Category: NBA

Career night for Caldwell-Pope lifts Lakers past Kings, 113-108

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By: Jordan Chapin

wcs-vs-lakers.jpg

SACRAMENTO- Saturday night at Golden 1 Center the Lakers faithful made there presence known in a very loud, very exciting game that the Lakers came out on top of 113-108. The always anticipated, Lonzo Ball vs De’Aaron Fox match-up was put on hold due to Ball sitting out due to injury, but that did not stop the Lakers guards from putting on a show. The combination of Thomas, Hart, and Caldwell-Pope combined for 61 points, about half of which came from Caldwell-Pope.

After struggling two nights ago, Bogdan Bogdanovic came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. He led all Kings scorers in the first quarter with seven points, and then got a bit of a lift from his “big man” – Willie-Cauley Stein who went into the locker-room at halftime already having a double-double and helped the Kings to an eight point lead after the first 24 minutes.

Sacramento did get a bit of help from the bench, led by Buddy Hield with 21 points, but the second half belonged to Lakers Caldwell-Pope who scored 17 points in the third quarter and didn’t seem to miss any shot. The Lakers led the rest of the way until Bogdan Bogdanovic finished a 4-point play that knocked the Lakers lead to just one with 12 seconds to play. Sacramento had a chance to tie the game after a pair of Isiah Thomas free-throws, but they could not capitalize as Bogdanovic missed a driving lay-up to seal the game for the Lakers.

The Kings will finish there home-stand Monday night as they face a Minnesota Timberwolves team who just lost Jimmy Butler to a knee injury and don’t know when or if he will return this season. Once again, without their first-round draft pick, Lonzo Ball, the Lakers were able to pull off their 25th win of the season and continue to build their young talent for future

Player of the Game: Willie Cauley-Stein

Willie set the tone early grabbing rebounds and scoring around the rim. He finished his first half with a double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds. It did not stop there for Cauley-Stien. He continued his aggression in the second half, totaling 37 minutes and  finishing with 18 points and 15 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks.

Key Stats

  • As a team, the Kings shot 52% from 3-point land and a respectable 45% from the field.
  • Frank Mason and De’Aaron Fox led the team with six assists a piece
  • “Rising Stars” Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield led the Kings with 21 points each
  • Willie Cauley-Stien had a season high 15 rebounds
  • Vince Carter “Slamage”- ONE

Los Angeles Lakers

Player of the Game: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

KCP has had a bigger role since Lonzo Ball has been hurt, but something that we all know is that he will shoot his shots. He finished his night 12-for-20 from the field and racking up a season high 34 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Caldwell-Pope was the reason the Lakers were able to stay in the game early, and hold the lead late.

Key Stats

  • Had seven players in double digits including all starters
  • Julius Randle finished with another Double-double, after having a Triple-double last night
  • Season high in 3-pointers made with 17
  • Caldwell-Pope’s eight 3-pointers made, is the highest for his career

Warriors play defense from start to finish as they knock off Thunder in 112-80 blowout win

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Golden Warriors decided to play defense for the entire 48 minutes of Saturday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder as they won 112-80 at Oracle Area. The Thunder had embarrassed the Warriors in the two previous meetings this season. Thunders’ stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George sent the Warriors down to a 17-point defeat in Oklahoma City on November 22, and they routed the Dubs 125-105 at Oracle Arena on February 6. The Warriors have not lost the season series to the Thunder since the 2012-13 season, and they played Warrior basketball Saturday night.

The Warriors won the first quarter 24-19 and the second quarter 28-26 to finish with a seven-point advantage 52-45 at the end of the first half. The Thunder closed the gap to one, but the Warriors went on a 37-11 run that included 30 points in the last 8:48 of the third quarter. They continued to shut the Thunder offense down as they outscored OKC 28-14 in the fourth quarter to 112-80.

Game Notes and Stats: After the game, Kevin Durant commented about the team’s performance: “We’re champions. We’re 46-14, and we’ve got one of the best road records in the league,” Durant said. “We’ve been doing this the last two years. We’ve got to be us.”

Draymond Green was hit with his 15th technical foul of the season. If he gets one more technical, he will be suspended for one game. Warrior coach Steve Kerr said he is not concerned at all about the situation. Green commented: “I’m an emotional guy. I play with high emotion, I love this game of basketball. I play it with passion. I’ll continue to play with passion.”

The numbers show how good the defense was. Russell Westbrook, the defending NBA MVP, was held to just 15 points. Westbrook did have a double-double, but the Warriors shut down him down. PAu George, who tallied 38 in the last game at Oracle on February 6, was held to just five points. Carmelo Anthony had 14, and Raymond Felton added 11. The Warriors held the Thunder to  33% from the floor, and the Thunder made just nine 3-pointers in 34 attempts. The Warriors outrebounded them 54-43, and the Dubs had eight steals and six blocked shots.

The Warriors were led on offense by Kevin Durant. Durant knocked down 28. Steph Curry had 21, Klay Thompson 11, Draymond Green 10, and Nick Young chipped in with 16.  The Warriors are now 46-14 for the year.

Kevin Durant received an honor Saturday night.

Durant received the January NBA Cares Community Assist Award for his giving off the court to help kids, families and other charitable causes for education and communities. He donated $3 million last month to the University of Texas where he played and matched Colin Kaepernick’s $10,000 in the quarterback’s “10 for 10” campaign, Durant’s contributions helping a local organization doing community-based justice work.

“I’ve got to continue to leave my mark off the basketball court as well,” Durant said. “Look forward to doing that.”

Up Next: The Warriors head East for a three-game road trip. They play the New York Knicks Monday night in New York. They meet the Washington Wizards on Wednesday and finish the trip in Atlanta against the Hawks.

Curry scores 44 to lead Warriors in 134-127 victory, despite Clippers’ fourth-quarter rally

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors returned to action Thursday night against the vastly improved Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena. The Clippers beat the Warriors at Oracle Arena the last time they played. Clippers’ Lou Williams knocked down 50 points that night, and the Warriors were determined to not let that happen again. The Warriors, behind Steph Curry’s 44 point performance, Thursday night sent the Clippers down to defeat, 134-127, but it was not easy.

The Clippers started poorly this year, but after the trade that sent Blake Griffin to Detroit, they have turned their season around. They still have Austin Rivers, DeAndre Jordan from last year, but they added Danilo Gallinari, Milos Teodosic, Tobias Harris, and Lou Williams. The Warriors owned the Clippers when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were their starters. They are gone, and the Clippers are on the rebound.

The Warriors made one change to the starting lineup Thursday night as Steve Kerr decided to start JaVale McGee at center in place of Zaza Pachulia. The move was made to jump start the offense in the first quarter, and the strategy worked as the Warriors raced out to a 34-23 lead at the end of the first 12 minutes of play. It was the first time since November 19th that the Warriors finished the quarter with an 11-point advantage. Curry electrified the crowd as he made a three pointer from half-court as the buzzer sounded to end the period.

The Warriors continued to play well in the second period. At one point, they led 57-40 when Nick Young connected on a three. The Clippers, however, came back on a 9-0 run to close the gap to eight. Curry connected on a three late in the first half to up the lead to 15 70-55, but Danilo Gallinari matched Steph with a three of his own as the buzzer sounded. The Warriors finished the half leading 70-58. Kevin Durant had 12, Curry 15, Thompson 17, and Draymond Green seven. Austin Rivers and Gallinari led the Clippers with 10 apiece. Teodosic had nine, and Lou Williams was held to five.

The Warriors, who have owned the third quarter this year, got off to a good start as they increased the led by 16 after Curry knocked down a three-point shot. Kevin Durant followed with a three of his own, and it looked as if the Warriors were on cruise control. The Clippers cut the deficit to 12 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Clippers went on a 9-0 run to make it a two-point game. They trailed 104-102. The Warriors behind three big three-point baskets by Curry and one by Durant were able to meet the challenge. They met every Clipper challenge as they showed they still know how to play defense and what they have to do to win a close contest.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improve to 45-14 and had just 23 games left on the regular season schedule.

The Clippers are now 30-27 but are in the race for the playoffs. The loss time was just the sixth in the last 19 games played and their coach, Doc Rivers, has made them very competitive.

Curry had a double-double with 44 points and 10 assists and he made 8 threes in 11 attempts. Durant knocked down 24, Thompson 19, Green 14. McGee tallied six points and had four boards. Pachulia also scored six. David West had 10.

The Warriors shot 62.7% from the floor but they allowed the Clippers to take 12 more shots in the game.

The Clippers shot 50% from the floor.

The Warriors recorded 31 assists and on defense, they had eight steals and eight blocked shots. The Warriors committed 15 turnovers. At one point in the first quarter, Steve Kerr called a timeout as the Warriors turned the ball over three straight times.

The Clippers had seven players in double figures. Austin Rivers 14, Gallinari 15, Jordan 16. Harris 22, Teodosic, 14. Montrezl Harrell pitched in with 15 and Lou Williams finished with 21. Williams made several big three-point shots when the Clippers rallied in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors’ next opponent will be the Oklahoma Thunder Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

The Thunder, behind Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Steve Adams, pounded the Warriors the last time they met at Oracle. In fact, the Thunder has won two of the three games played so far this season. The Warriors have their work cut out for them as they have to figure out a way to stop the Thunder attack. Saturday’s game should be a barn burner.

Westbrook adds 18th triple-double of season and hits game-winning shot for 110-107 Thunder win

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

By Jordan Chapin

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings made their return to the Golden 1 Center after a well-needed week off. The return of Frank Mason and Skal Labissiere jump started the Kings final 25-game schedule with a 110-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night. The reigning MVP, Russell Westbrook, proved once again why he is one of the most clutch players in the league by racking up his 18th triple-double of the season and hitting the game-winning shot.

After trailing by 23 points in the first quarter, the Kings took advantage of their opportunities with the second unit lead by Buddy Hield with 19 points and Vince Carter with 13 points. The Kings cut the lead within eight at half, and then it was Zach Randolph time. Z-Bo finished his night with 29 points and 12 rebounds and put the Kings up by five with under four minutes to go. After several lead changes, the Thunder led by two with just 11 seconds to go in the game. Vince Carter put up a shot from about 34 feet out–missed–was tipped up several times, and with one second left, Justin Jackson came flying in for the put back lay-up to tie the game.

With exactly one second to go, Westbrook caught the in-bounds pass on the wing, and rose-up over Garrett Temple and drained the three-pointer as the clock expired. Although Westbrook did struggle from the field, he reminded us why he is a perennial All-Star in this league. His teammates Paul George and Carmelo Anthony picked him up on the scoring end, as they combined for 49 points.

When the Kings return to Golden 1 Center on Saturday night, they will have a fully rejuvenated lineup as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers. Sacramento will see Isiah Thomas for the first time since he has put on the Purple and Gold. The Kings extended  their record to 18-40 as OKC gets their 34th win of the season and stand pat as the fifth seed in the West.

Tony Renteria Headline Sports Podcast: Olympic Gold for Women’s Hockey; Cuban and Mavs operations tied up in a nasty bunch

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abcnews.com: US Women’s Olympic team powers past Team Canada with a one goal victory to win gold at the 2018 Pyeonchang Olympics on Thursday

On the Headlines Podcast with Tony:

1 Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says losing is a good thing and that the Mavericks can cover their bad roster moves

2 Cuban was fined $600,000 for his remarks. The Mavericks who have only 18 wins and are in last place. Cuban in a meeting with the players said that the regular season is a farce.

3 Cuban was remorseful that former team President Terdema Ussery who worked for the Mavericks for two decades 1998-2015 was reported by team employees for harassing, demeaning, and made unwanted advances. Ussery is now a vice president at Under Armor.

4 The Sacramento Kings who have lost three straight open a three game homestand at Golden One tonight with Oklahoma City, Saturday with the Lakers, and Monday night with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

5. The US Olympic Women’s hockey team got gold with another miracle on ice victory Thursday 3-2 beating Team Canada at the Pyeongchang Olympics

Tony Renteria does headline sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: After shocking loss to Portland last week Warriors well rested after 7 days break

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Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports: Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 50 points on Wed Feb 14th in Portland despite the effort the Warriors lost the game

On the Golden State Warriors Podcast with David:

1 The Warriors Kevin Durant who scored 50 during the Warriors last game on Wed Feb 14 in Portland was not enough as Golden State dropped a 123-117 decision to the Trail Blazers. Was it a matter of the supporting cast being tired just before the end of the first half or laxed play?

2 With the Warriors loss are teams figuring out how to play them or their not getting the expected performances out of players that they should?

David Zizmor has complete Warriors analysis each Tuesday on the Warriors Podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Team LeBron defeats Team Stephen with late 148-145 victory

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~ Photo credit: @YahooSportsNBA

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ It came to the final shot at Staples Center as Team LeBron came back for a 148-145 victory in the premier of non-conference teams in the NBA All-Star Game Sunday.

Stephen Curry and then DeMar DeRozan had the ball looking for a three to tie, but due to tough defense, were unable to put up a shot before the buzzer.

The underdog Team Stephen led for the majority of the game. For the most part, when Team LeBron did get the lead, it was short-lived.

James tied the game at 144 apiece with 1:30 left and that score held until 40.2 seconds left. DeRozan put Team Stephen up by one when he made one of two free throws.

After a Team LeBron timeout, James gave his team the lead for good with 34.5 seconds left. Russell Westbrook put the final points up when he took a long pass by James to the basket. Westbook commented, “We got stops when we needed to.”

Captain LeBron James won his third All-Star Game MVP title, with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He won $350K for his charity After School All Stars and Team Stephen earned $150K for Brotherhood Crusade.

DeRozan and Damian Lillard led Team Steph with 21 points apiece. Stephen Curry finished with 11 points.

Jimmy Butler was the only All-Star not to play.

After the second, Team LeBron shot above 50% from the field and Team Steph above 40%.

The first quarter saw a bit of a rough start or nervous energy, with five bad passes from the teams in just over a minute.  Team Steph had two 7-0 runs, the latter run part of an 11-2 run to close the first.

Karl-Anthony Towns was the only double-digit scorer, with 11 points.

Team Steph’s heat continued in the second until Team LeBron made their way back from beyond the arc with three straight three’s, two from the Captain and one from Kemba Walker. Kevin Durant pulled Team LeBron to within one 51-52 with 7:15 left. James followed with a reverse dunk over a minute later to give his team their first lead since 7:48 left in the first. It was short-lived though, as Joel Embiid reasserted Team Stephen’s lead.

Team Steph put together an 11-0 run with four minutes left. This included Curry’s first field goal and one of Klay Thompson’s threes. Team LeBron then went on a 7-0 run and chipped at Team Steph’s lead. Team Steph was stopped from crossing half court twice in the waning seconds as the teams headed to the lockers with a two-point difference, 76-78.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a block with 9:53 left that was called for goaltending. Thompson scored 12 points in the second, all off three’s, with three consecutive when he had the ball.

Durant started off the third with a three that gave Team Lebron a short-lived 79-78 lead. Team Stephen replied with a 9-0 run.

Durant took to the free throw line for Team LeBron’s first free throws with 8:17 left.  

Team LeBron finally saw their lead last for more than one possession when Kemba Walker made it 109-105. Then Team Steph responded with a 7-0 run to close out the third, two threes by Curry.

Team Steph continued with a 6-2 run to start the fourth. They went on a 9-0 run with 8:28 left. Kyle Lowry had two points and two assists, DeRozan two free throws and Lillard five points.

Team LeBron kept in it with an 8-0 run with 5:06 left. James had a layup, free throw and Westbrook two free throws.

The game also had some instant replay action after James’ 144-144 score when the ball went out of bounds and the referee was checking to see if the ball went off Embiid or Durant.  

Game notes: Team Steph outrebounded Team LeBron 68-49. Thompson finished with 15 points and Golden State Warriors teammates Draymond Green had three points off free throws and a game-high tying two blocks, Durant with 19 points and a game-high tying three steals. Embiid also had two blocks. Towns matched James with a game-high 10 rebounds. Lowry and Victor Oladipo also had three steals. Lillard finished +18. Bradley Beal, Paul George and James led with four threes apiece.

Kings Press Row Podcast: The All-Star Break Edition

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press row podcast

hosts Charlie O and Jordan “Chape” Chapin

  • Kings dominate the “Rising Stars Game”

  • Bogi grabs the MVP honors in the game

  • A look at the Kings revamped roster

  • A review of the remaining schedule

  • Total wins projection for the season

  • The role of Iman Shumpert

  • The return of Frank Mason III and Skal Labissiere

Kevin Durant scores 50 points, but it’s not enough as Warriors lose a thriller to Trail Blazers 123-117

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors fell behind by 20 points in the first half almost made an incredible comeback, but they could not catch the Portland Trail Blazers as they lost 123-117 Wednesday night at the Moda Center.

The Warriors had another poor first quarter as the Blazers came out firing. The Blazers’ backcourt duo of C.J. McCollum and Damien Lillard were unstoppable as they led the team to victory over the Warriors. The Blazers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors and sent the Warriors down to second place in the Western Conference. With the loss, the Warriors record of 44-14 is 1/2 game behind the Houston Rockets’ 44-13. The Rockets also own the tie-breaker with the Warriors which means if the teams finish the season with an identical record, the Rockets would have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Blazers raced to a 40-27 advantage after the first period. The Warriors finished the first half trailing by 12 points 63-51. Kevin Durant came to life in the third quarter, and he tallied 18 points to help close the gap to 92-87 after three quartersof play. The Warriors came close and tied the game at one point, but they could never regain the lead. KD hit a 3-pointer to make it 114-111 late in the fourth quarter. McCollum answered with a three of his own with just 2:15 left to play. The Blazers handled all the challenges and finished the night with another victory at home.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors are off until February 22nd when they meet the LA Clippers at Oracle Arena. The Warriors’ Big Four of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are heading to Los Angeles to play in the annual NBA All-Star game. Head coach Steve Kerr is on his way to Hawaii for a few days of rest and relaxation.

The Blazers’ backcourt duo of McCollum and Lillard scored 73 points and the Blazer defense held Curry and Thompson to just 34. The Warriors bench did not give the team much help offensively as they were outscored by Portland’s bench 21-16. The Warriors committed 16 turnovers in the loss.

The offensive star for Golden State was Kevin Durant, who knocked down 50 points, and had six assists, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots.

Green had a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards.

Steve Kerr was very thoughtful about the events that took place in Parkland, Florida, where at least 17 people were killed in another tragic school shooting. Kerr had this to say, ”Nothing has been done. It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools. It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, movie theater. It’s not enough apparently to move our leadership, our government, the people who are running this country, to actually do anything. That’s demoralizing. But we can do something about it: We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives and not just bow down to the NRA because they financed their campaign for them. Hopefully we’ll find enough people, first of all, to vote good people in, but hopefully we can find enough people with courage to actually help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues, not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety, but actually protecting us from what truly is dangerous, which is maniacs with semi-automatic weapons just slaughtering our children. It’s disgusting.”

Up Next: The Warriors host the Clippers at Oracle Arena next Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 pm PT.

Kings lose to Rockets 100-91; Houston enters All-Star break with 10 straight wins

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Photo credit: @NBCSAuthentic

By: Ana Kieu

Last night, a streak was broken and swept up against the Dallas Mavericks, and the Sacramento Kings traveled to South Texas to take on the Houston Rockets in a Valentine’s Day game at the Toyota Center on Wednesday night.

The Kings were doing just fine in the first quarter. They got some insurance points from Buddy Hield too.

 

 

 

The Kings led the Rockets 25-20 at the end of the first.

However, the Rockets bounced back with 35 points in the second quarter. The Kings scored just 20 points in the second.

The Kings trailed the Rockets 55-45 at the half.

Since the Kings were down by 10 at halftime, they decided to have some fun on Twitter. Rapper Gucci Mane tweeted, “It’s never too late. You can still do it!” The Kings quoted the tweet with “That’s right, Gucci! Trailing at the half but plenty of basketball to go.”

It was a low scoring third quarter, but the Kings outshot the Rockets 18-17 to end the third. Hield continued to make it rain with various types of shots, including buckets, on the court.

 

 

 

Despite the Kings ending the third on a high note, they continued to trail the Rockets 72-63 at the end of the third.

After that, the Kings’ Twitter announced the game’s Cold Hard Fact sponsored by Coors Light. That fact said: “Seven Kings players have at least four rebounds so far tonight.”

Both teams scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, but the Kings’ hard-fought battle came up short as they lost to the Rockets 100-91. Kings’ De’Aaron Fox received stitches above his right eye and chin after making contact with the floor during the early moments of tonight’s game in Houston.

Notes
Kings’ starters:

Kings’ crowdsourced startup powered by Sacramento Urban Technology Lab will return for the third year in a row.

Kings’ De’Aaron Fox will participate in the 2018 Rising Stars Game.

Kings’ dancers posted for a Valentine’s day photoshoot.

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/963925839271391233

Up Next
The Kings return home to kick off a three-game homestand, starting with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 pm PT.