Category: NBA

Headline Sports with Barbara Mason: 49ers will have to step it up against Green Bay on Sunday; Raiders squeeze by winless Bengals; plus more

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sfgate photo: San Francisco 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo looks to pass in 4th quarter of Niners’ 36-26 win over Arizona Cardinals in NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, November 17, 2019.

On Headline Sports with Barbara:

#1 The San Francisco 49ers cut it close in their last two games vs. Seattle and Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals in a last minute comeback touchdown to squeak it out.

#2 The Oakland Raiders just got by the Cincinnati Bengals in a 17-10 win. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw 25-29, 292 yards, one touchdown, and an interception.

#3 A tough loss in New Orleans as the Golden State Warriors dropped a 108-100 contest to the Pelicans Sunday but tonight they finally pulled off a win against the Memphis Grizzlies 114-95 ending a seven game loss streak.

#4 The Sacramento Kings just got by the Boston Celtics 100-99. The Kings have to thank Buddy Hield, who scored 35 points on Sunday at Golden 1 Center.

#5 The #3 Stanford women came up with a huge victory over Gonzaga 76-70 in overtime. Lexie Hull scored 20 points of 22 after halftime.

Join Barbara for Headline Sports each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings win 5 of 7, look to keep it going tonight against the Suns

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Photo credit: skysports.com

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings have won five of their last seven games. What has been the difference for the Kings — coaching, accurate shooting, or great defense?

#2 The Kings just got by the Celtics on Sunday 100-99. How stunning was that?

#3 The Kings’ Buddy Hield responded with 35 points. He was the deal breaker in the Kings’ win on Sunday.

#4 In the first quarter, the Kings’ Buddy Hield and Nemanja Bjelica had nine and seven points and the Kings had a 30-18 lead coming out of the first quarter on Sunday on the Celtics.

#5 The Kings host the Phoenix Suns tonight night at Golden 1 Center. Charlie O sets this one up for us.

Sacramento Kings podcasts with Charlie O are heard each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Despite nine healthy players, Warriors fall to the Pelicans 108-100

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors’ miseries continued Sunday night as the team, who has just nine players available, lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 108-100 at Smoothie King Center.

Warriors starting point guard, D’Angelo Russell, suffered a sprained right thumb Friday night in the loss to Boston. Russell will be out for the next two weeks. As a result, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to redo his starting lineup. He had Draymond Green start at the point guard position. He was joined in the backcourt by Alec Burks. Eric Paschall and Glenn Robinson III started at forward, and Willie Cauley-Stein was at the center position.

The Warriors were competitive in the first quarter. They trailed 26-23. The Pelicans’ JJ Redick led the Pelicans to the three-point advantage. The Pelicans outscored the Warriors 29-26 in the second period to finish the first half of play leading 55-49.

The Pelicans continued to control the game as they built a 17-point lead. The Warriors got things going as they cut the deficit to three 77-74 early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors did not have enough firepower in the lineup to overtake the Pelicans down the stretch. The Pelicans held on to win 108-100.

Game Notes and Stats: The star of the night for Golden State was rookie Eric Paschall. The young man, who played college basketball at Vilanova, continued to impress as he tallied 30 points and had 7 rebounds. The backup point guard, Ky Bowman, knocked down 19. He was 3 for 7 from 3-point range. Bowman had 4 assists in the game. Marquese Chriss, coming off the bench, had 10 points and 7 boards. Glenn Robinson had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Draymond Green had a tough night as a point guard. Green scored seven, had 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. He was also charged with his fourth technical foul of the season.

The Pelicans had six players in double figures. JJ Redick led his team with 26 points. Redick connected on six three-pointers. The other guard, Jrue Holiday, had trouble scoring throughout most of the game. Holiday caught fire late and ended with 22 for the night. Nickeil Alexander-Walker knocked down 19. He made 5 threes. Nicolo Melli had 16. E’Tuan Moore had 10. Six-foot-11 inch Jaxson Hayes, making his first start in the NBA, had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. He also blocked three shots.

After the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had this to say:

“There are some funky lineups that are out there because of our injuries, and we’re short on shooting … If you can’t spread the floor shooting, you’ve got to be able to play with pace and make all the cuts. You’ve got to play faster. You have to get stops defensively so you can run.”

“I didn’t think we did a very good job of making New Orleans guard,” Kerr added. “We just kind of took quick shots.”

With the loss, the Warriors fell to 2-12. The Pelicans improved to 4-9.

Up Next: The Warriors meet the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night. Game time will be at 5 pm PST.

Kings stun the Celtics 100-99 at home

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — Sunday was going to be a test for the Sacramento Kings. Their Sunday opponent was the Boston Celtics. The Celtics have started out the season 10-1 and were on a 10-game win streak. It has been well-documented how the Kings started their season. However, the Kings have played much better as of late. The Kings were 4-7 on the year and looking for an upset at home. The tip-off was set for 12:30 PM PST in Sacramento.

The Kings played one of the best quarters of the season to open up the game. Led by Buddy Hield and Nemanja Bjeilica, who had 9 and 7 points, respectively, the Kings would jump out to an early lead 30-18. Leading the way for the Celtics was Jaylen Brown, who had a Celtics-leading 6 points heading into the second quarter. The Kings played really well throughout the opening quarter. The key for the Kings has been the defensive play. When the Kings play good defense, the rest seems to fall into place.

In the second quarter, the Kings didn’t play as well but part of that has to be contributed to the Celtics hitting their shots. Leading the way for the Celtics in the second was Semi Ojeleye. Semi had 8 points in the second to help bring the Celtics closer to the Kings. Going into halftime, the Kings remained in the lead at 50-46. Buddy Hield continued his good play finishing the half at 16 points. Headed into the second half the Kings were looking to keep the game under their control and not let the Celtics flip the script.

In the second half, the Kings were looking to stay on track. It would turn out to be a fairly competitive back and forth third quarter. The Kings didn’t melt down, which has been an issue in the third this year. However, they were unable to maintain the lead. The Celtics managed to put up 29 points in the third compared to the Kings’ 21 to take a 75-71. Buddy Hield continued his torrid stretch from the field, adding 11 points to his total in the third.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Kings had a shot to win the game against one of the best teams in the NBA. Both teams would trade baskets and keep even through the quarter. The game would come down to the final few minutes of action. With 36 seconds left in the game, the Kings’ Buddy Hield threw the ball out of bounds to make it 99-98 Celtics with the ball. The Celtics were unable to score and Marcus Smart had a foul on the Kings’ Holmes. He made both his free throws and the Celtics failed to score on the other end for a Kings win.

It was a great victory for the Kings, who snapped the Celtics’ win streak and improved to 5-7 on the year. The next game for the Kings will be Tuesday against the Suns at home. Game time set for 7:00 PM PST.

Kings come up two points short, lose to the Lakers 99-97

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LAK 2
Graphic: @NBCS

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings trailed the LA Lakers 99-97 with 5.5 seconds to go in the game on Friday night at Staples Center. After designing a play during a timeout, most of the crowd expected the ball to go to Bogdan Bogdanovic in order for “Bogi” to attempt a game-winning 3-point shot. Instead, the inbounds pass went to Harrison Barnes who slipped or was tripped on his way to the bucket.

Barnes went up in the air and was met head-on by Anthony Davis who blocked his potential layup. There was a lot of body contact, but because Barnes was out of control from the slip (or trip) no foul was called. Time expired and the Kings (4-7) had lost the game by two points.

I am now going to interject an editorial opinion. If the play had been the other way around with Davis driving on the hoop, slipping and Barnes making contact, a foul would have been called and Davis would have gone to the line to shoot two free throws. That is the inequity of officiating in the NBA. If you are a superstar and playing on your home court, the calls will always go your way. It is a major flaw that needs to be fixed but don’t hold your breath. No changes are coming anytime soon.

Spotlight on the Lakers (10-2)

  • LeBron James scored a game-high 29 points and made it a double-double game by dishing out 11 assists. He also played a game-high 38 minutes and 40 seconds. Not bad for an old guy.
  • Anthony Davis added 17 points and blocked four shots. His most important blocked shot came at the end of the game.
  • Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 16 points in just over 24 minutes of playing time. He went 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
  • Kyle Kuzma came off the bench to put up 13 points and hauling in five rebounds.
  • The Lakers outscored the Kings in the paint 42-36.
  • LA also won the battle of 2nd Chance Points 15-5.

Focus on the Kings

  • Buddy Hield led the Kings scoring attack with 21 points. Hield shot 6-for-15 from the floor. All six of his baskets were 3-pointers.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic played almost 37 minutes on Friday night. He scored 18 points shooting 7-for-13 from the floor.
  • Richaun Holmes had a big game on offense and defense. Holmes scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the Lakers.

Up Next

The Kings will host the Boston Celtics at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday at 12:30 PM.

The Lakers host the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

Warriors lose a hard-fought game to the Celtics, 105-100

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO — The young Warriors, with six players not available due to injury, gave the Boston Celtics all they could handle Friday night. The game wasn’t decided until the last few seconds of the fourth quarter. The Celtics went on a late 11-0 run en route to a 105-100 win.

The Warriors lost their best scorer, D’Angelo Russell, in the third quarter when he sustained a sprained right thumb. He went to the locker room and did not return. Rookie Eric Paschall suffered a right hand injury, but he was able to stay in the game.

The Celtics entered Chase Center with the best record in the NBA 10-1. They were facing the team with the worst record, the Warriors (2-10). The way the game went, one wouldn’t have known which team had the best record. The Warriors scrapped all the way. They played defense, and every Warrior on the floor gave his all in the losing effort. Their effort likely pleased head coach Steve Kerr. They suffered a blowout loss Wednesday night against the Lakers in LA. They bounced back Friday night and put everything they had on the floor on Friday.

The Warriors played a very exciting first quarter. They outscored Boston 32-23. They led by 15 points 25-10 midway through the quarter. The Celtics bounced back, but weren’t able to catch the Warriors as they trailed by nine at the end of the period. The tide turned in Boston’s favor in the second quarter. The Celtics’ defense held the Warriors to 19 points. The Celtics scored 29 and finished the first half with a one-point advantage 52-51. Jayson Tatum led the Celtic attack with 17 points. Marcus Smart had nine. Jaylen Brown 8, and Kemba Walker, the team’s leading scorer, had 6. The Warriors were led by Eric Paschall’s 11, D’Angelo Russell 10, and Alec Burks 9.

The Celtics held the Warriors to 20 points in the third quarter. They scored 24 to increase the lead to 76-71 at the end of the period.

The Warriors refused to roll over. They played hard, and players such as Ky Bowman, Omari Spellman, Alec Burks, and Eric Paschall made vital buckets to keep the Warriors in the game. They tied the game at 80 and again at 88. The Warriors owned a five-point advantage 97-92 with  two minutes and 29 seconds left to play. It was at this point that the Celtics went on an 11-0 run to lead 103-97. Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker were the key Celtics making plays during the 11-0 run. The Warriors made a three to trail 1-3-100 with 3.5 seconds left. Boston made two free throws to ice the win.

Game Notes: Alec Burks led the Warriors with 20 points. Eric Paschall had 16 points and 8 boards. Draymond Green had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell finished with 12 points, Willie Cauley-Stein had 10 points and 8 boards. Omari Spellman had 8, Ky Bowman had 6, and Jordan Poole had 4.

Boston was led by Jayson Tatum’s 24 points, Kemba Walker found his game in the fourth quarter, and he finished with 20 points. Jaylen Brown had 22 points, and Marcus Smart had 15 points.

The Warriors lost their sixth in a row and are now 2-11 for the year. The Celtics won their 10th in a row and are now 10-1.

Up Next: The Warriors travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans Sunday at 4 pm PT.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Washington sending scout to watch Kaepernick practice; 49ers look to get back in win column Sunday against Arizona; plus more

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photo from tmz: Seeking work in the NFL Colin Kaepernick will be trying out his handwork this week in his quest for an NFL job.

On Headlines with Tony Renteria:

#1 Washington is one of the NFL teams that will be taking a look at quarterback Colin Kaepernick for his tryouts to get back on an NFL team. It was mentioned that Washington might not be interested in Kaepernick because they have rookie Dwayne Haskins as a team starter.

#2 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals next. It’s just one day less to rest as the 49ers are coming off that tough loss on Monday Night Football to the Seattle Seahawks. After a loss like that, how quick do you see the 49ers regrouping?

#3 The Oakland Raiders just edged out the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football last week 26-24. The Raiders’ Derek Carr threw for 218 yards and went 21 for 31 with one touchdown.

#4 The Sacramento Kings are believing in themselves. They have won four of their last five games and are getting great offensive production from Bogdan Boganovic, Buddy Heild, Nemanja Bjelica, and Harrison Barnes.

#5 After former Houston Astros pitcher Mike Fiers said that the Astros were stealing signs during the 2017 season and 2017 World Series, how far down does the Astros’ credibility go down from here?

Tony Renteria does Headline Sports each Thursday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Lakers put down Warriors 120-94; 5th straight loss for S.F. team

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photo from sfgate.com: Golden State Warriors’ D’Angelo Russell, right, dribbles around Los Angeles Lakers’ Avery Bradley, center, on a screen from Draymond Green during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 13

By Jerry Feitelberg

The undermanned Golden State Warriors fell to the bigger Los Angeles Lakers in LA on Wednesday night by a score of 120-94. The Warriors, down to nine healthy players due to the injury to Damian Lee’s hand, gave the Lakers a tussle for about the first six minutes of play in the first quarter. The Lakers were too big, and the Warriors could not protect the rim.

The Warriors, still without Steph Curry, Kevon Looney, Alen Smailagic, Are having a painful time scoring points and keeping the opposition from scoring. The Warriors are now 2-10 for the year. The silver lining is that the young players are learning on the job how to play in the NBA.

In the first quarter, with the Warriors trailing 17-15, the Lakers went on a 12-0 run to make it 29-15. They continued to outplay the young Warriors and finished the quarter with a 12-point lead 38-26. The Warriors kept pace with the Lakers in the second quarter. Each team scored 29 points, and the Lakers finished the first half leading by 12 points 67-55. The Warriors’ scoring was led by D’Angelo Russell with 17. Eric Paschall was second with 9, and Willie Cauley-Stein had eight. LeBron James led the Lakers with 19. Kyle Kuzman and Dwight Howard each had 9.

The Lakers went on a 10-2 run early in the third period to increase the lead to nineteen 79-60. The Warriors could not get anything going, and the quarter ended with LA in control 98-82. The Lakers outscored the Warriors 22-12 in the fourth quarter to win by twenty-six 120-94.

Game Notes: The Warriors, as mentioned above, played the game with nine healthy players. The Dubs hade five players in double figures. D’Angelo Russell led the team with 21. Rookie Eric Paschall continued to impress everyone with play as he recorded 15 points and three rebounds. Jordan Poole had 11. Cauley-Stein and Draymond Green each had ten. Alec Burks, coming off the bench, had nine.

The Lakers also had five players in double figures. LeBron James, in 26 minutes of action, knocked down 23 points, 6 boards, and 12 assists. Kyle Kuzma had 22. Former Warrior JaVale McGee also had a big night as he torched his old mates for 18points and 17 rebounds. Big Dwight Howard contributed 15 in helper the Lakers win. Former Warrior Quinn Cook finished with 10.

The stats showed the Warriors shot 40.5% from the floor. They made 36 buckets in 89 tries. The Lakers had the same number of shots, but they made 48. They were 54% from the floor. The Lakers outrebounded the Warriors 51-33.  The Lakers improved to 9-2 for the year.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face another tough opponent, the Boston Celtics, Friday night at the Chase Center. The Celtics have won nine in a row and are 9-1 for the season. The game will be at 7:30 pm

Kings win again, downing Portland 107-99 on Tuesday night

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SAC 11-12

By Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO — On Tuesday night, the Kings played their first game since learning that star point guard De’Aaron Fox was going to be unavailable to the team for an extended period of time. Fox suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain, which usually implies ligament damage, at the end of practice on Monday. Fox is currently on crutches and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. How long Fox will be gone has yet to be determined.

NBA observers immediately predicted “doom and gloom”

The national experts who cover the NBA almost immediately declared that the injury to Fox ended any chance the Kings had of making a playoff run this season. The team had stumbled out of the starting gate losing their first five games but seemed to be putting things together after going 2-1 on their first road trip to the East Coast.

“Those in the know” felt that the team would not be able to overcome the loss of Fox who is their uptempo playmaker. Fox is also a key scorer for the team when they need a boost on the scoreboard.

Tuesday night the Kings had to face the Portland Trail Blazers in their first test without Fox on the floor. Sacramento had lost to the Blazers 122-112 at home in the second of the season.

Portland tried to take control in the first half

The Trail Blazers came out in the first quarter shooting 50% from the floor and 33% from 3-point range. The Kings really struggled as they shot just 34.6% from the field and a miserable 16.7% from downtown. What kept Sacramento in the game was their volume of shots.

Portland hit 9 of 18 shots in the opening period while the Kings put in 9 of 26 attempts from the field. The Blazers held just a 24-21 lead when the first quarter came to a close.

The Kings’ shooting and defense improved in the second quarter, and they matched the Blazers in almost every statistical category. Portland was up by only three points, 49-46, at the half.

Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts said after the game: “Sacramento didn’t shoot the ball particularly well – neither team shot the ball well in the first half. I felt like we should have had a bigger lead at halftime.”

Could the Kings overcome their Third Quarter nemesis?

The Kings have experienced difficulty in the third quarter in the majority of their games so far this season. They have had a tendency to start the period slowly and then watch their opponents put them in a position where they have to play catch up in the fourth quarter.

That did not happen on Tuesday night. Sacramento outscored Portland 35-21 in the third period. They accomplished that by shooting an outstanding 57.9% (11-for-19) overall and sinking 2 of 5 (40%) from long range. They also converted 11 of 13 opportunities from free throw line.

At the end of 36 minutes of play, Sacramento led Portland 81-70.

Portland Head Coach Terry Stotts: “They got off to a good start in the third quarter and built a lead and we really couldn’t recover from that initial burst at the start of the third quarter.”

Portland did not give up in the fourth

The Blazers outscored the Kings 29-26 in the final 12 minutes and cut the Sacramento lead down to five points with 2:51 to go in the game. Bjelica hit a 26-foot, 3-point shot to give his team an eight-point lead. The Kings would go on to win the game 107-99.

The Kings record improves to 4-6 and they have now won 4 of their last 5 games. Portland’s record drops to 4-7 on the young season.

After the game, Luke Walton wanted to talk “D”

“I want to talk about our defense. It’s been what we’ve been preaching about every day since day one of training camp and I’m the first to admit, it needs to get a lot better. But that’s why – not only tonight but I feel like slowly even if our numbers haven’t showed it, guys are starting to understand and really make steps as far as individual defense and team defense. Tonight, we started the game, we couldn’t make anything – great shooters, wide-open shots – and that’s why defense is important.”

Focus on the Kings

  • Bogdan Bogdanovic was the Kings top scorer. He came off the bench to score 25 points and dish out 10 assists. “Bogi” scored 25 of the Kings 36 bench points.
  • Buddy Hield added 20 points in 37 minutes of playing time. Hield did not have a great night shooting just 7-for-21, but he hit big shots when they were needed.
  • Nemanja Bjelica recorded a double-double scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Blazers top performers

  • To no one’s surprise, Damian Lillard scored a game-high 27 points. “Dame” went 13-for-14 from the free throw line. He also played almost 38 minutes. He is truly an incredible player.
  • CJ McCollum added 24 points shooting a very nice 11-for-21 from the floor.
  • Hassan Whiteside had another nice game against the Kings as he put up 17 points and hauled in seven rebounds.

Up next

The Kings will be off until Friday night when they will face the Lakers at Staples Center in LA.

The Blazers head home for the back end of a back-to-back with the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings going for their fourth win in five games tonight in Sacramento

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sacbee.com file photo: The Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox drives on the Toronto Raptors defense on Nov 6th game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Fox is out with an ankle injury for unknown amount of time.

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings have won three of their last four games, including a win over the Atlanta Hawks 121-109. Were these games a matter of surprise wins for Sacramento or just hard work starting to pay off for the Kings?

#2 The Sacramento Kings’ Buddy Hield scored 22 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points in the game against the Hawks.

#3 The game was on the Hawks floor, and try as they may, the Hawks could barely keep up with the Kings. The Kings have some very quick players and the Hawks lost by 12

#4 Talk about the Kings defense. They seemed to maintain the Hawks throughout the game and were able to establish winning and their defense worked in the fourth quarter.

#5 The Kings host the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night at Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento. You’ve seen them win on this road trip. Could their odds go up a little bit for Tuesday night’s game having the home floor?

Charlie O does Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com