacob and Peter Gruber who do not live in the city only care about profit and not the benefit of the neighborhood. When propositions B and C lost in November no one from the Warriors would admit to Agnos’ “theory” that voters will look at the Warriors arena in the same way similar to props B and C, Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard alluded that the propositions and what the Warriors want are two seperate ideas.

Ken Gimblin is covernig the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings arena developments for Sportstalk Radio

All-Star Snub Lee States Case As Warriors Dismantle Division-Leading Clippers

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

Coach Mark Jackson accused his Golden State Warriors of playing down to their opponents amidst a stretch that has seen the Warriors drop six of their last nine, a cold streak that reached its lowest point with a Tuesday night 88-85 loss at home to the lowly Washington Wizards. His team played to the level of its opponent against Thursday night. Luckily for Jackson, the team on the opponents’ bench happened to be one of the best of the West. The Warriors (28-19) rebounded from Tuesday’s embarrassment in a big way, thumping the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers 111-92 at Oracle Arena in a game where the outcome practically never came under doubt.

The Dubs big men manhandled their Southern California foes, with David Lee and Andrew Bogut combining for 36 points and 28 rebounds for their second-straight win over in-state rivals Los Angeles (33-16). The Warriors also downed the Clippers on Christmas day in a more physical 105-103 win and lead the season series 2-1.

Lee, making a statement after being overlooked for a reserve role on the Western Conference All-Star squad after spots were announced Thursday, tied Stephen Curry for a Warriors-best 22 points on the night and chipped in 11 boards for the double-double. Bogut connected on seven of eleven field goal attempts for 14 points, including a nifty desperation chuck with the shot clock expiring that drew a smile from the Aussie center, and pulled down 17 rebounds. His 17 boards were second only to Clippers center DeAndre Jordan who reeled 20 down off the rim. All-world talent Blake Griffin ended the contest with 27 points for Los Angeles to lead all scorers. Guard Darren Collison netted 22 starting in place of All-Star Chris Paul, out with a shoulder injury since January 3rd but expected to return as early as next week.

The Warriors raced out to an early 17-6 lead just under halfway through the first quarter then held the 11-point edge leading 32-21 to close the quarter. The home team continued to add to the lead in the second before the Clippers put together their best run off the night in the final five minutes of the half. Trailing Golden State 56-40, L.A. closed out the period outscoring the Warriors 16-8 to trail 64-56. The Clippers comeback ended prematurely with the Warriors smothering their visitors 26-11 then closed out the game despite being outscored 25-21 in the fourth quarter for the 111-92 final margin.

The win came at a desperate time for the Warriors, who were in danger of dropping back six games in the standings to the Clippers. The Dubs stand four games back in third place in the division after being leapfrogged by the red-hot Phoenix Suns, winners of four-straight and seven of their last ten. The Warriors have a prime opportunity to string together consecutive wins for the first time since their historic ten-game win-streak was snapped earlier in the month when they face the Utah Jazz, who boast the second-least wins in the Western Conference (16) Friday night in the second half of back-to-back games. For coach Jackson, the hope is that the Warriors can right a spin that has seen the Dubs go 4-6 over their last ten while playing above the level of their opponents, the Northeast Division’s last place Jazz.