Category: NBA

By Barbara Mason

The San Antonio Spurs had their work cut out for them Tuesday night as they took on the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena minus their superstar Kawhi Leonard. Leonard re-injured his ankle and it is not exactly known yet when he will be able to return to the court. Limping off the court in game one, Leonard went down when he landed on Zaza Pachulia’s foot. Not intentional nor dirty although you will no doubt hear conflicting stories from the Spurs side.

The Spurs were defenseless without Leonard. The Warriors got off to a quick start with Steph Curry leading the way. Golden State led by as many as 30 points in the first half. Curry finished with 19 points and Durant with 11 points through two quarters, Golden State was leading by the score of 72-44 going into the third quarter.. It was all Warriors in the first half of this game and there wasn’t a negative thing you could say about Golden State’s performance. The Warriors had taken the fight out of the Spurs and the second half promised to be more of the same unfortunately for San Antonio.

The Spurs needed to put some effort into what had been so far a less than competitive showing. It took the Warriors 3 1/2 minutes to score their first basket of the third quarter. Golden State had lost a bit of steam as San Antonio had made up a third of their deficit. The Spurs were putting up a fight now trailing 81-59. San Antonio had made up a bit of ground but still had a long long way to go. It was not long before the Warriors got going again stunting any effort by San Antonio to get back into this game.

The Spurs just could not get anything going as Golden State began to pull away leading 106-75 after three quarters. The starters got a nice rest as the bench took it home in the fourth quaBy Barbara Mason

The San Antonio Spurs had their work cut out for them Tuesday night as they took on the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena minus their superstar Kawhi Leonard. Leonard re-injured his ankle and it is not exactly known yet when he will be able to return to the court. Limping off the court in game one, Leonard went down when he landed on Zaza Pachulia’s foot. Not intentional nor dirty although you will no doubt hear conflicting stories from the Spurs side.

The Spurs were defenseless without Leonard. The Warriors got off to a quick start with Steph Curry leading the way. Golden State led by as many as 30 points in the first half. Curry finished with 19 points and Durant with 11 points through two quarters, Golden State was leading by the score of 72-44 going into the third quarter.. It was all Warriors in the first half of this game and there wasn’t a negative thing you could say about Golden State’s performance. The Warriors had taken the fight out of the Spurs and the second half promised to be more of the same unfortunately for San Antonio.

The Spurs needed to put some effort into what had been so far a less than competitive showing. It took the Warriors 3 1/2 minutes to score their first basket of the third quarter. Golden State had lost a bit of steam as San Antonio had made up a third of their deficit. The Spurs were putting up a fight now trailing 81-59. San Antonio had made up a bit of ground but still had a long long way to go. It was not long before the Warriors got going again stunting any effort by San Antonio to get back into this game.

The Spurs just could not get anything going as Golden State began to pull away leading 106-75 after three quarters. The starters got a nice rest as the bench took it home in the fourth quarter. It was a breeze for the Warriors as they won this game handily 136-100. No contest as the Warriors took a 2-0 lead in this series.

Golden State will now head out to San Antonio for game 3 on Saturday night.rter. It was a breeze for the Warriors as they won this game handily 136-100. No contest as the Warriors took a 2-0 lead in this series.

Golden State will now head out to San Antonio for game 3 on Saturday night.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- Watching the game between the Warriors and the Spurs Sunday afternoon reminded me of the first line in Charles Dickens’ story “The Tale of Two Cities.” “It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.” For the Spurs, it was the best of times in the first half of the game as they dominated the Warriors. They led by 25 at one point and finished the first 24 minutes of play leading 62-42. However, the Spurs suffered the worst of times as the Warriors stormed back and beat the Spurs 113-111 to take a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.

The Warriors, who had been off since last Monday, appeared to do everything wrong in the first half. They shot just 34% from the floor. They made just two 3-point shots. They turned the ball over too many times, and the Spurs were outrebounding them easily. The Spurs’ MVP candidate, Kawhi Leonard, was hot. He scored 18 points, and his teammates LaMarcus Aldridge and Manu Ginobili followed with 17 and 9 points each. The Spurs led 46-21 about halfway through the second quarter and the game looked to be a blowout for San Antonio. The Warriors’ Steph Curry and Kevin Durant each scored fourteen points in the half but Klay Thompson was held to just three. Zaza Pachulia had 4 and Draymond Green just 2.

The Warriors, who have owned the third quarter this season, couldn’t seem to get untracked. The Spurs kept the pressure on until about halfway through the period. Kawhi Leonard, who had been killing the Dubs on offense as well as defense, re-injured his ankle and had to leave the game and did not return. The Warriors,  trailing 78-55, went on an 18-0 run behind the spectacular play of Steph Curry. Curry tallied 19 points and was helped out by KD and Zaza as the Warriors ending the third period trailing 90-81

The Spurs held the lead for most of the fourth-quarter. Kevin Durant made some key shots while Steph was on the bench. Steph returned with about a little over six minutes in the game, and the Warriors continued to chisel the deficit down. They closed to within three 96-93, but the Spurs made a bucket to up the lead to five 98-93. Shaun Livingston made a key bucket as the Warriors regained the lead 101-100. The Dubs had not led since early in the first period. San Antonio responded and regained the advantage 106-103. Steph tied the game with a three-pointer 106-106. Draymond Green made a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw, and the Dubs led 109-106. Steph made a deuce, and the Warriors had their biggest lead of the game 111-106. The Spurs did not fold. They made two buckets, and the lead was down to one. Steph made another bucket, and the Dubs led 113-110 with time winding down. The Spurs’ Patty Mills was fouled near the end of the game. Mills made the first free throw. He intentionally missed the second free three throw hoping to get the ball to bounce to one of teammates in the backcourt. The strategy failed as the Warriors completed an amazing comeback to win the first game of the series.

Game Notes and Stats- The win by the Warriors over the Spurs was the first time the Warriors have ever beat the Gregg Popovich Spurs in a playoff series. Popovich had this to say after the game;” they(the Warriors) are well-coached and worked harder. It was a great effort and a tough loss for us.”

The Warriors were fantastic in the second half. In order to win, they had to outscore the Spurs by twenty-two points, and that is exactly what they did as they poured in 71 points and held the Sputs to 49. Steph Curry finished with 40 points, 3 assists, and 7 rebounds. Kevin Durant followed with 34 points, 4 assists, five boards, and he blocked four shots. Zaza Pachulia added 11. Pachulia had three assists, nine rebounds, and one block. Draymond Green scored nine points and had 7  assists and seven rebounds. The Warriors’ bench contributed just 13 points while the Spurs bench tallied 39. Kawhi Leonard had 26 points before leaving with his injury. LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 17 in the first half, was held to eleven and finished with 28. Manu Ginobili and Jonathan Simmons, both coming off the bench, had 17 and 12 respectively.

The Spurs outrebounded the Dubs 23-17 in the first half. However, the Dubs dominated the boards in the final 24 minutes and finished the night with a 43-37 advantage in that department. Both teams had thirteen steals, but the Dubs had 8 blocks, and the Spurs had four. The Warriors committed 19 turnovers and the Spurs 17. Both teams play excellent defense, and that may be a reason for the high number of giveaways.

The Warriors’ Andre Iguodala did not see a lot pf playing time. Interim coach Mike Brown said the reason fo not using Andre was that ” he looked a little hobbled out there.”

The Warriors are 9-0 in the playoffs and are 24-1 in their last 25 games including the postseason.

The Warriors and Spurs play Game Two Tuesday night at Oracle Arena at 6 pm.

by London Marq

In another brilliant show of defensive domination, the Golden State Warriors complete the four game sweep of the Utah Jazz.

Utah was outscored by 22 points when the first quarter, stifled under a Golden State Defense that swarmed to the ball. The Jazz were under constant defensive pressure and one more pass was never enough to get a clean look at the basket. The quarter would end 39-22.

After that Jazz were playing catch up. You can’t win a game in the first half, but you can lose one. That was a theme in this series. Over the four matchups, the Jazz averaged 17 points in the first quarter.

The Warriors starters have each had their shining moments in this conference semifinal. Tonight it was Curry’s turn, as he dropped 30 points, five rebounds, and seven assists on the way to the blowout win.

Golden State now awaits the winner of the Houston/San Antonio. The series is tied two games a piece, so it will be a while in the Warriors will be back on the hardwood.

Final 121-95

 

           



by Jerry Feitelberg

Salt Lake City- The Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz Saturday night by a score of 102-91 to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Semi-finals. The Warriors have now won seven straight playoff games.

The Warriors, as has been their custom in the playoffs, got off to a good start. They took a ten-point lead at the end of the first 12 minutes of play 27-17. The only negative in the quarter was the two fouls called on Draymond Green. Part of Jazz coach Quinn Snyder’s game plan was to get Draymond in foul trouble early and to slow the Warrior’s running game down to a crawl. Utah outscored the Dubs 33-22 in the second quarter and ended the first half with a one-point advantage 50-49. The Jazz finished the second quarter on a 12-5 run.

Utah played the game with a sense of desperation. They were at home in front of a friendly crowd, and they did not want to go down 3 games to none. They took a nine-point lead early in the third quarter, but Steph Curry was able to hit a 3-pointer. It was Steph’s first 3-pointer of the game, but it triggered a 19-8 run to put the Dubs up by two 72-70 at the end of three.

The Jazz fought back and regained the lead 75-74 early in the 4th quarter. The Dubs answered back with a 10-4 run and never trailed again in the game. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry led the charge with eleven points each down the stretch. The Warriors scored 30 points in the final stanza, and the defense held the Jaz to just 21. The Warriors win by a final of 102-91.

Game Notes- Kevin Durant played one of his best games of the season. He was the Warrior offense in the first half as the Jazz held Steph to just 5 points and Klay Thompson to four. Durant finished with 38 points and 13 rebounds. Steph tallied 18 in the second half to finish with 23 for the night. Klay finished with six. Draymond Green did not score as much as he did Thursday night but he kicked in with 9 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Andre Iguodala was the only other Warrior in double figures as he knocked down 11.  All five Jazz starters were in double figures. Gordon Hayward led Utah with 29 points. Big Rudy Gobert tallied 21, and he had 15 boards in a losing effort. Shelvin Mack 11, Joe Ingles 10, and Boris Diaw 10 rounded out the scoring for the Jazz. The Jazz bench did not contribute much.

The Dubs shot 44% from the floor and 30% from behind the arc. They held the Jazz to just 39% from the floor and 31.8% from 3-point range. The Dubs outrebounded Utah 51-42. Both teams did a good job of protecting the ball. The Dubs turned the ball over 7 times. All 7 turnovers happened in the first half. The Jazz turned the ball over just 9 times. As mentioned earlier, the Jazz found a way to slow down the Warrior’s running game and ball movement. The Dubs had a season-low 17 assists in the contest. Coach Snyder’s approach worked for a while, but the Dubs have just too much firepower

The Warriors announced that coach Steve Kerr did not travel with the team as he continues to deal with back issues. He was at Duke University on Friday seeing a specialist.

”He’s had a ton of input,” acting coach Mike Brown said. ”His imprints are all over everything we do. He and I talk a couple times a day.

”There have been a couple of times he has come into our coaches meetings for an hour or so. But for the most part, we’re in constant communication on the phone.”

Game Four of the series will be played Monday night in Salt Lake City. Game time will be at 6 pm, and the game will be televised on the TNT network

By Barbara Mason

The Golden State Warriors took the court at Oracle Arena Thursday night in search of a game two victory and a 2-0 series lead over the Utah Jazz. Stephen Curry was back in action after taking a day off at practice Wednesday. The Warriors were at full strength giving Utah a Mt. Everest challenge especially on their home court. The Jazz would have their work cut out for them.

The first quarter opened blow-out style causing the Jazz to take an early time-out. Midway through the quarter Utah began to settle down a bit but had a lot of ground to make up. At 4:08 left in the quarter the Jazz called another time-out when Golden State took a dozen point lead 23-11. It was all Warriors with their impenetrable and lethal offense as the quarter began to wind down. The score was 33-15 going into the second quarter. Draymond Green was spectacular going four for four from downtown torching the basket Utah went without a basket for over five minutes in the quarter going absolutely stale.

The second quarter was more of the same with Golden State unable to do much wrong. As the quarter reached the mid-way point the Warriors began to make a few errors that Coach Mikel Brown was not pleased with calling a time-out. The Jazz had cut their deficit in half in the later minutes of the second quarter before Golden State got back on track. The score at halftime was 60-47 as Utah regained their footing only trailing by 13. The first five minutes of the third quarter would be crucial for the Utah.

The Jazz came out with a purpose cutting their deficit to single digits at 9:11. The Warriors had cooled off quieting the crowd. All it took was a spectacular Durant dunk and the crowd came alive; the Warriors enjoying a 13 point lead at 6:55 left the third quarter. The Jazz continued to stay on the Warriors heels despite the absence of George Hill. The Warriors led by 10 going into the fourth quarter 92-82; the Jazz refusing to back down. This game had changed significantly since that extraordinary first quarter.

It seemed as if every time Golden State got a nice lead, Utah would fight back. The Warriors would hang on to win the game 111-102 and take a 2-0 series lead. Utah has not led in either of their losses. Durant led with 25 points, Curry with 23 followed by Green with 21 and Thompson with 14. Despite the final score, Golden State dominated in this game.

The Warriors will now head out on the road for game three Saturday night looking to go up 3-0 in the series.