Category: NBA

Opinion: Defensive issues cause Warriors to get run over by Pelicans 119-100 in Game 3

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Photo credit: @NBCSWarriors

By: Eric He

If the Golden State Warriors were looking to coast their way to the Western Conference Finals, the New Orleans Pelicans just reminded them that it won’t be all smooth sailing.

The Warriors fell 119-100 to the Pelicans on Friday in Game 3 on the road, and their lead in the series is now at 2-1. They were outplayed from beginning to end by New Orleans, never establishing their game and failing to mount a second-half comeback.

Instead, it was the Anthony Davis show. the Pelicans’ star recorded 33 points and 18 rebounds, having his way inside. The Pelicans shot 45.2 percent from 3-point range, giving the Warriors a dose of their own medicine. Davis dominated JaVale McGee, who got the start despite receiving minimal playing time in the first two games. McGee played just nine minutes and had a plus-minus of -10.

The Warriors had four starters in double figures, but found no rhythm offensively. They trailed by six points at halftime, but in the third quarter, when they typically make their push, it was the Pelicans who went on a run and outscored the Warriors by 11. New Orleans led by 17 points after three quarters.

But the issue was more on the defensive end. The Warriors were slow on rotations and allowed clean looks from distance. Jrue Holiday and Nikola Mirotic both provided supplemental scoring, while Ian Clark had 18 points off the bench.

Now, the Warriors would do themselves a huge favor by winning Game 4 and returning home with a 3-1 series lead. Otherwise, a series that felt like it was over after Game 2 may last longer than expected.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony the Tiger Hayes: Caps’ Wilson suspended three games for head hitting; Could the Warriors sweep the Pelicans?; Gruden–Could he become CEO/GM too?

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Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese suffered a broken jaw and concussion on a hit to the head from Washington’s Tom Wilson.(Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP)

On the Headlines Sports podcast with Tony the Tiger Hayes:

#1 Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson was suspended three games in the playoffs for a hit to the head on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Zach Aston-Reese during Game 3, which says the NHL has zero tolerance of deliberate head injuries.

#2 The Golden State Warriors in the first two games of their playoffs with the New Orleans Pelicans have dominated particularly in Game 2 when Stephen Curry made his return on Tuesday night.

#3 Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who is signed up for $100 million, 10 years might also start earning more than his money’s worth according to Bleacher Report. Gruden could tabbed the team’s general manager and team CEO as well as head coach, which might send current GM Reggie McKenzie packing. It might be more than Gruden can bite off or can he handle it and make the Raiders a team of excellence again?

#4 During the NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen got a little braggadocious after he was selected 10th in the draft, saying, “I was pretty pissed off as I saw teams passing on me there were nine mistakes ahead of me.” The Cardinals’ coaching staff is expected to put Rosen’s draft thought process into prospective, but soon.

#5 San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto goes on the 10-day DL for an elbow injury as San Francisco’s injury list is swelling with Joe Panik out on the 10-day DL with a thumb injury, Madison Bumgarner has taken to the mound and is rehabbing, the Giants’ Mark Melancon out for the rest of the season and Jeff Samardjiza who came back from a pectoral injury is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.27.

Tony the Tiger filled in for Tony Renteria this week  Tony R does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Curry returns, Warriors hold off Pelicans in Game 2 121-116

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photo from nba.com: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry made his return in game 2 of the NBA Playoffs Wednesday night at Oracle Arena against the visiting New Orleans Pelicans

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, May 01, 2018

After five weeks off due to injuries, Steph Curry returned to the Golden State Warriors in grand fashion on Tuesday at Oracle Arena, bagging 28 points in 26 minutes off the bench, helping Golden State defeat New Orleans 121-116.

The Warriors have a 2-games-to-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal best-of-seven.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr chose not to start Curry, going with Nick Young instead. Curry entered the game with 4:20 left in the first quarter, receiving a rousing ovation. Curry, who missed five weeks with a sprained MCL in his left knee, sank a 3-pointer with his first shot and rolled on from there.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 29 points, hitting 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter. Draymond Green contributed 20 points, nine boards and 12 assists.

Klay Thompson suffered through an off-night, hitting 4-of-20 shooting – 2-of-11 behind the arc – finishing with 10 points. But the Warriors’ bench made up for it, outscoring the Pelicans’ reserves 44-13.

New Orleans received strong production from its core – Jrue Holiday scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists in 46 minutes; Anthony Davis finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks; Nikola Mirotic fouled out with 18 points and nine boards; and Rajon Rondo added 22 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.

As an aside, Green and Rondo were seen having words going to the locker rooms at halftime. On TNT, Charles Barley said, “I just want somebody to punch him in the face.”

Upon learning what Barkley said, Green felt that if Barkley wants someone to do that, then Barkley should be the one.

“If you’re not going to punch me in the face when you see me, then shut up,” Green said.

The series resumes in New Orleans on Friday night.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors could make this series a cakewalk with Curry back tonight

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On the Warriors podcast with Dave:

Game 2 is set for tonight at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors made it look easy in Game 1. Dave takes a look if the Warriors can repeat Game 1’s performance. Will it be like taking candy from a baby?

The Pelicans know their in over their heads in this series, opening up the series at Golden State. The Warriors dominated on offense in Game 1 and Stephen Curry if he’s back on all cylinders can make this game look like nothing.

David Zizmor does the Golden State Warriors podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsraadioservice.com

The Warriors rout the Pelicans in the first game of the Western Conference Semi-Finals

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors routed the New Orleans Pelicans 123-101 to get off to a good start in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr decided to go “small” as he started Nick Young at guard and went with Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant. None of the Warrior starters were over six-feet-seven inches tall except Durant. JaVale McGee played very little, and Zaza Pachulia sat on the bench.

The Warriors and Pelicans played a very competitive first quarter. The Warriors led by one 35-34 after the first 12 minutes of action, and it looked as if the game would be a nail-biter. The Pelicans led 12-11 early in the quarter and, although no one knew it at the time, it would be the last time the Pelicans would own the lead.

The Warriors dominated the second quarter. The outscored the Pelicans 41-21 to finish the half leading 76-55. At one point in the quarter, the Warriors went on a 24-2 run as they showed the Pelicans that they still knew how to play defense. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson paced the Warrior offense with 18 points each. Draymond Green added 12, and Shaun Livingstone tallied 8. The Pelican’s Anthony Davis was the only starter in double-figures (12) for New Orleans.

The Warriors increased the lead to 29 by outscoring the Pelicans 27-19 to put the game on ice for Golden State. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green both sat out the fourth quarter as the Warriors coasted to victory. Kerr inserted McGee, Jordan Bell, and Damian Jones to finish the game. The Warriors win 123-101.

Game Notes: The Warriors won their 13th straight home playoff game. The 76 points scored in the first half set a team record as they scored 73 against the Phoenix Suns on May 4th, 1994. The 41 points in the second quarter beat the 40 they scored against Utah on May 11th, 2007.

Klay Thompson paced the offense with 27 points. Kevin Durant finished the night with a double-double as he knocked down 26 points and had 13 rebounds. Draymond Green was all over the court as he dazzled the fans with his fourth career triple-double. Draymond tallied 16 points, had 15 rebounds, and recorded 11 assists. Andre Iguodala had 12, Shaun Livingstone, 10 and Quinn Cook 11.

Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 19, E’Tuan Moore had 15, Jrue Holiday 11, and Jordan Crawford 14. The Warriors dominated the board with 57 rebounds. They had 8 steals and 10 blocked shots. The Warriors did not commit a lot of fouls in the game. The Pelicans had 11 shots from the charity stripe and made 9. The Warriors went to the free-throw line 32 times and made 24.

The was a lot of speculation before the game as to the status of Steph Curry. Curry, who has not played very much since March 8th due to ankle and knee injuries, was ready to go, but the Warriors felt that he would be better off coming back for Game 2 on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.

As usual, Curry insisted he “feels great, and he’s ready to go,” said Kerr, who is encouraged his superstar point guard feels so good.

“Just made the decision based on giving him the extra few days and the fact he only scrimmaged yesterday,” Kerr said. “You’ve been out five weeks, and we’re playing in the playoffs, I don’t think one scrimmage is enough, even though he feels great, he wants to play and pleaded his case. But we’re going to sit him tonight and very likely he’ll play Game 2.”

Up Next: Game 2 is at 7:30 pm PT on Tuesday night at Oracle Arena.

Warriors fend off Spurs’ comeback to win 99-91 in Game 5 and advance to Western Conference Semifinals

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Pearl Allison Lo

In the first game of the series in which neither the Golden State Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs scored 100 points, the Warriors prevailed in Game 5 with a 99-91 win at Oracle Arena on Tuesday night.

Golden State won the series 4-1 and led this contest ever since 10:49 left in the second. Their lead went up as much at 16 points. However, San Antonio got to within a layup’s distance with 57.2 seconds remaining in the game.

After a lackluster first half, the Spurs’ LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half. His Warriors’ counterpart, Kevin Durant, scored 17 of his 25 in the same time span.

After the 91-93 score, Durant replied with a two-point field goal after the timeout. Manu Ginobili lost the ball out of bounds and fouled Durant. Durant made his free throws and after another timeout, missed three straight beyond the arc attempts. Draymond Green got the rebound, Ginobili fouled him and the game ended with Green making free throws.

Aldridge also had 12 rebounds, Patty Mills scored 18 with four three-pointers, Klay Thompson scored 24 points, Green had a double-double of 17 points and 19 rebounds and Green and Ginobili each had a game-high seven assists.

The Warriors began with a 9-0 run until Aldridge got the Spurs their first points with 8:33 left. This was the start of an 8-0 run for San Antonio. Aldridge also had the first of the period’s three ties when he scored with 3:45 left. Ginobili gave San Antonio their only lead of the first with 1:58 left.

The Spurs had only one lead in the second also, with Rudy Gay making the first shot of the quarter. Starting with 8:54 left, San Antonio missed seven straight attempts while losing the ball twice in three minutes. Meanwhile, Thompson scored nine of his 11 points in the quarter, making nine of the team’s first 11 points. David West scored the other basket and its assist going to Thompson.

Thompson led with 17 after the first half, the only one in double-digits. Tied behind him was Mills and Gay with nine points apiece. From the field, the Spurs shot 31.1 % versus 47.6% for Golden State. The Warriors led 10-0 in fast break points.

The pace went up for both teams in the third. Golden State added to their fast break advantage with nine more points.

Next: The Western Conference Semifinals with the #2 seeded Golden State facing former Coach Alvin Gentry and the #6 seeded New Orleans Pelicans.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: KGO ABC 7 sports anchor Mike Shumann pulled from Warriors coverage for stealing a Warriors jacket

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Photo credit KGO ABC 7 San Francisco: Right now KGO 7 sports anchor Mike Shumann isn’t ready to be asked anything after being videoed taking Warriors director of security Ralph Walker’s jacket before game four on Sunday in San Antonio

On the Golden State Warriors podcast with David:

KGO ABC 7’s sports anchor Mike Schumann has been pulled from covering the Golden State Warriors playoff assignment. During a practice session, a video showed Schumann taking a jacket from a seat before Sunday’s Game 4 in San Antonio. Schumann apparently picked the wrong person to steal from Ralph Walker, who is Stephen Curry’s personal security guard and also is the team’s security director knows a few things about finding stolen property.

Walker, who was missing the jacket, requested to see who might have taken the jacket from at the AT&T Center Arena and a security video showed a man with a red jacket on walking up to the seat taking the jacket and walking away. Identified as Schumann, who has been a Channel 7 anchor since he retired from the San Francisco 49ers in the 80s. Channel 7 said they take this matter seriously and have pulled Schumann from the assignment. The statement basically said the station is embarrassed by the incident.

The Warriors who couldn’t get it done in Game 4 on Sunday will take a look at what the difference was from the first three games and the Game 4 loss. The Warriors take on the Spurs for Game 5 at Oracle Arena tonight to try and close out this first round of the playoffs.

Head coach Steve Kerr said that Stephen Curry won’t be available until this series is over. The ankle is under treatment and doctor’s care. The Warriors want to make sure that Curry is fully prepared enough to compete at the highest level on the fragile ankle that’s given Curry past problems.

Catch David with all the Warriors podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NBA Playoffs: New Orleans will be tough in potential second round series with Golden State

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Photo credit: @NBAonSP

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

The Spurs shouldn’t be returning to Oakland for a Game 5 on Tuesday.

Golden State, leading 3-0 in their first-round series against San Antonio and looking unbeatable in the first three games, now has to play one more game after dropping Game 4 with a 103-90 rout Sunday afternoon in the Alamo City.

The Warriors now lead the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series, 3-1.

Instead of sweeping the seventh-seeded Spurs, who are dealing with a myriad of issues from the recent death of Erin Popovich, the late wife of San Antonio’s head coach Gregg Popovich, to the ongoing Kawhi Leonard saga, Golden State allowed itself to cut 48 hours off its schedule to prepare for a New Orleans Pelicans team that will give the Warriors all it can handle in the second round.

The sixth-seeded Pelicans showed no remorse against the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in their first-round series. Many prognosticators, including myself, thought this could be a series that would go six or seven games with the Trail Blazers likely prevailing.

And why would you not pick Portland over New Orleans?

The Trail Blazers arguably have one of the NBA’s best backcourt duos in point guard Damian Lillard and shooting guard CJ McCollum to carry them over unheralded combination of  point guard Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday.

Oh yeah, and the Pelicans were without center Demarcus Cousins, who tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the season on Jan. 26. Before the injury, Cousins was averaging 25.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per game and along with power forward Anthony Davis (28 ppg and 11 rpg during the regular season), were on pace to become the first set of teammates in NBA history to average at least 25 points and 10 rebounds per game according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Boy were we wrong.

Now, The Pelicans have all of their detractors eating crow with a side of “we told you so.” Portland (49-33) did finished the regular season with one more win than New Orleans (48-34), but it were the Trail Blazers that were over-matched.

New Orleans capped off the franchise’s first sweep of an NBA playoff series with 131-123 victory in Game 4 over Portland on Saturday night in front a rabid and sold out home crowd at the Smoothie King Center. The 131 points scored by New Orleans are a franchise record for a playoff game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

In the clinching game, it was the combination Davis and shooting guard Jrue Holiday that punched the Pelicans’ ticket into the second-round for the first time since 2008 with Davis pouring in 47 points with 11 rebounds. Holiday finished with 41 points and eight assists against the Trail Blazers who had no answer for either guy in this series.

Both Davis and Holiday surpassed current Warriors’ power forward David West’s franchise record 38 points (also occurring in 2008 according to Elias Sports Bureau) with their scoring barrage.

The 6-foot-10, 253-pound Davis imposed his will against Portland bigs, most notably against center Jusuf Nurkic, averaging 33 points and 12 rebounds in four games against the Trail Blazers this postseason. There’s no doubt that Davis will be a force against Golden State’s stable of bigs, centers Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee and Kevon Looney.

Throw in the aforementioned Rondo, a 11-year, defensive, pass-first veteran with a championship ring from 2007 as the starting point guard for the Paul Pierce-Ray Allen-Kevin Garnett Boston Celtics, the Pelicans have some pieces in place to make the inevitable second-round matchup with Golden State interesting.

Rondo, or #PlayoffRondo, is the unquestioned floor general for the Pelicans. In the four games against the Trail Blazers, Rondo recorded 17, 9, 11 and 16 assists respectively. For the series, Rondo averaged 11.2 points and 13.2 assists per game and was glued at Lillard’s hip the entire time, helping New Orleans limit Lillard to 35.2 percent shooting in the series.

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, who also has a championship ring as an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2015 before leaving for New Orleans, knows some of the offensive and defensive tendencies of shooting guard Klay Thompson and power forward Draymond Green.

Even with two-time MVP Stephan Curry still not ready to play in the playoffs for the Warriors, Golden State is still the better team than the Pelicans by far and can win the series without him since the Warriors still have another former MVP in Kevin Durant.

In the four regular season matchups between New Orleans and Golden State, the Warriors won the first three matchups: 128-120 on Oct. 20 at New Orleans, 110-95 on Nov. 25 in Oakland and 125-115 on Dec. 4, while the Pelicans got the best of the Warriors 126-120 on Apr. 7 in Oakland.

Spurs shut down the Warrior offense en route to a 103-90 win to avoid sweep

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Antonio Spurs, without head coach Gregg Popovich, found a way to slow down the Warrior offense and beat the Warriors 103-90 Sunday afternoon in the AT&T Center.

The Spurs were coached by assistant coach Ettore Messina for the second game in a row. Messina, a former coach in the Italian League, rallied his team as their defense stifled the Warrior offense. Messina also coached the 40-year old veteran, Manu Ginobili, when he was a very young player starting his career in Italy. Ginobili, who probably played his last home game as a Spur, scored 10 points of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. He made both 3-point attempts and did not turn the ball over in his six minutes of action in the last quarter.

The Spurs won the first half 56-42. They were led by their star center LaMarcus Aldridge. The Warriors, as is their custom, won the third quarter 29-21 to cut the lead to six 77-72. The Warriors went on a 13-5 run to pull within 2 88-86 but the Spurs refused to wilt, and the Warriors were toast.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors’ Draymond Green had this to say about the loss: “You have got to give them a lot of credit…They came out and they probably played with more intensity this game than they did the entire series.”

The Warriors were led by Kevin Durant’s 34 points and 13 rebounds. Klay Thompson had 12 and Shaun Livingston added 10. Draymond Green scored nine to go along with nine assists and 18 rebounds. None of the other Warriors were in double figures.

The Dubs were held to 34.9% from the floor. They mad just seven three-point shots in 28 attempts.

The most telling stat showed that Golden State did not handle the ball well at all as they turned the ball over 18 times and if they make more than 16 turnovers in a game, they usually end up on the short end of the score.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Ginobili finished with 16. Rudy Gay added 14, Dejounte Murray 12, and Kyle Anderson finished with 10.

Up Next: Game 5 of the series will be played Tuesday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland. Game time will be at 7:30 pm PT.

Warriors take 3-0 series lead with 110-97 rout of Spurs

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Photo credit: @ESPN

By: Eric He

Behind lockdown defense and 26 points from Kevin Durant, the Warriors beat the Spurs 110-97 on Thursday night to take a 3-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series. They are one win away from a sweep and a trip to the second round.

The Warriors used a stellar third quarter to take control of the game, making a run out of halftime to go up by double digits and take a 12-point lead into the fourth. Klay Thompson’s shooting helped close the deal. His deep three off an offensive rebound kept the Warriors ahead by double digits, and he finished with 19 points.

The two teams were fairly even in the first half as both sides struggled offensively. The Warriors could not buy a 3-pointer early, but came alive from distance in these second half.

Meanwhile, the Warriors held the Spurs to just 43 percent shooting and 21 percent from 3-point range. They clamped down on LaMarcus Aldridge and the Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs, who did not have the firepower to match the Warriors’ second half spurt.

They held their breaths late when both Durant and Shaun Livingston rolled their ankles, but both were able to walk away without assistance.Game 4 will be Sunday in San Antonio as the Warriors eye a sweep.