Category: NBA

Warriors drop opening pre-season game to Los Angeles Lakers 123-101

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sfgate.com photo

by Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO- The new-look Golden State Warriors lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 123-101 Saturday night at the Chase Center. It was the first pro basketball game in the new arena, and since it was a pre-season game, the results do not count. The Warriors are missing several players from their championship run.

Kevin Durant has gone to Brooklyn even though he will not play this season due to injury. Klay Thompson will not be available until after the All-Star game in February. His scoring and defensive play will be missed. The Warriors traded Andre Iguodala to Memphis, and Shaun Livingston retired. Backup guard Quinn Cook, who was a free agent, signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers are also a new-look team. They traded for Anthony Davis. They signed Dwight Howard. They re-signed former Warrior JaVale McGee. They also have Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo returning.

The Lakers won the first quarter 33-20. The Warriors outscored them in the second quarter 31-26. The Lakers won the third and fourth quarters to win easily 123-101.

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors’ starters, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and D’Angelo Russell, each played about 17 minutes in the game. Draymond did not score, but he had 7 boards and 5 assists. Russell scored four points in his time on the court. Curry had 18 points and made one three in five attempts.

The Warriors bench players had the following results. Rookie Eric Paschall played 24 minutes and had 11 points, 3 boards, and an assist.  Rookie Jordan Poole helped out with 17. Glen Robinson had four points. Jacob Evans III played 18 minutes and had 9 points. Damian Lee knocked down 9 in 15 minutes of action. Third-year veteran Marquese Chiss had 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 13 minutes of play.

The W’s were missing Willie Cauley-Stein due to an ankle injury. Kevon Looney did not play either.

The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis. Davis scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds in 18 minutes of work. LeBron James had 15. Former Warrior JaVale McGee had 10 points and 16 boards in his 16 minutes on the floor. Dwight Howard added nine, and guard Alex Caruso had 10.

The Warriors have their work cut out for them as they are trying to rebuild. It will take time for the new players to mesh with the veterans. Many questions are surrounding the Warriors. Will the new players fit in? Will the Warriors be good on defense? Can coach Kerr and the coaching staff get them ready for the regular season? Will they make the playoffs?

The Western Division has improved. The Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets as well as the Lakers have all made significant improvements. Will the Warriors be competitive? These questions will be answered throughout the 82-game season. One pre-season loss does not make a season. Those questions will be answered when the bell ring to start the 2019-2020 season.

 

More breakfast basketball on Saturday from India, but same results for the Kings

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Mumbai game 2a
Fox and Hield on the break Photo: @SacramentoKings

By Charlie O. Mallonee @Charlieo1320

The second and final contest of the inaugural NBA India Games was played on Saturday morning  California time and the Kings came up short in that game losing to the Indiana Pacers 130-106. Frankly, game two lacked the enthusiasm and execution that was seen in game one.

Since game one required overtime to decide the winner, the players spent more time on the court than either coach planned on before the tipoff. With so many players recording big minutes in game one, that certainly alerted the playing rotation for both teams on Saturday.

The starters looked sluggish

mumbai bollywood
Mumbai Bollywood Night Photo: @SacramentoKings

The players participated in a big “Bollywood Night” that was held in their honor after the game on Friday. Couple that with the players being just about 12 hours off their regular time zones and having to deal with all the additional commitments beyond just the games — fatigue became a major factor that had to be battled in the final game on this long trip.

Sacramento had a shorter bench which meant their players had to play more minutes and their execution reflected that situation.

Bottom line, this game looked like an NBA preseason game. The second half featured many players who will be wearing the jerseys of Ft. Wayne and Stockton of the G-League later this month.

New Kings to watch

Kyle Guy — The Kings’ second-round draft pick- saw his first game action on Saturday. He played just under 20-minutes shooing 2-for-7 (one 3-pointer) while sinking 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. The rookie grabbed two rebounds and dished out three assists. Guy finished with nine points.

Caleb Swanigan came off the bench and did some banging under the boards for Sacramento. It did not take long for him to make his presence known. Swanigan scored four points, pulled down four rebounds, blocked two shots and added three assists in little over 17-minutes on the court. He did commit five fouls — which will have to be addressed — but Swanigan made a mark in the game.

Wenyen Gabriel  — another of the Kings’ two-way players — played 15-minutes scoring six points. He shot only 1-for-5 from the floor (3-pointer), but he converted 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Gabriel also added four rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal.

SAC leaders

  • Scoring: Buddy Hield 17 points
  • Rebounding: Dewayne Dedmon 7 rebounds
  • Assists: De’Aaron Fox 6
  • Steals: Justin James 3
  • Blocked Shots: Dedmon 2/ Swanigan 2

Significant Stats

  • The Pacers attempted 94 shots in the game to the Kings 81
  • IND shot 52.1% overall; SAC shot 38.3% for the game
  • The Kings went to the free-throw line 41 times to just 18 trips for the Pacers
  • The Kings were outrebounded 51-35
  • Assists: IND 35 SAC 24
  • Turnovers: Pacers 20 (22 SAC points) Kings 19 (20 IND points)
  • The Biggie – Points in the Paint: Pacers 60 Kings 28 (oh my)

Air Drake

Approximately two hours after the game ended, the Kings boarded “Air Drake” (their charter belongs to the rapper Drake — check it out online). They will take about 48 hours to readjust to being in California, and then, they will get ready for their third preseason game of the year. That game will be with the Phoenix Suns at the Golden 1 Center on Thursday night.

NBA Basketball in Mumbai: Pacers beat Kings 132-132 in OT

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Mumbai final
Photo/Graphic: NBC Sports California

The NBA goes to Bollywood!

By Charlie O @Charlieo1320

The first-ever NBA game was played in Mumbai, India on Friday night between the Indiana Pacers and the Sacramento Kings. Well, it was Friday night if you were in Mumbai. If you were in Sacramento, the game tipped off at 6:30 AM, so it was bagels and basketball.

The Game

Much to the chagrin of the coaches and to the delight of the crowd, the game required overtime. The Pacers prevailed in OT 132-131. The Kings’ Buddy Hield put up a long 3-point shot that had a realistic chance of going in, but bounced high off the rim and was put back in by Marvin Bagley for two points at the buzzer. Sacramento fell one point short of causing double overtime.

To say that the players were “gassed” would be a gross understatement. All five of the Indiana starters and three of the Sacramento starting five played 30-minutes or more. Rest assured that neither Nate McMillan nor Luke Walton planned to play any of their players for that long in the first preseason game.

Key Numbers

T.J. Warren — who was traded the Pacers by the Suns in the off-season — was the game’s leading scorer with 30 points. He hit 11-of-18 from the floor and was 5-of-6 from behind the 3-point line.

Domantas Sabonis recorded a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. He made six rebounds on offense and six on defense.

Point Guard Malcolm Brogdon also had a double-double game with 15 points and 14 assists.

Buddy Hield led the Kings’ scoring attack with 28 points. He shot 11-for-20 from the field and converted 4-of-10 from downtown.

Harrison Barnes — fresh off his time with Team USA — put 21 points in the book. Barnes went a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line.

De’Aaron Fox added 15 points and dished out eight assists.

Numbers for concern

Luke Walton cannot be happy that his team was outrebounded 47-30. The Pacers scored 21 second chance points to the Kings’ seven. That is not a winning formula in the NBA.

Nate McMillan will be talking to his team about turnovers. The Pacers turned the ball over 25 times in the contest, which resulted in 25 Sacramento points.

Why India?

The NBA really sees itself as being a worldwide game and marketing force. The league’s goal is to literally market itself around the globe. With a population of over 1.3 billion people, India is a market that cannot be ignored.

Here are a few other facts:

  • More than 3 million fans in India follow the NBA on Facebook.
  • Over 300 live NBA games are available to viewers in India each season. In fact, fans in Sacramento often welcome Indian viewers just before tipoff.
  • The NBA opened an office in Mumbai in 2012 — one of 12 NBA offices outside the USA.
  • The NBA Academy India was opened in 2017 in Delhi to help develop top male and female basketball prospects.

The other reason India is a key target for the association is Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive is originally from Mumbai. It has been his dream to bring the game to his country of origin.

“This is a historic day, but for me it’s a dream come true. I left Bombay (Mumbai) when I was 17 years old and literally I had $50 in my pocket, so to come back here with my NBA team and also bring my friend Herb Simon with his team and to play an actual NBA game is beyond my wildest, wildest imagination,” explained Ranadive.

Ranadive has a vision for the future, “What I see happening is that within the next 10 years, this game, it’ll never surpass cricket as the national pastime, but it’ll be right up there. And hopefully, Commissioner, we can launch a league right here in India. I hope in the next 10 years that we’ll have at least one player that comes out of the system that plays in the NBA. We already see players. And I fully expect that there will be arenas that spring up across the country where we can play these games.”

More from Mumbai tomorrow

The Kings and Pacers will play one more preseason game on Saturday night in Mumbai. The tipoff time in Indiana is 8:30 AM and in Sacramento it is 6:30 AM. If you call yourself a real NBA fan, it is breakfast and basketball tomorrow morning.

Headline Sports podcast Barbara Mason: Raiders simply got ran over by Vikes’ Cook; Jimmy G puts it together even in close games; plus more

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Photo credit: theathletic.com

On Headline Sports podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Minnesota Vikings’ Dalvin Cook, who missed the last two seasons with ACL and hamstring issues, was running for the goal posts against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday when he rushed for 110 yards.

#2 Looking at Cook, you would have never guessed he missed any action after missing two seasons, missing 19 of 34 games. Cook said he never lost any confidence and worked his way back to getting into the Vikings lineups.

#3 The San Francisco 49ers just got by the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 24-20 victory on Sunday. With the win, the 49ers are now 3-0 and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is gaining some of that old swagger back when he first broke in with the 49ers in his first year.

#4 Garoppolo threw for 277 yards and completed 72 percent of his passes. He did suffer two interceptions. Are the interceptions something he should be concerned with since it was a close game and turnovers could hurt a team?

#5 Hard to believe the NBA preseason is starting next week with the new opening of the Chase Center in San Francisco. Will the Golden State Warriors have no trouble adapting to the new building’s characteristics?

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

Sportstalk podcast from Il Fornaio Ristorante in downtown Sacramento on Monday, September 23, 2019

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Photo credit: ilfornaio.com

Cast: Charlie O Mallonee (host and Oakland A’s beat writer), Jeremiah Salmonson (Sacramento Kings reporter), Morris Phillips (Cal Bears reporter), Tony the Tiger Hayes (SF Giants columnist), London Marq (San Jose Earthquakes & Sac Kings reporter), Jeremy Harness (PGA Golf reporter), and Lee Leonard (Producer).

Podcasting from the wonderful and tasteful Il Fornaio Restorante at the Wells Fargo Center on 400 Capital Mall in downtown Sacramento. Our thanks to our host, General Manager Don McNerney, and the wonderful staff at Il Fornaio. You can cater your next event here at Il Fornaio in downtown Sacramento offering pickup and delivery catering services. Call (916) 446-4100 catering reservations within the next 24 hours. For banquets, Il Fornaio offers elegant and semi-private dining spaces with a wide range of specialized memos and services to match our authentic award winning Italian cuisine. For catering, call (916) 446-4139.

On the Sportstalk discussion, the Sacramento Kings’ Luke Walton is looking for Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield, who are both vying for minutes on the floor. Walton says both players compliment each other well. Hield had led the Kings with 20.7 points, five rebounds, 2.5 assists, and shot 42.7 from three-point land. Bogdanovic had offseason surgery last season missed the first 11 games of the Sacramento’s 12. Hield had 14.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds and shot 36 percent.

Vlad Divac, who was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, was noted for his flopping during his playing days and was a big man that helped the Kings during his playing days and later became the team’s general manager. Divac is hoping to bring the Kings to the postseason this year. Marvin Bagley averaged 7.6 points in 25.3 minutes and has pulled down 10.8 rebounds in 36 minutes. Bagley finished last assist percentage at 5.9.

Mumbai India will be the site of the Sacramento Kings’ preseason oasis. The Kings will open with the Indiana Pacers on Friday, October 4th and Saturday, October 5th, then on Thursday, October 10th vs. the Phoenix Suns, Monday, October 14th vs. the Utah Jazz, and in Melbourne, on Wednesday, October 16th, which closes their Mumbai road trip.

 

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Can Garoppolo, 49ers do it again with the offense this Sunday?; How concerned is Gruden about Raider defense?; plus more

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On Headlines Sports podcast with Barbara:

#1 For the San Francisco 49ers, the offense gained 527 yards rushing and the defense stopped the Cincinnati Bengals ground game.

#2 The Raiders couldn’t hold Kansas City’s offense as they scored four touchdowns in the second quarter in the Raiders’ 28-10 loss to the Chiefs.

#3 The Oakland A’s Matt Chapman lets it rip. He belted a home run that help set an Oakland franchise record for 244 home runs surpassing the A’s 1996 all-time record for home runs in a season

#4 San Francisco commuters on the 8 City College Muni line were held hostage to horrible traffic conditions in what may be more congestion issues to come at the home of the Golden State Warriors. The Dave Matthews Band held a concert there last Tuesday, September 10th and Muni pulled most of it’s buses from the 8 City College lines, which forced commuters to find other alternative ways to get home. The move allowed concert goers and traffic to move the public smoothly in and out of Chase, but at the cost of making commuters trying to figure how to get home on another line, that pulled almost all of its service to facilitate concert goers to Chase.

#5 He may be the victim of collusion and never will throw a ball again in the NFL, but former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is being recognized for his recent commercial with Nike, which just won an Emmy Award at the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Kaepernick’s commercial addresses his activism and bringing up issues and achievements in promoting diversity and calling out racism and discrimination.

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

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Raiders’ Brown threatens to punch GM Mayock over fine; Kaval meets with the media at Jack London Square to share dreams; plus more

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Photo credit sfgate.com: Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown shown in photo during his signing with the team during happier times threatened Raiders general manager Mike Mayock at practice on Thursday over his recent fines from the team.

On Headline Sports with Tony:

#1 Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown threatened Raiders general manager Mike Mayock after he was fined $53,000 for leaving camp twice. Don’t be surprised if Brown is cut. Brown also has not gotten his $30 million from his current contract and may not get it.

#2 The Oakland A’s held a presser last Tuesday afternoon at Jack London Square with team president David Kaval, who stood in front of a number of white cranes that help lift cargo shipments. Kaval said rather than remove them they would be part of the new stadium landscape kind of a conversation piece.

#3 It’s just simply a deal that has to get done. Kaval acknowledged that the environmental report which includes topic on toxic clean up, mass transportation, traffic conditions, and the railroads that circle the prized area where the A’s new ballpark is supposed to be built on.

#4 The New Orleans Pelicans’ Lonzo Ball said that his father Lavar’s brand sneakers The Big Baller ZO2 brand fell apart after each quarter “If you literally have those shoes from those games, they’re exploded,” Ball said. Not the ringing endorsement from the off spring of the founder.

#5 The Sacramento Kings owe Harrison Barnes $2.1 million. Barnes, who played for the Kings two different times, is owed the money after the Kings who originally signed him for $12 million and sent him to the New Orleans Pelicans with DeMarcus Cousins in 2016. After Barnes returned to Sacramento in 2018-19, he was paid but with $2.1 million left. Bottom line — how much will Barnes be missed in Sacramento?

#6 The Oakland Raiders kick off on Monday Night Football at the Oakland Coliseum to start Week 1 against the Denver Broncos. How do you see Raiders quarterback Derek Carr matching up against Broncos starter Joe Flacco in this one?

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

 

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: TMZ reports D. Cousins threatens to put bullet in head of ex-girlfriend; Cal hopes to work towards a bigger bowl game this year; plus more

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On Headline Sports with London:

#1 Former Golden State Warrior and now Los Angeles Laker DeMarcus Cousins threaten to put a bullet in the head of his ex-girlfriend Christy West. West filed a restraining order against Cousins. Cousins wanted their seven-year-old son to attend the wedding of his and his girlfriend, but West said she wouldn’t have it, which touched off the argument. Cousins is out for the season with a torn ACL.

#2 The Cal Bears’ Justin Wilcox preparing his team for this Saturday’s game against UC Davis. Wilcox led Cal to a 7-6, 4-5 record last season. They got in the Cheez-It Bowl last season, but are looking for a bigger bowl this season.

#3 Kansas City Royals owner David Glass is close to selling the Royals for $900 million. The deal for $1 billion would go to John Sherman, a Kansas City businessman. Under Glass, the Royals won the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets.

#4 The San Jose Earthquakes picked up a key win after going winless in four of five games they got the victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Quakes’ Judson, Chris Wondolowski, and Andres Rios all scored for San Jose for the 3-1 win.

#5 London has Orlando City at San Jose this Saturday night at Avaya Stadium. The Quakes are looking for their second straight win. Does playing at home give them that chance?

London does Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Kings to open preseason in India Oct. 4th; Yanks-A’s series could be a maker-breaker for A’s in wild card; plus more

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Photo credit: nba.com

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 The Sacramento Kings will be opening up their first preseason game on October 4th and you will be joining your broadcast colleagues for Kings coverage Jeremiah Salmonson, London Marq, Morris Phillips and Jeremy Harness for complete coverage of Kings basketball.

#2 That October 4th game will be played in Mumbai, India. It will be the Kings’ first preseason game in India and has to be very special for Kings managing partner Vivek Ranadive.

#3 The Oakland A’s have played some very exciting ball. They took three out of four from the Houston Astros and took the first two games from the New York Yankees at the Oakland Coliseum. This has turned out to be a very interesting series.

#4 The Oakland Raiders have won two of their first two preseason games and head coach Jon Gruden said this team will deliver “you can bet on that” The Raiders play preseason week three in Winnipeg against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football.

#5 The talking head, the critics, and talk show hosts have said the 49ers offense is struggling and they showed signs of that against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football this week. 49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo had three on completed passes out of six and zero yards. Was this a matter of Jimmy G just not prepared or just rusty coming off the knee injury?

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Major traffic worries clog Warriors’ new SF arena in Dogpatch neighborhood

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Photo credit: sfexaminer.com

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 San Francisco Mayor London Breed said with a lot of events scheduled at Chase Center in San Francisco, how are people going to get in and out of Dog Patch especially with USCF Hospital next door on game nights at Golden State?

#2 The A’s almost had a shot at sweeping the Houston Astros in a four-game series taking three out of four. Every game is important now when the A’s face the Astros next series at Minute Maid Field in Houston.

#3 The A’s opened a three game series at the Coliseum on Tuesday against the New York Yankees all games at this stage of the season are huge with the A’s being 1.5 games back in the AL wild card.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Spanish play-by-play voice for the Oakland A’s on 1010 KIQI San Francisco, also is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com