Category: NBA

Curry back, Warriors end 2017 with 141-128 win over Grizzlies

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Photo credit: @warriors

By: Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors concluded their seven-game homestand against the Memphis Grizzlies to Oracle Arena on Saturday night. The Warriors were looking to rebound after losing to the Charlotte Hornets 111-100 the day before. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies were simply hoping to extend their win streak to two games.

Before the game, Steph Curry signed some autographs for some Warriors fans in the sweetest way possible–with his daughter Riley on his side. Family time is always nice during NBA games.

The Warriors put their customized Slate Night kicks on display. Golden State then announced their starting lineup: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.

Warriors fans were excited to see Curry back on home court. The Splash Brothers were reunited, but let’s not forget about Thompson’s back-to-back three-pointers with less than 10 minutes left in the first quarter. The Warriors led by two (40-38) after the first.

The Warriors got off to a strong start to begin the second quarter. Shaun Livingston’s step back game was reportedly really strong and David West’s slam put the Warriors up 52-50 with 7:28 left in the first half. West then cleaned up a missed shot.

The Steph Curry show continued and the Warriors carried a 78-67 lead to the locker room at the half. The Warriors were so glad to have Curry back.

Curry remained hot in the third quarter. Jordan Bell also made some noteworthy plays. Moreover, Durant hit a three to give the Warriors a 116-98 lead at the end of the third.

Thompson brought the fire to the fourth quarter. Andre Iguodala also picked up a steal and finished it on the other end of the court. With a late three, Curry notched the most threes in a single NBA game this season.

The Warriors ended 2017 with a 141-128 win over the Grizzlies. Golden State ended their seven-game homestand with a 5-2 record.

Notes: Omri Casspi (sprained right ankle), Stephen Curry (sprained right ankle), Andre Iguodala (left knee soreness) and Klay Thompson (low back tightness) are probable.

Up Next: The Warriors kick off a three-game road trip vs. Mavericks on Wednesday at 5:3 pm PT.

Scoring duo of Warren and Booker too much for Kings to handle: Suns win 111-101

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
DSC00802
Devin Booker scores two of his 26 points against the Kings Photo: Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com

by Jordan Chapin with Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento- Friday night at the Golden 1 Center, the Sacramento Kings fell to Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns, 111-101. Kings started out hot, as Skal Labissiere scored 10 of the Kings first 17 points, including an emphatic put back dunk. The Suns had an answer, by the name of T.J Warren, who hit seven of his first eight shots from the field. Phoenix finished off the first with a 14-0 run in the final two minutes. 

 
The Kings trailed the Suns throughout the entirety of the second and third quarters, as T.J Warren continued his efficient night with a bit of help from Marquese Chriss who finished with 14-points (3-for-3 from 3P). Sacramento struggled from 3-point land tonight, shooting only 8-for-24 from behind the arc. 
 
In the first several minutes of the fourth, the Kings put together a 8-0 run, capped off by a Willie Cauley-Stein, alley-oop dunk, from Bogdan Bogdanovic resulting in a 97-93 lead by the Kings. With just over four minutes left to go, Phoenix tied the game 98-98, then it was the Devin Booker show.  In the last four minutes, Booker and the Suns took over the game, scoring 12 unanswered points, and Devin booker handed the Kings their 23rd loss of the season by scoring nine of those final 12-points on his own. 
 
Despite having seven players in double digits, the Kings fell to a hot Phoenix Suns team, who has won five of their last seven games. The Kings will try to split the season series at two games a piece when they face the Suns in Phoenix, on April 3rd. Sacramento will continue there homestand, New Years Eve, against Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies. 
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Battle of the big men as Zach Randolph attacks the basket against Tyson Chandler Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com
 
Top Performers
Kings 
Star of the Game: Skal Labissiere 
Skal played only 15 minutes, but made the best of them. Despite having sub-par performances and a couple DNP’s in his last few games, Labissiere ended with 12-points, 5-of-6 from the field, four rebounds, including two offensive rebounds, and an assist. Skal played with a lot of energy and scored 10 of the Kings first 17 points. 
 
Co-star: Garrett Temple 
 Temple helped keep Sacramento in the game shooting 5-of-8 from the field(2-for-3 from 3P)and ended with 12-points to go along with five dimes and three boards. Temple hit a few big shots throughout the game, but it wasn’t enough to get the victory. 
 
Suns 
Star of the Game: T.J Warren 
Warren was the thorn in the Kings side tonight, racking up a double-double, finishing with 26-points and 10 rebounds. T.J Warren was very steady throughout tonight’s game and was the biggest key in the Suns win. 
 
Co-star: Devin Booker 
 Despite a below average shooting night from Booker, he finished with 26-points, three assists and three rebounds. He shot only 3-for-9 from behind the arc, but in the end, hit the dagger that put the Suns over the top in a 111-101 victory.
Coach’s Comments after the game

Team Stats

Phoenix (14-23)

  • Field goal shooting: 41-for-85 (48.2-percent)
  • 3-Point shooting: 13-for-30 (43.3-percent)
  • Free Throws: the Suns converted 16-of-24 chances at the charity stripe (66.7-percent)
  • Rebounds: 16 offensive 29 defensive 45 total +7 over the Kings
  • Assists to Turnovers: 26 assists; 11 turnovers that became 12 Sacramento points
  • Second chance points: Suns 19 Kings 11
  • Fast Break Points: Suns 18 Kings 14

Sacramento (12-23)

  • Field goal shooting: 37-for-80 (46.2-percent)
  • 3-Point shooting: 8-for-24 (33.3-percent)
  • Free Throws: the Kings put in 19-of-23 opportunities from the line (82.6-percent)
  • Rebounds: 9 offensive 29 defensive 38 total -7 to the Suns
  • Assists to Turnovers: 22 assists; 10 turnovers that turned into 15 Phoenix points
  • Points in the paint: Kings 40 Suns 38
DSC00788
Frank Mason III drives through traffic to the basket versus the Suns Photo Jordon Chapin SportsRadioService.com

Up Next

Phoenix

The Suns headed home after the game and will host the Philadelphia 76ers on New Year’s Eve. The Suns and Kings will meet one more time this season on April 3, 2018 in Phoenix.

Sacramento

The Kings will also be back in action on last day of 2017 when they will host the Memphis Grizzlies at the Golden 1 Center in a 4:00 pm tilt. Sacramento will then have a busy first week of the New Year as they will host the Hornets, Nuggets and Spurs to kickoff the month of January.

 

 

Howard, Hornets show Warriors who’s boss with 111-100 win

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Charlotte Hornets’ Dwight Howard, right, and Frank Kaminsky (44) celebrate a score against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. Charlotte won 111-100. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors welcomed Steph Curry’s hometown team, the Charlotte Hornets, to Oracle Arena on Friday night. The Warriors were eyeing a three-game win streak, while the Hornets simply wanted to avoid a two-game losing skid.

As usual, NBC Sports Bay Area provided Friday’s cheer cards for Authentic Fan Friday. The Warriors also reminded their fans to Dub the Vote for good luck before watching the game. Unfortunately, the Warriors didn’t draw good luck. Oh well. Better luck next time.

Klay Thompson hit a three early in the first quarter. With the three, Thompson hit a three in his 90th consecutive game for the third longest streak all-time.

If that wasn’t good enough, Thompson scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the game. Thompson also continued to make it rain with threes.

Despite Thompson’s success, the Hornets turned good defense into easy offense. Dwight Howard showed off some tremendous footwork and the Hornets closed out the first on a 9-0 run. The Hornets led the Warriors 32-29 at the end of the first.

David West came up with a noteworthy dunk to tie the game at 44 with less than six minutes left in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Howard led the Hornets with 12 points and his team led by four points with 3:54 left in the second. But Jordan Bell (who reportedly has his own fan club) and the Warriors tied the game at 53 at the half.

The Warriors had back-to-back slams to start the second half. Thompson and Shaun Livingston contributed to the Warrior offense. However, Howard scored 23 points in the third quarter. As a result, Howard became the ninth player in NBA history with at least 9,000 career defensive rebounds. The Hornets were up by five (79-74 over the Warriors) at the end of the third.

Kevin Durant hit a couple of threes in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets continued to be on top of the Warriors and held a nine-point lead over the home team with 7:46 left in regulation. Howard passed yet another milestone with a career-high seven assists for the fourth time in his NBA career and first time since Nov. 13, 2013 vs. Philadelphia Sixers.

The Hornets defeated the Warriors by a final score of 111-100. Additionally, Howard became the third player in franchise history to record 25+ points, 12+ rebounds, 7+ assists and 2+ steals in a regular season game since Anthony Mason in 1997 and Gerald Wallace in 2007.

Notes
Warriors’ starting lineup: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia, Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston.

Warriors’ injury update: Andre Iguodala (left knee soreness) is probable. Omri Casspi (sprained right ankle) is out.

Zaza Pachulia partnered with ZTE USA to celebrate the Season of Giving.

Hornets’ injury update: Cody Zeller (left knee meniscus tear) is out.

Up Next
The Warriors welcome the Grizzlies on Saturday at 5:30 pm PT.

The Hornets take on the Clippers on Sunday at 4:00 pm PT.

The latest edition of the Kings Press Row Podcast is now available for all of you hoop fanatics

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

press row podcast

Vince Carter vs Cavs
Vince Carter became the first 40-year old to score 20 or more points off the bench in NBA history Photo USA Today Sports

Charlie O & Jordan “Chape” Chapin talk all things Kings:

  • Should referees be allowed to call fouls when using video replay to review calls such as who touched the ball last?

  • How have Willie Cauley-Stein and Buddy Hield responded to being placed back into the starting lineup?

  • How much are the Kings missing De’Aaron Fox right now?

  • There has been talk of teams being interested in trading for Zach Randolph – should the Kings try to trade Z-Bo?

  • What about George Hill? Should the Kings try to move him and his salary?

  • Sacramento has lost two consecutive games: to the Spurs last Saturday and the Clippers on Tuesday – what happened?

  • What’s coming up for the Kings?

 

Kings snap two-game losing skid with shocking 109-95 win over Cavs

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Sacramento Kings’ George Hill, left, and Garrett Temple celebrate in the closing moments of the Kings 109-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in The Kings won 109-95. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Both the Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers came into Wednesday’s game trying to rebound from losses suffered prior to the statistically lopsided matchup.

Of course, the Cavs–especially Lebron James–were coming off the controversial Kevin Durant incident consisting of a reported three fouls in two minutes. The Kings’ starters were Garett Temple, Malachi Richardson, Zach Randolph, George Hill, and Frank Mason. The Cavs countered with a starting five of James, Jae Crowder, Kevin Love, JR Smith, and Jose Calderon.

The Kings played in front of what appeared to be a sellout crowd. During the first few minutes of the first quarter, the Kings seemed to have lacked energy. The score with eight minutes left in the first was 12-4. However, the Kings clawed their way back to a 15-12 Cavs advantage with 5:44 to play. At one point, the game would make its way to a 21-16 Cavs advantage, but Kings fans had no fear as their team roared back to finish the first with a 28-27 lead, thanks to Bogdan Bogdanovic’s buzzer two-point shot.

The second quarter would prove to be another strong display from the Kings. It began back and forth until the Kings came out to a 57-45 advantage following a three-pointer from Buddy Hield. Zack Randolph proceeded to hit a three from way downtown. With about a minute left to play, George Hill would hit a two to make it 62-53 Kings with 31.7 seconds left to play in the second. The Kings were up 55-62 at halftime.

The second half began with Randolph hitting a two from in close to make it 64-55 Kings. However, it was short-lived as the Cavs went on a run to make it 67-66, forcing Dave Joerger to take a timeout. With 6:45 left to play, the score was 69-68 Cavs. LeBron would dunk and transition followed by a Randolph two. Randolph made it a three by hitting his free throw and tied the score 71-71 with five minutes left in the third. Timeout halted play with 2:45 left and the score 79-74 Kings. To cap off a great third, Carter hit a three from the wing to put the Kings up 85-80 going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter began in favor of the Kings, who went on a 11-0 run to extend the lead to 94-80 with 8:37 left to play. With 7:10 left, the Kings got a jump ball. The game sat pretty tight until Vince Carter hit a three to break the 100-point barrier and make it 101-87 Kings with 5:11 left. With 3:38 left, Willy Cauley-Stein was fouled and made one of his two free throws. Carter would hit a two and Temple then hit a three to make it 109-92 and appeared to put the game out of reach. LeBron would sit and the Kings went on to win by a final score of 109-95.

Warriors continue homestand with 126-101 blowout win over Jazz

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Golden State Warriors forwards Jordan Bell (2), Andre Iguodala (9) and Kevin Durant (35) celebrate during the second half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. The Warriors won 126-101. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors continued their long homestand with a 126-101 blowout win over the Utah Jazz at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.

With the win, the Warriors extended their win streak to two games and handed the Jazz their third straight loss.

The Jazz barely outscored the Warriors 24-23 at the end of the first quarter, but Golden State picked up the pace to get past Utah. Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant stepped up for Steph Curry (sprained ankle) during the second quarter.

Green sank the three to give the Warriors a 48-47 lead over the Jazz at halftime. During the halftime break, a lucky fan honed his skills to score an autographed basketball, courtesy of MRC Smart Technology Solutions.

The Warriors didn’t waste any time in the second half. Golden State scored an unbelievable 42 points in the third quarter. Thompson, Durant, Green, Shaun Livingston, and Jordan Bell made tonight’s basketball game lit with their dunk shows.

The Warriors led the Jazz 90-69 at the end of the third quarter.

Nick Young made some threes in the fourth quarter. Omri Casspi made an incredible reverse layup. Andre Iguodala then stole the ball and found Casspi, who finished with the layup.

Patrick McCaw joined the party of threes towards the end of the game. JaVale McGee also finished at the rim.

The Warriors overcame a rather sluggish start and blew out the Jazz 126-101 for their second straight win–both at home.

Notes
Warriors owner and CEO Joe Lacob was named SF Business Times’ 2017 Executive of the Year.

Up Next
The Warriors host the Hornets on Friday, December 29 at 7:30 pm PT.

The Jazz return home to host the Cavs on Saturday, December 30 at 6 pm MT.

Harrell leads efficient Clippers over Kings 122-95

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~ (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Los Angeles’ Montrezl Harrell had a season-high in points and rebounds as Sacramento endured a bigger drubbing than last Tuesday, 122-95.

The Clippers shot 55% from the field, compared to 41.7%, had almost double the amount of threes, and went to the line 27 times.  

Harrell scored 22 points with eight rebounds. In the fourth quarter, he scored 12 points, got seven rebounds and went to the line four times.

The Kings meanwhile continued a WW-LL pattern. Sacramento’s opponents have scored over 100 points in the Kings’ last eight losses and Los Angeles has scored over 100 points in each of their last four games.

No one on the Kings scored over 10 points except for Willie Cauley-Stein. He had 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Lou Williams added 21 points for the Clippers, Milos Teodosic had a season-high 10 assists and teammate Austin Rivers was held to eight points. It was Rivers’ lowest total  since he returned from a concussion, ending a four game double point streak.

Both were close in the beginning with 30 apiece in the first quarter, but then the discrepancy grew to 18 as scored Los Angeles scored 41 and Sacramento 23 in the second. The first half points allowed matched a season record for the Kings.  Sacramento’s last lead came with 10:30 left in the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Milos Teodosic had six points and five assists while the Kings went to the free throw line five times. Starting with 7:26 left, the Clippers extended their lead to double digits with 11. Los Angeles’ Sam Dekker’s touch into the net with 5:05 left (also an 11 point difference) would be the closest the Kings got for the rest of the game.

Los Angeles stretched a 12-0 run in between the third and fourth quarters.

Sacramento’s Justin Jackson got the score to within 19 points after a three with 2:45 left to go, but then the Clippers scored the last eight points. Meanwhile, after the Kings’ Malachi Richardson was blocked by Willie Reed, Sacramento missed their last five shots with three attempts by Georgios Papagiannis.

Game notes: Sacramento plays the second of back-to-back games Tuesday at 7pm hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a six-game homestand.

Warriors give fans a Christmas present with 99-92 win over Cavs

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Photo credit: @_LegendaryEdits

By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — On Christmas day, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers met in a rematch at Oracle Arena. The Warriors beat the Cavs 99-92 in Oakland.

Prior to the much anticipated matchup, the Warriors saw their 11-game win streak snap after the Nuggets embarrassed them with a 96-81 blowout win Saturday. Meanwhile, the Cavs were just looking to extend their win streak to two games. The Cavs edged the Bulls 115-112 at Quicken Loans Arena Thursday.

Both teams played excellent defense to start the first half. There was no score until 10:15 of the first quarter as Jae Crowder hit a three-pointer to put the Cavs on the board 3-0. Jose Calderon added another three to make it 6-0 Cavs with 9:38 left in the first.

The Warriors then started to get back into the game. Draymond Green made a driving floating bank jump shot and one of two free throws. Klay Thompson hit a three. Kevin Durant missed a couple of shots, but later snagged a rebound and made a driving finger roll layup shot. The Warriors pulled within two (12-10) with 7:15 left.

LeBron James hit a three to put the Cavs ahead 15-10 with 6:05 left. Durant then made a jump shot to bring the Warriors within four (16-12), but Kevin Love hit a three to expand the Cavs’ lead to 19-12 with 4:38 left.

James continued to work his magic on the court with a couple of layups. Kyle Korver hit a three with 21.7 seconds left. The Warriors trailed the Cavs 28-24 at the end of the first.

Both teams battled it out in a back-and-forth second quarter. The score was tied at 33 with 6:16 left in the second. Thompson made the game-tying shot–a jump shot.

Again, the score was tied at 39 with 3:57 left. Bell made a cutting dunk shot for two points for the equalizer.

The Warriors missed plenty of shots, but so did the Cavs. Durant helped the Warriors out with a three before Iguodala entered the game in his relief.

Omri Casspi made a pair of two free throws to end the first half. The Warriors led the Cavs 46-44 at halftime.

The score remained close throughout the second half.

Love hit a three to start the third quarter, but the Warriors began to pick up the pace. Love continued to contribute to the Cavs’ offense, but the Warriors gave the Cavs a hard time as Patrick McCaw hit a three and made a driving layup shot before his scoring streak ended and Andre Iguodala entered in his relief.

Casspi and Nick Young relieved Bell and Thompson late in the third. The Warriors made it rain with Durant’s pair of free throws and Casspi’s cutting dunk shot before the Cavs took a timeout.

The Iguodala show was in full effect as Iguodala made a dunk shot and a running finger roll layup shot to give the Warriors a 71-64 lead over the Cavs at the end of the third.

Dwayne Wade made it a one-point game with a three with 8:49 left in the fourth. The Warriors continued to lead 78-77, but Shaun Livingston made a dunk shot before receiving a personal foul from the referees. Durant then substituted for Iguodala.

Love made a pair of free throws, but the Cavs continued to trail the Warriors 85-81 with 5:59 left in regulation. Green, Durant and Bell fired up the Warrior offense, while the Cavs missed some much-needed shots.

James made a floating jump shot to tie the game at 92 with 1:59 left. Durant responded with a three to put the Warriors back on top 95-92 just 26 seconds later.

The Cavs got a lot of fouls in the final two minutes of the game and that seemingly affected their overall performance. Thompson closed out the game with a pair of free throws and the Warriors beat the Cavs 99-92.

Notes
Warriors’ starters: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Jordan Bell, Klay Thompson and Patrick McCaw.

Dwayne Wade’s teams have won 10 games on Christmas day–the most in NBA history.

Kevin Love (20) and LeBron James (22) have a combined 42 double-doubles, tied for the most among all NBA teammate duos this season.

Up Next 
The Warriors host the Jazz on Wednesday, December 27 at 7:30 pm PT.

The Cavs take on the Kings on Wednesday, December 27 at 7:00 pm PT.

Too much Aldridge, Gasol and Ginobili ends the Kings two-game win streak: Spurs win 108-99 on Saturday night

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More Hield SAS
Buddy Hield drives to the hoop for two of his 24 points Photo: USA Today Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The Kings stayed with the Spurs stride for stride in the opening quarter and played them to a 33-33 tie at the end of 12-minutes. The energy was high in the Golden 1 Center. Kawahi Leonard was declared unavailable due to injury management, so Sacramento fans felt their team was on a more even playing field talent wise.

They were wrong.

The Spurs outscored the Kings 29-16 in the second quarter as they shot 50-percent (11-for-22) from the field, hit 3-of-5 three-point attempts and converted 4-of-5 free throw attempts. San Antonio began a scoring drive at the 10:10 mark of the quarter and built up a 13 point lead by the time the horn sounded for halftime.

The Spurs went to the locker room at the half with a 62-49 lead over the Kings.

Sacramento came out in the third quarter knowing they had to make a run at the Spurs immediately. The Kings kept chipping away at the San Antonio lead and cut it to six-points twice. When the third period ended, SAC trailed by just eight points, 84-76.

Buddy Hield scored 10-points shooting 4-for-6 (including two 3-pointers) to lead the Kings 27-point scoring attack. Willie Cauley-Stein added eight-points.

The Kings needed to put together a run and cut the Spurs lead to five-points or less with two-minutes to go in the game to have a chance to win. That did not happen.

Former King Rudy Gay – who had previously not scored in the game – sank two jump shots and 25-foot 3-pointer in the opening 2:18 of the final quarter to help the Spurs rebuild a 14-point lead. The San Antonio lead would reach 15-points twice in the period which was too much for the Kings to overcome.

San Antonio won the game 108-99.

Top Performers

Spurs (22-11)

Gasol SAS
Pau Gasol recorded a triple-double versus the Kings on Saturday night Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Star of the Game: Paul Gasol – the Spurs 37-year old, 17-year NBA veteran – recorded a triple-double on Saturday night. Gasol scored 14-points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in just over 30-minutes on the floor. After the game Gasol said, “I have to give credit to my teammates. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to get the assists, so it’s a team accomplishment. Just happy it turned out that way tonight. It’s been a couple of years since my last triple-double.” (February 27, 2016 as a member of the Chicago Bulls)
  • Co-star: LaMarcus Aldridge only gets a co-star billing for the game because he recorded just a double-double putting up a game-high 29-points and pulling down 10 rebounds. He also played a game-high 38-minutes and 33-seconds.

  • Ginobili to hoop
    The ageless Ginobili goes to the rack versus the Kings Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Co-star: The final co-star for the Spurs is man who should probably be playing “wheelchair basketball” if you listen to “the experts” who say he should retire at the end of every season he plays. 40-year old Manu Ginobili evidently does not know he is too old to play in the NBA. On Saturday night, he scored 15-points in just over 21-minutes of playing time coming off the bench.

Kings (11-21)

  • Star of the Game: Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 24 points versus the Spurs on Saturday night. He played almost 32-minutes shooting 9-for-17 overall and 4-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc. Hield also hauled in eight rebounds in the contest. In what was also a major improvement, he committed no turnovers.

  • WCS vs SAS
    Willie Cauley-Stein posted a double-double on Saturday night Photo: USA Today Sports
  • Co-star: Willie Cauley-Stein posted his fifth double-double of the season as he scored 22 points and recorded 11 rebounds. Cauley-Stein shot 10-for-18 for the game and added three assists.
  • Co-star: Bogdan Bogdanovic had a perfect shooting night as he was 6-for-6 overall and 3-for-3 from 3-point land. Bogdanovic played 28-plus minutes against the Spurs.

Key Team Stats

San Antonio

  • Field Goal Shooting: 44-for-88 (50-percent) It’s tough to beat a team that is sinking half of its shots
  • 3-point Shooting: the Spurs made 11-of-23 (47.8-percent) 3-point attempts. Six different players made 3-point baskets
  • Free throw shooting: the Spurs went to the line only 11 times but the made nine free throws (81.8-percent) which helped them to win this game
  • The Spurs also had a fantastic assists to turnover ratio. They dished out 29 assists and turned the ball over just eight times. That is very close to a 4 to 1 ratio with a 2 to 1 ratio being the goal

Sacramento

  • Field Goal Shooting: 46.5-percent (49-for-86) which is respectable until you look and see your opponent shot 50-percent from the field
  • 3-point Shooting: The Kings actually out-shot the Spurs from behind the 3-point line. They hit 12-of-22 3-point attempts (54.5-percent). Four Kings did all of their 3-point scoring – Randolph, Temple, Hield and Bogdanovic.
  • Free throw shooting: the Kings went to the line just 11 times and converted just seven of those shots. They still need to get more attempts per game
  • Assists to turnover ratio – The Kings finished with 20 assists and 10 turnovers or the magic 2 to 1 formula. It just was not enough in this case.

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings are done until after Christmas. Sacramento will return to action on Tuesday, December 26 when the team will travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers at the Staples Center.

San Antonio

The Spurs headed home after the game and will have Christmas Day off. San Antonio will host the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

 

Warriors’ “The Town” jerseys didn’t bring good luck, Nuggets beat Warriors 96-81 to end 11-game win streak

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Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors’ 11-game win streak came to an end as the Denver Nuggets cruised to a 96-81 win at Oracle Arena Saturday night.

The Warriors tipped off a little earlier than usual against the Nuggets in Oakland. Golden State was hoping to extend their win streak to 12 games while Denver was simply looking to win two games in a row.

The Warriors’ Twitter account wished everyone a Happy Festivus Seinfeld style before the tipoff. Omri Casspi, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, Jordan Bell, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant put in work in the first half.

Yet, the Warriors trailed by two (22-20) at the end of the first quarter and fell behind even further by 12 (53-41) at the end of the second quarter.

At the half, Durant led all scorers with 13 points and three rebounds. Thompson scored six points and two steals. Bell had six points and six rebounds. Patrick McCaw had five points. Iguodala had six assists. Casspi had four points and three rebounds. Green had just three points and four assists.

The Warriors outshot the Nuggets 21-20, but trailed the Nuggets 73-62 at the end of the third quarter. Green was a reliable man on the court and so were Bell, Durant, Iguodala and even Nick Young, who hit a three-pointer late in the quarter.

Thompson knocked down a corner three-pointer with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter.

JaVale McGee made some buckets late in the quarter. The Warriors tried their best, but the Nuggets embarrassed the home team 96-81 on their home court.

At the end, Durant led all scorers with 18 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Thompson scored 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Green had 10 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks. Bell had seven points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. McCaw had seven points, two rebounds and two steals. Casspi had just five points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Notes
Warriors’ injury update: Kevon Looney (gluteal strain) is available to play. Shaun Livingston (sore right knee) and Zaza Pachulia (left shoulder soreness) are out.

Nuggets’ injury update: Emmanuel Mudiay (right ankle sprain) and Paul Millsap (left wrist ligament injury) are out.

Up Next
The Warriors host the Cavs in an NBA Finals rematch on Christmas Day at 12 pm PT.

The Nuggets return home to host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, December 26 at 7 pm MT.