Category: NBA

Golden State Warriors Saturday post game wrap: Curry, Speights spark Warriors’ thrilling comeback

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By Jeremy Harness

It’s often said that when you’re defending a championship, every team is going to take its best shot at you. The Phoenix Suns did just that to the Warriors Saturday night.

Once again, the Warriors responded like champions, overcoming a late lead and coming away with their 59th win of this amazing season, a 123-116 victory over the Suns at Oracle Arena that showed exactly the kind of mettle a team needs in order to be championship-caliber.

Stephen Curry led all scorers with 35 points, and after being saddled by early foul trouble, got his game going in the second half, particularly in the final five minutes that the Warriors used to erase the deficit and then run away from Phoenix.

Marreese Speights, known around here as Mo’ Buckets, showed how he got that nickname in a short period of time Saturday. He scored 25 points in only 17 minutes on the court, making 10 of his 14 shots from the floor and also pulled down nine rebounds.

The Warriors led by four at halftime, but the Suns refused to go away quietly in the second half. In fact, Phoenix took a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, thanks to the hot shooting of Brandon Knight, who made 7 of his 12 shots from 3-point territory en route to a 30-point outing.

However, the Warriors clamped down on defense and got their offensive game going in the final quarter to put the young Suns away.

Saturday marked the busiest week of the season for the Warriors, playing five games in the past seven days, and it doesn’t get much easier next week.

The Warriors have New Orleans and New York in the next two home games, but then they go to the state of Texas to take on the Mavericks on Friday in Dallas, where they have one of their six losses this year, before heading to San Antonio the next day to face the Spurs, who won a thriller Saturday night over Oklahoma City to remain only 3 ½ games behind the Warriors in the Western Conference.

 

Without Cousins, Kings drop fourth straight

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit Rocky Widner/Getty Images

SACRAMENTO- For most teams in the NBA, playing without your only All Star is a difficult task. Tonight, the Kings were without their All Star center DeMarcus Cousins who was suspended by the team for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

This season, Sacramento is 2-7 without Boogie and 13-40 since Cousins first joined the team back in 2010. But, the team did put themselves in a position to win.

At the half the Kings were only down by one, 50-49.

Rajon Rondo came out of the half and had a great third quarter. Rondo hit a three pointer at 6:38 to give the Kings their first lead of the game, 64-61. The Kings struggled to shoot the ball efficiently and Orlando took the lead right back in the quarter. Rondo’s 10 points and four assists in the third alone kept the Kings alive. The Magic led, 80-75, through three quarters.

The Kings fell off defensively in the fourth quarter. While the Kings defense was pretty solid through three quarters, they allowed Orlando to shoot 52.6% in the fourth. The Magic were able to go up by 14 a little less than half through the final quarter, there Kings were never able to get back into after.

The Kings cut the lead to six but with only 18 seconds in the game and no hope of a victory.

The Kings dropped their fourth straight game, 107-100, as their offense struggled, turnovers were in bunches and the team was out rebounded.

Without DeMarcus Cousins the Kings struggled to find offense.

Orlando’s fast start to the game put the Kings at an early disadvantage. The Magic came out with confidence going on a 12-0 run to start the game. The Magic out hustled the Kings throughout. 

The Kings had little ball movement, dribbled way too much and had little presence inside when they struggled. This was true for most of the game with the Kings turning the ball over 17 times leading to 24 points for Orlando.

Aaron Gordon made his return to Northern California with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Victor Oladipo totaled 18 points while Evan Fournier and Jason Smith both added 16.

Marco Belinelli had a solid game as he’s been shooting much better, 4-7 from behind the arc, scoring 17 points. Kosta Koufous also played well in Boogie’s absence with 19 points. Rondo had a good game as well with 16 points, 7-14 from the field, and 14 assists.

Minus Cousins, the Kings were dominated inside. Out rebounded 51-37 and letting the Magic score 50 points in the paint. Unfortunately, the Kings missed shots that typically fall for this team. Sacramento shot at a poor 39.8% from the field.

Right now, the Kings will look to try and finish the season off strong, but some might hope to pile up a few more losses for a better pick.

The Kings will take on Utah on Sunday at 3 p.m. at home. We’ll see how the team fares with their big man back on the court.

 

 

Splash Brothers’ 71 points douses Blazers

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

photo credit: bleacherreport.com–Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson

OAKLAND, Calif — Note to the NBA: the Golden State Warriors are good.

Damn, good.

Klay Thompson scored 37 points and Stephen Curry finished with 34 points helping the reigning NBA Champions win their 47th consecutive at Oracle Arena with a 122-112 victory over the visiting Portland Trailblazers Friday night and avenge the 32-point drubbing the Warriors experienced in Portland three weeks ago.

The game was really decided in the first half by the Splash Brothers, as Thompson and Curry combined for 46 of Golden State’s 81 points in the first half. From the moment the referee blew his whistle, the Warriors were going to be in another gear all night as they would never trail in the game.

Thompson and Curry were deadly from behind the three-point line, combining to shoot 15 for 25 on 3s, and 26 for 55 overall from the floor.

Thompson went over the 200-mark for 3s for the fourth straight season. Earlier in the week, Curry became just the first person in NBA history to nail 300 3s in a season.

Draymond Green added 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, as Golden State (58-6) committed a season-low eight turnovers after committing 39 in the first two games of their current six-game home stand.

C.J. McCollum led Portland (34-32) with 18 points on 6 for 15 shooting

Damian Lilliard, who torched Golden State for 51 points in the previous meeting, scored just 17 points on 5 for 19 shooting. Golden State made Lillard’s night tough, forcing the Blazers’ point guard into missing 15 of his first 17 shots to open up the game as the Warriors played great defense virtually the entire night.

The Oakland native and Oakland High School product had his string of 20+ points against the Warriors snapped at four.

With 19 made 3s by Portland and 18 made 3s by Golden State, the two teams combined to shoot 37 for 76 on 3s, breaking the record for 3s made in an NBA game.

Both teams are in action Saturday with Golden State hosting the Phoenix Suns, and Portland heading home to host the Orlando Magic.

 

Cousins suspended by Kings

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

demarcus cousins sac kings bing photo

by Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings have suspended center DeMarcus Cousins for one game for conduct detrimental to the team. The announcement was made by Vlade Divac, Vice President of Basket Operations for Sacramento. Cousins will sit out the game against the Orlando Magic on Friday night and forfeit his pay for that game.

The suspension was imposed because Cousins began yelling at head coach George Karl during a timeout in the game versus Cleveland on Wednesday night. In video posted by the Sacramento Bee, Cousins can be seen being very animated while sitting during the timeout. Rudy Gay and assistant coach Corliss Williamson can be seen trying to calm Cousins. Rajon Rondo then stepped in front of Cousins in order to block his view of Karl.

Reports are indicating that Cousins was upset because Karl was not doing enough to defend him with the referees in the game last night. Frankly in this reporter’s opinion, the game was not well officiated. Cousins did take a beating under the basket and did not receive obvious foul calls. However, there was not much Karl could have done to change the situation.

The officiating crew called three technical fouls including one on Cousins – his 15th “T” of the season. Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue was issued a technical and is still not sure what he did to deserve the call. This reporter could not see where Lue’s actions deserved the call from my position on press row.

This was the second time this season that Cousins reportedly yelled at his head coach. Earlier in the season, he went into a tirade aimed at Karl after a Kings loss. It was reported that Karl wanted to suspend Cousins at the time but was overruled by Divac and the front office.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Right now Dubs have it all, Curry’s 40 footers, home floor advantage, and the fans behind them

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–When the Golden State Warriors Steph Curry can make a half court shot and make it it’s kind of ridiculous and the opposing defense can stay in front of him no matter where Curry is on the court and any distance is makeable for him. The fact that he’s making those shots and everybody knows this is pretty amazing and it’s got to be great for him to be headed for another MVP season.

This Warriors win streak at home has hit 46 straight wins and it’s an ongoing NBA record he’s awesome and it’s not just a test of how great this Warriors team is. It’s also a testament to these fans who help create home court advantage. The NBA is one of those leagues that creates the greatest home court advantages. You don’t see the disparity between the home records like baseball, football or hockey. Things usually work better at home for those leagues.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcasts each week right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com take a listen below

 

Kings fall to the Cavs 120-111

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Sacramento Kings
Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Cleveland Cavaliers –  featuring “King” LeBron James – rolled into Sacramento on Wednesday to kick off a four-game West Coast swing. If you are a Cavs fan, you were very pleased with the result as Cleveland (45-18) downed the Kings 120 – 111.

The surprise may have been that James was not the star of the game. Kyrie Irving took that role as he scored 30 points shooting 11-for-22 from the floor including three 3-point baskets. Irving hit on five of six tries from the free throw line. He was literally at the right place at the right time for the Cavs for the entire game.

It was a hard fought contest that featured eight lead changes and eight ties. The Kings led at halftime 60 – 54. Then came the third quarter and one of the Kings dreaded “black holes”.

Cleveland outscored the Kings 35 – 24 in the third period. The Cavs shot 13-for-20 from the floor and hit on five of eight 3-point attempts. They out rebounded the Kings 11 – 7. The quarter ended with Cleveland leading 89 – 84 and they would never look back.

The Kings (25-38) put up a good fight in the fourth quarter and cut the Cleveland lead to three points with 2:37 remaining in the game. The Cavs used their offensive rebounding ability to get second and third chance shots to run away with the game.

Kings

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins’ 29 points. The Kings big man had to fight for those points as he shot just 8-for-22 from the floor. He struggled from the free throw line going 12-for-18 from the stripe. Cousins missed the front end of a two shot opportunity from line five times in the second half. It was another double-double game for Cousins as he pulled down 11 rebounds.

Rudy Gay had a good night for Sacramento scoring 19 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assist in 41-minutes of playing time.

Darren Collison started in the place of the injured Ben McLemore and scored 15 points. Collison alternated with Rondo on the point and distributed eight assists and added two steals.

Rajon Rondo did not have a great night for the Kings. He scored 11 points and had six assists but seemed frustrated all night long by the defense of Irving and JR Smith.

Omri Casspi scored 13 points while Caron Butler added seven, Kosta Koufos five and Willie Cauley-Stein four points.

Sacramento shot 47.6-percent (40-for-84) from the field and hit eight of 22 (36.4-percent) of their 3-point shots. The Kings struggled from the free throw line making just 23 of 32 opportunities (71.9-percent) from the charity line.

The Kings were out rebounded 51 – 38. They gave up 15 offensive rebounds to the Cavs. That is just too many second-chance opportunities to give a team as powerful as Cleveland.

Turnovers were not a problem for Sacramento. The Kings gave up just six points off 10 turnovers in the game.

Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving had plenty of help on his way to a 30 – point night. All five of the Cleveland starters finished in double digits.

James scored 25 points. Tristan Thompson – who started for the ill Timofey Mazgov – put up 18 points and added 15 rebounds. Kevin Love scored 17 points despite shooting just 4-for-13 from the floor. JR Smith added 15 points.

The Cavs shot 43.3-percent (39-for-90) for the game. They went 13-for-44 from beyond the 3-point line. Cleveland took advantage of their opportunities from the free throw line converting 29 of 35 opportunities.

The Cavaliers turned the ball over 14 times which resulted in nine points for the Kings.

What they said after the game

“We play good teams. We do a lot of good things for extended periods of time then we hit a black hole or it seems like we run short,” said Kings head coach George Karl. “They didn’t miss a lot of shots, even in the fourth quarter, but it was the offensive rebounds, scramble situations where we didn’t come up for the loose balls. It’s kind of frustrating. We’re playing pretty damn good basketball at times; (we) just don’t have that edge or that finishing way of winning a game against them.”

“Well coming into the game we said we want to play with pace but we know this team plays at a great pace,” said Cleveland head man Tyronn Lue. “Number one in pace. I think second in fast break points so we don’t want to get out there and get wild. I think the team kind of misunderstood what I was saying so in the third quarter we want to play at our pace. We want to attack downhill. We want to get easy open three’s. We want to get to the basket. If we don’t have it, then pull it out and run something. I thought in that third quarter they scored but we were able to score also. We scored fast.”

Up next

The Kings will practice on Thursday and return to action on Friday night when they host the Orlando Magic in Sacramento.

Cleveland travels to Los Angeles where they will face the Lakers on Thursday night. That will be the second game of the doubleheader on TNT.

 

Golden State Warriors Wednesday post game wrap: The Warriors continue to win at home, defeat the Utah Jazz

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors continued to win at home Wednesday night. They beat the Utah Jazz by a score of 115-94. It was the Warriors 28th straight win at home this season and 46th in a row. The  Warriors leader and best player, Steph Curry, scored just twelve points in the game. He did make three three-point shots and one he made at the first half was the turning point in the game. The Jazz’ only hope to win the game was to slow down the pace of play and they were successful at it for most of the first half.  The Dubs led by two 23-21  at the end of the first period. The Dubs just couldn’t get their game going until late in the second period. Steph made two threes to put Golden State in the lead by eleven at the end of the half 52-41. Steph made a three-pointer from halfcourt at the buzzer to send the Dubs into the locker room to ignite the crowd and the team.

The story of the second half and the game was the impressive performance of the bench as well as starter Draymond Green. Green , who had been a shooting funk, knocked down seventeen points to go with five assists, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots. The other half of the Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson, led the Dubs with twenty-three. Mo Speights, Leandro Barbosa and Anderson Varejao all were terrific off the bench. Speights had sixteen points, four assists, and five rebounds. Barbosa pitched in with thirteen and Varejao added nine. The bench accounted for fifty-three points in the win.

Notes- Steph had ten assists and the Dubs recorded thirty-six assists in total for the game. Leading scorers for Utah were Trey Burke with eighteen off the bench and Rudy Gobert had fifteen rebounds.

The Warriors improved to 57-6 for the season and are looking forward to meeting the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night at the Oracle Arena.

Sacramento Kings podcast and commentary with Charlie O: Kings need to keep Rondo in a multi year deal

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by Charlie O Mallonee

photo credit:basket4us.com–Sacramento Kings Rondo Rajon will he be back in a Kings uniform next season?

SACRAMENTO–I wasn’t that definitive last week because I wanted to see what was going to happen for the Sacramento Kings chances in getting a shot at a playoff spot. This last road trip they didn’t have a complete disaster they did pick up one brilliant win over Dallas where they played a complete game on offense and defense against a very respectable team the Mavericks. The loss in Memphis where that could have been a win, the loss in San Antonio without three starters in the line up.

Its understandable that the number six or ten guys on the Spurs roster might well be on the starting five of a team that’s of lesser talent. When you got three starters out on the Kings and then last night’s debacle in New Orleans and from the stand point of being an NBA fan that was a wild game last night with the Kings just losing by three points 115-112.

Also the Kings Rajon Rondo has been great for the Kings, he helped out the younger players, he’s been great in the clubhouse for his teammates, he’s been performing doing all the things the Kings have asked him to do, head coach George Karl is happy with his experience and leadership, he’s good enough to be team captain, he’s been good for DeMarcus Cousins, and the Kings should consider giving him a multi year deal and keeping him in Sacramento and look out the New York Knicks Carmelo Anthony said that Rondo would be perfect for the Knicks. The Kings shouldn’t let Rondo get away.

Listen to the rest of Charlie O’s Kings podcast below right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Turnovers cost Kings in New Orleans

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit USATSI

SACRAMENTO-I’m just as confused as the next person who watched tonight’s game against the Pelicans. The Kings looked dominate early on and played great basketball, however the team could not find a way to close out.

Turnovers and lackluster defense hurt this team especially down the stretch. After leading for the majority of the game, the Kings let a 17 point lead in the third quarter completely vanish. And while the Kings kept holding onto their lead, they let the Pelicans come back late and win the game, 115-112.

Out of the gate, both teams scored very quickly. Offense came in a hurry and the Kings started with a fast paced tempo. This allowed Sacramento to take the lead for most of the quarter, but the Pelicans never quit.

Up 27-20 with 3:35 left in the first quarter, the Kings allowed New Orleans to go for a 10-0 run that ended after Omri Casspi put back a lay up for the Kings’ first field goal in two plus minutes.. The Pelicans held a 30-29 lead, but Casspi knocked a pair of free throws to regain the lead. The Pelicans would finish the quarter with the lead after Alonzo Gee made a layup and was fouled with .3 seconds in the quarter. Gee made the free throw to put the Kings at a disadvantage after one, 33-31.

DeMarcus Cousins and Norris Cole put on a scoring frenzy for their respective teams. Cousins finished with 13 points and Cole scored 14 for team highs. The Pelicans shot 56% from the field, but their seven turnovers allowed the Kings to keep it close. Rajon Rondo added five points and five assists with Rudy Gay scoring seven.

The second consisted of a lot of scoring runs. New Orleans started it off with a 6-0 run, 9-0 continuing from the first quarter. But the Kings were able to hit a 9-0 run of their own. Again, the Pelicans scored 5 straight to take a 44-40 lead.

Sacramento once again answered with an 11-0 run to lead 51-44. Jrue Holiday stopped the run with a lay up but the Kings kept their scoring up. The Pelicans turnovers really cost them. Their 15 first half turnovers led to 18 Kings’ points. The Kings largest lead in the quarter was 15 and Sacramento would hold a 63-50 lead heading into the locker room.

Cousins held a game high with 23 points in the first quarter and tallied nine rebounds. The Kings shot at 54.2% in the half as they dominate the second quarter with their uptempo offense.

The third quarter is where things changed. Pelicans’ head coach Alvin Gentry picked up a technical before the third started. Gay hit the free throw for a 14 point lead before any time came off the clock.

Anthony Davis was dominate and chipped away at the Kings’ early 17 point lead. Davis kept the Pelicans right in the game in the third and the score was 89-83 after three. Cousins was once again phenomenal but Sacramento had seven turnovers in the third, which led to eight Pelicans’ points. The turnovers allowed the Pelicans to hang around even after the Kings had been up by so much.

The Pelicans started the final quarter with a 6-0 run to tie it up at 89. The Kings answered right back with an 8-0 run to go back up, 97-89. Sacramento was unable to figure out a way to close out the resilient Pelicans. The turnovers cost Sacramento again as they gave the ball away seven more times in the fourth quarter.

Holiday was huge for the Pelicans with nine fourth quarter points. With a little under two and a half to play, the Kings had a 108-106 lead. Cousins knocked down a pair of shots at the charity stripe to go up 110-106. Davis had dunk to keep the game within two.

With a under a minute remaining, the Pelicans had the ball. The Kings left Dante Cunningham wide open for a three and the forward nailed the jumper. The Pelicans took the lead 111-110. Holiday came up big as he knocked down a shot after a Sacramento miss to put the lead up to three.

Out of the timeout with 12.8 to go, Gay was able to score a quick two. Cole was then fouled and made both free throws. Darren Collison rushed to bring the ball up court and lost it to Holiday who let time expire.

Cousins was his usual self, scoring 40 points and grabbing 16 boards. Rondo had a nice game with 18 points, 10 assists but the point guard had five turnovers. Gay added a double double as well with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Kings shot the ball at a great 49.4 shooting percentage from the field but 24 total turnovers led to 22 points for New Orleans. Davis had 31 points and 10 rebounds. The backcourt duo of Cole and Holiday was key to the Pelicans success. Cole totaled 23 points and Holiday scored 20 while adding 10 assists for the double double.

After looking to have a sure win, the Kings will need to regroup and figure out how to close out games. This is the Kings’ second consecutive loss after losing to San Antonio on Saturday.

The Kings will take on the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. at Arco Arena.

Golden State Warriors Sunday game wrap up: Lakers make history beating the long odds with a 112-95 win over Warriors

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by Jessica Kwong
AP photo: A picture says a thousand words Golden State Warriors Steph Curry and teammates are stopped in their tracks by the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday

LOS ANGELES – In a shocker, the Golden State Warriors played more like the struggling Los Angeles Lakers and suffered a major 112-95 upset televised nationally at Staples Center on Sunday afternoon.

Instead of sweeping the Lakers for the first time since the 1993-94 season, the Warriors didn’t look ready to be on the court and let the game run away from them in the second quarter, ending the half trailing 60-49 and failing to turn it around.

“It was a bad performance all the way through, didn’t have much energy to start the game for whatever reason and (the Lakers) played well out there, very aggressive, executed pretty well,” said guard Stephen Curry, who finished with 18 points. “It was just one of those nights that we want to avoid at all costs. But it happened and we’ll be alright.”

Golden State tried to change the momentum in the third quarter, but missed shots they would normally make, and ended the period down 84-73. The Lakers’ shots were going in, and younger players including Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Brandon Bass put on a slam dunk show that had fans on their feet.

“For them, a couple of shots go in and they build on that lead. That was the main issue in the second half,” Curry said.

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr put Curry back on the court at the end of the fourth quarter to give it one more push, but the Warriors could not cut into Los Angeles’ lead, so they decided to cut their losses.

While the Lakers, without Kobe Bryant for the final quarter, played with energy and chemistry, the Warriors committed 20 turnovers that Kerr called “careless” on the perimeter.

Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut scored early, but Kerr joked that the Millennials weren’t focused enough to get the ball to them for the remainder of the game.

“We play fast and if you’re rolling, yeah, quick shots are great. But when you’re missing (and) you’re not hitting anything, that’s when you have to figure it out,” the head coach said. “You (don’t have to) necessarily slow the game down, but you have to get the ball moving.”

The Warriors were also cold from the three-point range, making only 4-of-30.

“If we are playing defense and then we are missing shots, we are still in the game and we can fill the basket up very quickly,” Bogut said. “Tonight we didn’t even give ourselves that opportunity because the lead was insurmountable by the three-minute mark.”

Golden State is still two-and-a-half games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs in the western conference and one game ahead of the pace set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who hold the NBA record of 72 victories.

For Warriors players, the highlight on Sunday seemed to be playing one final time against Bryant, who’s retiring at the end of this season after 20 years in the league.

“It’s always special. Obviously he has done so much for this game. I grew up a huge fan of Kobe, so playing him for the last time, I am thankful that I got to play him,” Green said. “That’s history and I am proud to be a part of it, a small part of it.”

Golden State returns to Oracle Arena, where they haven’t lost since Jan. 27, 2015, on Monday to face the Orlando Magic.

—

Jessica Kwong
jessica.g.kwong@gmail.com
     
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