Category: NBA

by David Zizmor

During that last long road swing the Golden State Warriors were on a very intertwined road trip they had some 13 games in the course of a few weeks, the Warriors were in multiple time zones. They had eight road games in 13 games, eight different cities it was a crazy schedule. February to March is kind of a dead zone in the NBA like the dog days when players really start getting tired. It’s a little worse for the Warriors their on the west coast they travel the most miles of any team in the league.

They clinched their playoff spot in February what are they playing for? That’s not to say there’s things they don’t want to achieve, they want to get that number one seed. They want to clear 60 wins they want clear even 70 if it’s possible it’s not likely at this stage but their going to try. They were burned out during that 13 game span and they need a little bit of motivation and they lost Durant and it absolutely hurt them a little bit.

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

by Jerry Feitelberg

Dallas- The Golden State Warriors continue to roll as they overwhelmed the Dallas Mavericks 112-87 Tuesday night. The Warriors won their 28th road game and by doing so set an NBA record as they have won 28 or more road games in three consecutive seasons and no other team in NBA history has ever achieved that feat.

The Mavericks wanted to win this game. They were 8-4 in their last 12 games and were just 2 1/2 games behind Denver for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference. Former Warrior Harrison Barnes entered the game averaging 19.8 points per game. The ageless Dirk Nowitzki averages 14.4 and Steph Curry’s younger brother, Seth, who found a home in Dallas, averages 12.9 points per game.

The two teams played a very competitive first quarter. There were seven lead changes and two ties in the first 12 minutes of action. Dallas led by seven 27-20, but the Dubs stormed back and finished the quarter leading 30-28. The Warriors, as they have done so often this year, owned the second quarter. They outscored Dallas 34-20 to end the half with a 12-point advantage. Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 13. Ian Clark and Patrick McCaw each had ten. Steph Curry was ‘held’ to just seven. The Dubs again were superb on defense as they held Dallas to 20 points. Draymond Green put the clamps on his former teammate Harrison Barnes and held him to just two points in the half.

The Warriors were relentless in the third period. Klay Thompson and Steph Curry led the attack and outscored Dallas 29-21 to lead by twenty heading into the fourth quarter. The Mavericks were toast. They did not score a point in the first four minutes and 38 seconds of the fourth quarter. Steph Curry was on the bench. Klay Thompson and Ian Clark sparked the Dubs to a 26-point lead 97-73. At this point, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr sent in the bench players to finish the game.

Game Notes and stats. The Warriors improved their record to 57-14 while Dallas falls to 30-40. Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 23. Steph had 17, McCaw ten, Clark 18. Draymond Green scored seven points with eight assists and seven rebounds.

Shaun Livingston, David West, Zaza Pachulia, Matt Barnes all scored six.Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 16. Yogi Ferrell had 12, Seth Curry ten, Nerlens Noel 14, and Harrison Barnes tallied just five.

The Warriors shot 55.1% from the floor and held Dallas to 35.9%. The Dubs made 13 3-pointers. They outrebounded Dallas 46-39 and had ten steals and two blocked shots. The Dubs recorded 34 assists, and it was the 43rd game this year that they have made 30 or more assists in a game.

Steph Curry remarked after the game that the win was an “all-around effort.” He talked about playing against his brother Seth and noted that “it’s amazing to see what he’s done in Dallas.” Steph also commented about some of the reports that the team was in a slump and that the wheels were about to come off the Warrior Express. Steph said this about the team: we ” never panic and never lose confidence.”

Steve Kerr, when asked about the play of rookie Patrick McCaw, had this to say: “Patrick was great- tremendous first half.” When questioned about the new NBA road record, Kerr said: ” it just means we’re a good team.”

The Warriors return home to face the Sacramento Kings Friday night at Oracle Arena at 7:30 pm. It will be the first game against the Kings since the trade of DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oklahoma City- The Oklahoma City Thunder came into Monday night’s game against the Warriors on a roll. The Thunder had won five in a row. OKC coach Billy Donovan has them playing better defense. They held their last five opponents to an average of just 99 points per game, and they improved their three-point shot defense holding teams to just 21 attempts per game. The Warrior, on the other hand, were also playing well. The Dubs had to deal with the loss of Kevin Durant and a brutal stretch of 8 games in 13 days and an 11,000-mile journey. The Dubs lost five of the eight games and looked tired. However, they won the last three games at home and looked like the Dubs of old. OKC, with MVP-Candidate Russell Westbrook, wanted to make Monday’s game a statement game. That did not happen as the Warriors routed the Thunder 111-95 to win their 4th in a row and their 7th straight against the Thunder.

The first quarter was fairly even. There were just a couple of lead changes in the first quarter. The Dubs took the lead for good after the refs charged the Thunder with goaltending. The Warriors led 15-14 at that point. They increased the lead to 25-20, but OKC made at bucket to end the quarter just 3 points behind 25-22. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 11, and Klay Thompson had 6.

The Dubs owned the second quarter. They outscored the Thunder 34-17 to end the first half with a 20-point lead. The Dubs excelled on defense as Draymond Green and Company held Westbrook to just 7 points in the half. None of the Thunder starters were in double figures. Klay finished the quarter with 18 and Steph was right behind with 17. The score after two quarters of play was 59-39. The players on both teams were, at this point, doing a lot of trash talking and the contest had become quite physical. Steph and the Thunder’s Semaj Christon got into a pushing and shoving contest. Tempers were high and Draymond and Westbrook got involved. The refs assessed two technical fouls on each team. Steph and Draymond received technicals for the Warriors and Christon, and Westbrook took the technicals for OKC. Draymond committed his 13th of the year, and Westbrook notched his 15th. The best shot of the night came when Steph hit a three as the buzzer sounded and he sprinted down the tunnel to the locker room with a lot of spring in his step.

The Warriors increased to 26 at the end of the third quarter. They outscored OKC 33-27, and the game was just about over. Steph hit a three again with just 0.4 seconds left on the clock in the quarter to ice the win. Steph did not play in the fourth period. Coach Steve Kerr started the quarter with Klay, David West, Ian Clark, Matt Barnes, and Shaun Livingston. The Thunder could not get back into the game, and with 6 minutes left, Kerr sent in the guys at the end of the bench to finish the game.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland-The Golden State Warriors played the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night at Oracle Arena. The Bucks entered the game as one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They had won 8 of the last nine games played and 12 of the last 16 to even their record at 34-34 and would be in the playoffs as the 8th seed if the playoffs were to start now. They led the Detroit Pistons by one game for the final berth in the Eastern Conference.The Dubs, coming off a blowout win over Orlando Thursday night, wanted to get off to a good start as they did Thursday. The Bucks, however, had other thoughts as they raced out to a 27-14 lead about 2/3rds of the way through the first quarter. They were moving the ball well and were able to get easy baskets.The Dubs started to play defense with Draymond Green Andre Iguodala, and JaVale McGee leading the way. The Dubs went on a 13-2 run to end the quarter trailing by just two points 29-27. Steph Curry made a deuce and a trey to finish the quarter.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors played like the Warriors prior to the injury of Kevin Durant as they rolled over the Orlando Magic 122-92. The Warriors, in the first quarter, played well on both ends of the court. Klay Thompson led the offense with 21 points in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the game and the Dubs defense held the Magic to just 20 points as they raced to a 14-point lead 34-20 after the first 12 minutes of play. The Warriors and fans held their collective breaths as Steph Curry left the game when he stepped on Evan Fournier’s foot and came up limping. Steph went to the locker room for treatment and was able to return to action.

Steph started the second quarter with the second unit. The Dubs were leading 58-33 but they started to play sloppy and the Magic was able to cut the deficit to 67-50 at the end of the first half. Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 27. Steph had 9, Draymond,5, Zaza 6. Elfrid Payton and Evan Fournier each had 9 to lead the Magic scorers.

The Warriors iced the game in the third period. They scored 36 points and held the Magic to just 21 and led 103-71 heading into the fourth quarter. Steph and Andre Iguodala played extremely well in the period as the Warriors were able to put the game out of reach. Head coach Steve Kerr removed the regulars after just a few minutes of play and the reserves finished the game. Final score 122-92.

Game notes and stats. The Warriors had five players in double figures. Klay Thompson finished the night with 27. Steph had 25 points and 9 assists. Iguodala knocked down 14 points and he had 6 rebounds. Draymond Green scored 9 and he had 6 assists and 11 boards. Zaza Pachulia had a double-double:10 points and 10 rebounds. Ian Clark added 12.

Elfrid Payton and Jeff Green led the Magic with 13 points each. Evan Fournier had 12 and big Nikola Vusevich scored 10.

After the game, Steve Kerr was asked about the great start the team had in the game and he said this:”that was the focus. Let’s carry over our defensive effort and get off to a good start.” “tonight we broke through with a great offense. (It) always starts with great defense. He had this to say about Andre Iguodala’s performance”we get a different dimension when Andre plays this way.He is just playing great basketball.”

One humorous note- Zaza Pachulia and one of the trainers had a bet. The bet was this; Zaza would have to make a dunk, which he did. Zaza would have to have a double-double with points and rebounds, which he did. What did the trainer lose? The trainer has to shave his beard and Zaza was seen on the bench making gestures as if he were using a pair of scissors.

The Warriors improved to 54-14 and Orlando drops to 24-45.  The Warriors face a young and talented Milwaukee Bucks team Saturday night at Oracle Arena at 7:30 pm.