Category: NBA

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors aim to snap the two-game loss spell against Lakers on Wednesday night

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On the Warriors podcast with David:

1. The Golden State Warriors tip off against Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night at Oracle Arena at 7:00 pm PT. The Warriors are coming off two straight loses to the Portland Trail Blazers and the Minnesota Timberwolves both road loses. Dave talks about how injuries have played a role in the recent loses.

2. The Warriors’ head coach Steven Kerr who appeared at a Newark High School has encouraged students at the school that their walkout is a for a good cause that gun violence must see it’s end by gun control and gun bans. Kerr’s father was killed by gun violence when he was a teenager and he really believes that this movement has some substance now for the first time.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: Melvin says Lucroy on track to catch 115-120 games; benches empty between A’s and Giants could lead to a rivalry of sorts; Kerr has freedom of speech to speak out on gun control

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Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

On the Podcast with Amaury:

1. Amaury talks about catcher Jonathan Lucroy and says that this A’s team can really sneak up on teams.

2. Lucroy, one of the many free agents who were available, signed on for this season for $6.5 million, who manager Bob Melvin says will catch 115-120 games.

3. The A’s and Giants starting to show some preseason action. Giants pitcher Sam Dyson threw high and tight at the A’s Khris Davis on Monday. Two hitters later, they were bean, which forced the umpires to warn both benches. Could this be the beginning of a Bay Bridge rivalry?

4. Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors head coach, spoke at a Newark High School gym on Monday about gun control and how his father was murdered by gun violence and that he supports the student walk out and protest for gun control. Amaury says Kerr has a right to say what he wants and that he has the freedom of speech.

5. Amaury also talks about his Topps Basketball card from the 1990s when he was the Golden State Warriors’ Spanish play-by-play announcer.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the play-by-play Spanish talent for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

Kings show heart, but fall to OKC Thunder 106-101

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings and Oklahoma City Thunder came into their game at Chesapeake Energy Arena Monday evening, having very different seasons. The Kings have had a record of 21-46, and the Thunder a record of 39-29. The Kings lost their previous game to the Denver Nuggets 130-104. The Thunder won their last game 104-94 against the San Antonio Spurs. The tip-off was set for 5:00 pm PST.

In the first few minutes of the first quarter, it was all Thunder, especially Carmelo Anthony. Only three minutes had passed into the game and Carmelo had already drained three 3-pointers. The Thunder continued to look dominant with Russell Westbrook, slamming an authoritative dunk roughly halfway through the first quarter.

The Kings changed that narrative though. After battling back into position, Frank Mason would be fouled with 2:14 to go in the quarter. He made both of his free throws, and the Kings pulled within one, 16-17. The quarter would end with the Thunder leading 19-16.

The second would start with the Kings’ Buddy Hield drained a three to tie the game at 19 apiece. The game would go back-and-forth with only two points separating the two teams with 6:04 to play. Koufos, Bogdanovic, and Jackson would finish with the Kings scoring in the second. The game would go into halftime with the Thunder on top 46-40.

In the third quarter, the Kings would come out firing. Justin Jackson would drain a three to give himself eight points on the night and pull the Kings within three, 43-46.

With 10:30 to play in the third, the Thunder had extended their to 43-51 and it wasn’t looking good. The Kings jumped back into it though, thanks to a part by a Justin Jackson three that made it 50-53. Although it may sound like a broken record, this game constantly went back-and-forth.

No team really jumped out to a commanding lead, even though the Thunder has a couple leads in double digits. Vince Carter would hit a three with 1:40 to go, bringing the Kings within one, 73-74. To close out the third, Garrett Temple would throw a layup and make it 79-78 going into the final quarter.

The Kings went into the final quarter with little optimism after taking a small lead into the fourth quarter. However, the lead was short-lived as Ferguson would come out and drain a three to give the Thunder back the lead, 81-79.

The game didn’t have any real separation until the Thunder extended the lead to 102-92 with 2:48 to play in the game. The Kings would battle trying to fight their way back, but ultimately succumbed to their wounds. The final score was 106-101 and the Thunder got their 40th win on the season.

What’s Next?
Kings return home to face the Miami Heat on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm PST. The Thunder went on the road to face the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday at 4:30 pm PST. 

Timberwolves outlast Warriors en route to 109-103 win

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors were missing Steph Curry, Andre Iguodala, David West, Jordan Bell, and Patrick McCaw, lost their second game in a row to the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday afternoon at the Target Center.

The Timberwolves were missing their leader, Jimmy Butler, but had enough firepower to take down the Warriors. The Warriors gave it all they had, but they just didn’t have it in the third and fourth quarters.

The T-wolves won the first quarter 34-24. The Warriors were ahead 11-9 when the T-wolves went on an 11-0 run to lead by nine (20-11). Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 11 and no other player had more than four points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Warriors turned on the jets and outscored Minnesota 38-21 to take the lead 62-55 at the end of the first half. Durant tallied 19 and he got help from Zaza Pachulia with 10. Klay Thompson had 12 and Draymond Green pitched in with eight. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins each had 15 for Minnesota.

The Warriors increased the lead to 11 early in the period but Minnesota went on a very impressive 19-6 run to take the lead by four. Buckets by Durant, Pachulia and Shaun Livingston enabled the Warriors to finish the third quarter tied at 84, despite being outscored 29-22 in the period.

The T-wolves, behind the superb play of Towns and Wiggins, were able to take a 101-96 lead. The Warriors kept coming back and closed the gap to trailing 104-103 after Durant made a 3-pointer. The T-wolves scored the last five points of the game and beat the Warriors 109-103.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss, the Warriors fall to 51-15. They are now a full game behind the Houston Rockets for the best record in the NBA and the deficit may drop to one and a half games should Houston beat the Mavericks later in the day.

Kevin Durant had a double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Klay Thompson added 21. Zaza Pachulia played very well as he also had a double-double. Pachulia scored 16 points and had 11 boards and two blocked shots. Draymond Green finished with eight.

The Minnesota defense held Golden State to just 40.7% from the floor and the Warriors were 10-for-36 from the 3-point range.

The Warriors committed 13 turnovers in the game, but five of them came in the third period and those turnovers cost them dearly.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the T-Wolves with 31 points and 16 rebounds. Taj Gibson and Jeff Teague also had double-doubles. Gibson had 11 points and 13 rebounds while Teague scored 10 and had 10 assists. Andrew Wiggins finished with 23.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the Lakers Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.

Combined effort from all players help Kings to a 94-88 win over Magic

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — The Kings came into the game Friday night’s game against the Orlando Magic coming off a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The same was true for the Magic who suffered a loss in their last game falling to the Lakers. The Kings and the Magic come into the game with a identical record of 20-45.

The first quarter would start with the Kings jumping out ahead in force. The Kings would lead the Magic 9-3. The Kings would continue to score on the Magic extending the lead to 18-10 with 2:51 to play in the first. The Magic would only be able to add a two before the end of the quarter. That two was made by Shelvin Mack to make it 14-22 Kings going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the Kings would continue to build their lead. With 9:24 to play in the second, the Kings would lead 26-16. However, both teams would be sloppy with the ball. Having played about two-thirds of the second quarter the number of turnovers for both teams would sit at 18. The Kings committed 11 turnovers, which led to seven points.

The Magic committed seven turnovers, but they only led to two points. The game would continue to go back-and-forth, and with 1:20 to go in the second quarter, the Kings led 36-33. Frank Mason would attempt a layup with 38.9 seconds to go. He drained it, and was fouled on the way up making it a three-point play and a 41-33 Kings lead. Vince Carter would attempt a long three at the buzzer, but it was no good. The half ended 41-36 with the Kings on top.

Coming into the third quarter, the Kings had the lead 41-36. Garrett Temple drained seven points in the three minutes to put the Kings up 50-39. The Kings and Magic both appeared to need a go-to scorer in the third.

For the Kings, that would be Garrett Temple and Kosta Koufos. Temple would finish the third with 23 points and Koufos with 16. The Kings would put up 33 points in the third compared to the Magic’s 26. Both teams upped the ante, but Sacramento came out on top. After three quarters, the Kings led the Magic 74-62.

The Kings came out onto the court in the fourth and final quarter with what seemed to be a higher enthusiasm. The crowd was into it, and so were the Kings. Jack Cooley would come out strong in the fourth quarter, proving to be a valuable scorer. After only four minutes, he had accumulated six points.

The game would stay at a 11 point spread as play stopped with 8:05 to go. At the 4:37 mark in the fourth the Kings led 88-76. The Magic would need to get some major work done in the final four minutes to have a shot. In the end, the Magic would be unable to muster enough and the Kings would be victorious 94-88.

Notable Performances: Kosta Koufos (18 points), Garrett Temple (23 points), Vince Carter (15 points), Jonathon Simmons (25 points) and Nikola Vucevic (13 Points).

Up Next: The Kings go on the road to face the Nuggets on Sunday. The Magic continue the road trip and head to Los Angeles, Calif., for a matchup against the Lakers on Saturday.

Blazers’ Lillard and McCollum send Warriors down to a 125-108 defeat

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Portland Trail Blazers’ backcourt duo of Damien Lillard and C.J.McCollum combined for 58 points and beat the Warriors 125-108 at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on Friday night.

The Warriors, coming off a tough win over San Antonio Thursday night, were led by Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson and nobody else. The Warriors were without Steph Curry, David West, Andre Iguodala, Jordan Bell, and Patrick McCaw.

The Warriors trailed for all of the first half. The Blazers led by six after the first 12 minutes of play and increased the lead to nine (61-52) when they went on a 9-2 run to end the second quarter. The Warriors took the lead 75-73 midway through the third quarter, but the Blazers finished the period on a 10-0 run to finish with a four-point advantage 87-83 and had momentum on their side heading into the final 12 minutes of action.

The Blazers’ Lillard and McCollum were lights out in the final stanza. The Blazers outscored the Warriors by 13 to blow out the Warriors by 17 points (125-108).

Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson led the Warrior attack with 40 and 25 points each. The only other Warrior in double figures was JaVale McGee with 10. Draymond Green had 7, and Quinn Cook added 8. The Warrior contributed just 18 points.

The Blazers’ bench, on the other hand, had four players in double figures and recorded 45 points in the win.The Blazers had a total of seven players in double figures. McCollum led the club with 30 and Lillard had 28.

Klay recorded his 200th 3-pointer of the season early in the game. Draymond Green picked up his 15th technical foul of the year, and if he gets one more, he will receive an automatic one-game suspension.

The Warriors were outshot 89-78, and Portland made six more buckets than the Warriors. The Warriors shot 48.7% from the floor while Portland shot 49.4%.

The Warriors were outrebounded 46-33, and they recorded just 20 assists.

The Warriors turned the ball over 12 times, but they did not have the firepower to keep pace with the Blazers.

The Blazers won their ninth in a row and snapped the Warriors win streak at seven. The Warriors are now 51-15 and trail the Houston Rockets by half a game in the race for best record in the NBA.

After the game, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr commented about the team’s performance: “We’ve got a deep team. That’s one of the hallmarks of our group the last few years,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game. “We’ve played without Steph, I think probably 15 times this year, or so, and we’ve gotten to know the formula. We know what to do. It’s a different game, but we’ve got to defend and take care of the ball, play a really solid game against a team that’s on fire.”

Up Next: The Warriors meet the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday in Minneapolis at 12:30 pm PT.

Durant’s 37-point effort rallies the Warriors to a 110-107 victory over Spurs after Curry injures his ankle again

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors won their seventh game in a row, but it was not easy as the San Antonio Spurs played their hearts out but could not prevail. The Warriors needed the win to keep their hopes alive for winning homecourt advantage for the playoffs. The Rockets lead the Dubs by one-half game and own the tiebreaker. The Warriors lost their star, Steph Curry, early in the first quarter when he tweaked his right ankle. He was able to two free throws, but the Warriors sent him to the trainer’s table for treatment and Steph was done for the night. Three other players were not available Thursday night. David West missed his second game in a row with an infected cyst on his arm. Andre Iguodala was out with a sprained left wrist, and Jordan Bell was sidelined when he re-injured his right ankle. Steve Kerr had to use Kevon, Looney, Omri Casspi, Quin Cook, and Nick Young and hope that the Warriors could beat the Spurs. The game was not pretty, but they were able to come back late in the fourth quarter and beat the Spurs 110-107.

Both the Spurs and the Warriors were cold to start the first quarter. The Spurs led 3-0 when Steph Curry was fouled as he attempted a layup with just 2 minutes and 32 seconds played in the game. Steph turned his right ankle when he landed. He tried to walk off the injury, but it was apparent that he would not be able to continue. Steph went to the free throw line and made the two free throws, and that finished his night. The Warriors got the offense going late in the quarter, and they outscored the Spurs 28-21.

The Warriors could not get anything going in the second quarter. They scored just 13 points against Brooklyn Tuesday night, and the Warriors were cold again in the second quarter. The Spurs took advantage. The Dubs built the lead to nine 34-23, but San Antonio went on a 14-2 run to take the lead 37-35. The Spurs outscored the Warriors 29-18 and finished the half with a 4-point lead 50-46. The Spurs LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Durant scored 14, JaVale McGee 7, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each had 4.

The Warriors played better in the third quarter. They have owned the third quarter, but on Thursday night, that did not happen as they were outscored 37-32 The game was tied at 78 when the Spurs went on a 9-0 run to finish the quarter leading 87-78. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs met every Warrior challenge and led 103-96 with under 3 minutes to play. The Warriors vaunted defense came through, and Kevin Durant scored 14 straight points to tie the game at 105. Draymond Green made a fantastic layup with his left hand to put the Dubs ahead by two 1:30 left. Klay Thompson made two free throws, and they led 109-105.  The Spurs scored and trailed by two 109-107. They fouled KD but he missed one, and the Spurs had a chance to tie if they could make a three-pointer. The Spurs got the ball to LaMarcus Aldridge, and he was fouled attempting a three. He made the first free throw but missed the second. He made the third, and the Spurs trailed 110-107. They got the ball back with 2.3 seconds left and, after a timeout, took the ball out from mid-court. Bryn Forbes missed a three-pointer with 0.01 seconds left, and the Warriors celebrated the win.

Game Notes and Stats. After the game Warrior head coach Steve Kerr announced that Steph Curry will travel with the team to Portland but will not play Friday night.

The Warriors won their 7th in a row and improved to 51-14. The Spurs dropped to 37-28.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 30 points and 17 rebounds. Kyle Anderson had 12, Davis Bertrans 13, DeJounte Murray 14, Tony Parker 11, and Rudy Gay 10. The Warriors were led by Kevin Durant’s 37 points, 4 assists, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Draymond Green had a triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists,12 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. JaVale McGee added 13, Nick Young had 12, and Shaun Livington had 9 points, 7 assists, and seven boards. Klay Thompson had a tough night. The Warriors needed a big night from Klay the ball was not going down for him. He finished the night with 12 points. He made two 3-point shots in 7 attempts.

The Warriors play the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night in Portland.

Kings fall to Pelicans 114-101; New Orleans now on a 10-game winning streak

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Alexandra Evans

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings (10-31) and the New Orleans Pelicans (20-19) tipped off at the Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, March 7, to whom they fell 114-101.

In the first quarter, the Kings’ greatest lead over the Pelicans was two points, compared to the Pelicans’ 11-point lead at the end. Beginning at the halfway point of the quarter, their lead over the Kings gradually increased from one point to 11 through the end of the stanza. The score was 32-21 after 12 minutes of play.

In the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Pelicans upped their score by seven and the Kings by four; they still trailed the Pelicans by more than 10 points. Cheick Diallo managed to bring the Pelicans’ score into the 40s while the Kings remained in the 20s.

Then, with 7:20 remaining, Ian Clark made a jump shot to bring the Pelicans’ lead to 20 (49-29). Buddy Hield then made two free throws to break the 20-point lead, and then a three-pointer assisted by Jackson, an impressive move by Hield which immediately followed the two free throws.

Though, the Kings had a long way to go regardless. After the first half, the Kings trailed the Pelicans by 18; the score was 62-44.

At halftime, Randolph still exceeded the Kings with 11 points; Buddy Hield led the team in three-pointers with five. Nikola Mirotic led the Pelicans in points (13) and three-point shots (3).

Randolph opened the third quarter with two baskets to make the score 62-46. Anthony Davis responded, making sure the Pelicans kept a double-digit lead over the home team with a three-pointer, followed by a jump shot and then an alley-oop shot to bring the score to 71-48. The 20-point lead was temporarily broken after Garrett Temple and Jackson both got driving layups. Davis responded yet again with a three-pointer for the Pelicans, and Emeka Okafor added another two points with a jump shot.

For the remaining four minutes, the Pelicans tried to keep their 20 point lead, while the Kings made an effort to break it. After 36 minutes, the Kings trailed the Pelicans by 18 points once again (85-67).

The final quarter opened with a layup from Hield for the Kings, one from Moore for the Pelicans, and then a jump shot from Skal Labissiere for the Kings. Two consecutive free throws from Hield and JaKarr Sampson cut the Kings’ trail to 11 points, then, with 3:48 remaining, Labissiere got a layup to put the Kings behind by only 10 points, the smallest deficit since the first half.

The lead was briefly cut to the single digits when Hield made a jump shot with 3:12 left, but quickly shot back up to double digits when Mirotic made a three-point jump shot.

Hield finished first in points for the Kings with 20, which included 11 three-point shots, another team-high. Mirotic exceeded the Pelicans with 26 points and six three-pointers.

The Pelicans had a nine-game winning streak prior to the match, earning their 10th against the Kings.

“It would be nice to be the team that breaks [an opponent’s winning streak],” Kings Head Coach Dave Joerger said in a post-game conference. “But we don’t ask them to try harder for that purpose.”

Sampson added, “When you’re on a win streak, you’re comfortable… the flow is good, the energy is good, so [we want to] disrupt the energy. Tonight, we kind of waited too long to do that, but that is part of growing as a young team.”

The Kings will take on the Orlando Magic this Friday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. PST at Golden 1 Center.

Curry drops 34 points to lead Warriors to a 114-101 win over Nets

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Photo credit: @NBA

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors won their sixth game in a row Tuesday night as they defeated the Nets 114-101 at the Oracle Arena. The Warriors needed a win to keep pace with the Houston Rockets as the Rockets downed the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this evening. The Warriors remain half a game behind the Rockets in the race for the best record in the NBA.

The Warriors, who have been trying to get off to good starts in the first quarter, seemed to have forgotten how to do it. They fell behind early with a 12-6 deficit before they went on a sensational 29-2 run to take a 35-16 lead just before the end of the first quarter. In fact, at one point in the run, they went 25-0 for the first time in team history.

The Nets hit a three just before the buzzer to make it 35-19.

The second quarter was a nightmare for Steve Kerr and the Warriors. They did everything wrong. They scored just four points in the first 5:44 of the quarter. They failed to play defense, and turned the ball over eight times in the quarter.

The Nets took advantage of the Warriors’ miscues as they went on a 13-2 run to grab a five-point lead of 36-31. The Warriors regained the lead 42-39 when Curry nailed a 3-pointer. Brooklyn kept coming back and led 53-48 at the end of the first half.

The Warriors scored just 13 points in the second 12 minutes of action. It was the fewest points in any quarter this season. They committed 12 turnovers in the half, and they are 12-9 when they commit 16 or more turnovers in a game.

JaVale McGee gave the team some energy when he tallied eight points early in the third quarter. Brooklyn matched the Warriors shot-for-shot until late in the quarter. Curry came back about halfway through the period, and he took charge of the offense. He made two consecutive 3-pointers, and the Warriors outscored the Nets 38-27 to finish the third quarter with a six-point lead of 86-80.

The Warriors increased the lead to 95-81 to complete a 22-5 run. Klay Thompson found his shot and Andre Iguodala made two key buckets to put the Warriors up 101-85. The Nets were finished as the Warriors were relentless on defense and they were able to pound the visiting team 114-101.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors won their 50th game of the season. The Warriors have won 50 or more for five straight seasons. In the first 67 years of existence of the franchise, the team had won 50 or more game just four times.

The Warriors are now 50-14 for the year, and the Nets are 20-45. The Nets have lost four in a row and 12 of the last 13.

Scoring leaders for Brooklyn were D’Angelo Russell with 22, DeMarre Carroll 19, Spencer Dinwiddie 13, and Caris LeVert 10.

The Nets’ bench outscored the Warriors 34-15.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 34. Klay Thompson had 18, Kevin Durant, 19, JaVale McGee 12, Draymond Green 16. The Warriors committed 17 turnovers and improved to 13-9 in games in which they have made 16 or more turnovers.

Jordan Bell had to leave the game when he re-injured his right ankle. X-Rays were taken and turned out to be negative.

The Warriors are 10-0 when JaVale McGee starts the game at center.

“Nothing is set in stone at that position,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “JaVale has done a good job. We kind of played center by committee here for a while now and there is no telling how the rotations will work. It’s based on matchups and based on how things are going, but I will definitely lean on all those guys at some point.”

They are 23-3 vs. the Eastern Conference and 10-2 at home.

David West, Zaza Pachulia, and Omri Casspi did not play.

Up Next: The Warriors host the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night at 7:30 pm PT.

 

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors come in with five-game win streak, host Brooklyn tonight

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On the Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor:

In their last game, the Warriors defeated the Atlanta Hawks 114-109, but the Warriors had to work for it. Stephen Curry hurt his ankle in the second quarter, scored 15, but left in the third quarter. Curry stopped off on his way back to Oakland at Augusta at the Masters for a couple of days of golf and knowing he’s on the links and is scheduled to be in the lineup tonight against the Brooklyn Nets at Oracle Arena.

The Warriors had three days off and they might rest some of their starters against Brooklyn and it’s not only against a team like the Nets, but any other NBA team if they can rest their players, they will take advantage of it if they have a big lead in hand. The Nets are not a good team and nowhere near the challenge that the Portland Trailblazers, who the Warriors faced on Friday night.

David does the Warriors podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com