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Dog Days Are Over: Cal clips the Huskies to end 16-game losing streak

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Washington coach Mike Hopkins may have been the first to grasp what was transpiring when he called a pair of early timeouts to express his exasperation with the indifference his Huskies were displaying on defense.

Ultimately, Hopkins’ timeouts didn’t work.

The Cal Bears, off a favorable start, wavered briefly before halftime, only to recover and hand Pac-12 leading Washington a damaging 76-73 loss that will weigh heavily with the NCAA selection committee. Immediately, Cal’s win ends their 16-game losing streak that had outweighed any positives Wyking Jones’ team had gathered in a trying season.

“We knew we had it in us. We just had to find it,” said Connor Vanover. “It took awhile, but now I think moving forward we will have a clear head. If we can beat Washington, why not anyone else?”

Meanwhile, Washington found little consolation in winning the conference regular season title despite the loss when their closest pursuers, Oregon State and Arizona State, both loss on Thursday.

“We didn’t respect the game,” Crisp said. “We didn’t respect our opponent. We just expected we would come out and win the game. Obviously, you’re never going to win basketball games like that.”

The Bears bothered Washington early with a 2-3 zone that forced the Huskies into some careless turnovers, and quick, fruitless possessions. The Bears took the lead, 19-16, on Paris Austin’s 3-pointer with 11:57 remaining before halftime.

Any scenario seeing the Bears end their lengthy losing streak would have to involve an offensive explosion since the nation’s 313th-ranked defense was unlikely to make a difference at the Pac-12 level. And that formula played out as Darius McNeill,  Connor Vanover and Justice Sueing combined for 51 points, and the team shot 55 percent from the floor, and 53 percent from distance. The Bears shared the ball, solving Washington’s frequent use of a 2-3 zone.

“They kept their composure,” Jones said of his Bears’ poise down the stretch. “We turned it over a couple times, late, and they did as well, but the guys just continued to believe, more than anything. Connor continues to shine and kind of give us all a preview of how good he can be.”

And most importantly, the Huskies were limited, failing to produce a run that could create some separation on the scoreboard.

Instead, the Huskies blinked, scoring just four points in the final 5:03 of the game, allowing Cal to protect a paper-thin lead.

With Washington misfiring, the Bears got their final basket from Vanover with 3:26 remaining. Three made free throws broke the tie and gave Cal a lead they would protect.

The Huskies missed three shots in the final minute, including a good look from David Crisp at the buzzer. Crisp led all scorers with 32 points, but only 5 of those 32 came in the final 12 minutes of the game.

“We’ve done about everything wrong in the last couple games where we give up the lead within the last five minutes,” Sueing said. “Going into this game, we were used to having that close, intense matchup. We made it a thing to make sure we stayed together and fight until the end.”

“You got to play with passion and have a chip on our shoulder with every possession and we didn’t have that tonight,” Hopkins said. “We didn’t have basic principles. We were breaking down and you can’t do that with your foundation.”

Cal hosts Washington State on Saturday, their final home game before they close the regular season at Stanford on March 9.

Warriors cannot overcome a slow start, fall to the Rockets 118-112

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors for the third time this season by a score of 118-102. The Rockets were without the services of James Harden, who was out with a cervical strain and a touch of the flu, but thoroughly outplayed the Warriors on both ends of the court Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

In the first quarter, the Rockets went on a 15-0 run that propelled them to a 35-20 lead after the first 12 minutes of play. The Warriors were shooting just 29% from the floor as they were 4 for 14 with 3:21 left in the period. The Rockets’ Kenneth Faried, P.J.Tucker, Eric Gordon, and Chris Paul had no trouble breaking down the Warriors’ defense. The Warriors left too many men open, and the Rockets capitalized on the poor defensive play.

The Rockets led 50-30 midway through the second period. The Warriors woke up from their slumber and were able to cut the deficit to seven 61-54 at the end of the first half. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant led the charge in the last six minutes of the second period. The Warriors committed eight turnovers in the first period and just one in the second. Cold shooting, poor defense, and turnovers really hurt the team.

The Warriors grabbed their first lead of the game 64-63 early in the third period. The Warriors had an 8-2 run. Durant had five points, and DeMarcus Cousins hit a three to give the Warriors the lead. Houston regained the lead 73-71, but it didn’t last long as the Warriors were behind a bucket by Klay Thompson and a three by Curry regained the lead 76-74. It was the last time in the game that the Warriors would own the advantage. Houston went on an 8-0 run to lead 84-76. The Warriors played catch-up the rest of the way. The Warriors cut the lead to three 89-86 on a three by Andre Iguodala. However, the fans let out a collective groan when the Rockets’ Tucker connected on a three as the buzzer sounded to the third quarter. Houston led 92-86 with 12 minutes left in the game.

In the fourth quarter, the Rockets upped the lead to 14 110-96. The Warriors tried to come back as they went on a 7-0 run to make it a 114-110 game. The Rockets broke the spell with a bucket and were able to run out the clock for a 118-112 win.

Game notes and Stats: The key to the Rockets’ success Saturday night was the ability to stifle the Warriors’ Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry down the stretch. They refused to give the Big Three any open looks and forced the Warriors’ other players to make shots. The strategy worked as Curry was not able to put any points on the board until late in the fourth quarter.

With the loss, the Warriors are now 42-17. They are still in first place in the Western Conference and would have homecourt advantage if the playoffs were to start today. The Rockets improve to 34-25.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 29 points. Steph had 25 points, nine boards, seven assists. He was 5-for-11 from behind the three-point arc. DeMarcus Cousins had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Andre Iguodala, coming off the bench, had eight points. The rest of the bench contributed just 13 points.

The Rockets had five players in double figures, and three players had a double-double. Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 25. Chris Paul had a double-double with 23 points and 17 assists. Kenneth Faried tallied 20 points, 10 boards, and made 2 threes. P.J.Tucker hit four threes and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Gerald Green led the Rockets’ bench with 10.

The Warriors committed 17 turnovers, and the Rockets had 13 steals and seven blocked shots on defense. The Warriors’ defense, led by Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson had eight steals and eight blocks. Draymond Green left the game in the fourth quarter. A Rocket player stepped on his foot, and he suffered an ankle sprain. He went to the locker room and did not return.

The Rockets won the first quarter 35-20. The Warriors outscored the Rockets by nine the rest of the way, but it was not enough to overcome the 15-point first-period deficit.

Up Next: The Warriors hit the road and play the next four games in Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, and Philadelphia. The Hornets are in first place in the Southeast Division with a record of 28-31. Game time will be at 4:00 pm.

Warriors outlast Kings to win another thriller 125-123

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors, playing the first game in a week due to the All-Star break, had their hands full as they were able to stop the Kings on the last play of the game to win. The Kings, coached by Dave Joerger, are not the Kings of old. They are a good young team of gifted athletes that are on the rise. They have drafted players that are speedy, have size, and can score. They are good inside and have players that can make three-point shots. They took the 6-foot-11 forward Marvin Bagley III in the first round of the draft. Bagley was one and done at Duke, and the 19-year-old rookie is making his presence felt. Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox are young and improving. The Kings traded for the veteran forward Harrison Barnes. They acquired Harry Giles, who is 6-foot-10, and Alec Burks. They signed Corey Brewer to a 10-day contract. These players are making the Kings so much better. However, they were playing the defending the NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors. Thursday night’s game was the fourth and final game between the two teams during the regular season, and it was not easy for the Warriors, but they were able to hold off the Kings to sweep the season series. The Warriors won the game 125-123.

The Warriors won the first quarter 35-30. It was a fast-paced first quarter. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant led the team to the early first quarter advantage. The Kings turned the tables in the second quarter as they outscored the Warriors 32-25 to finish the first half leading 62-60. The Kings led 54-43 until the Warriors went on a 10-0 run. Steph made two three-pointers in the run to get the Warriors closer to the lead. The Kings increased the lead to six, but Durant and Klay Thompson made key buckets to get the Warriors closer.

Each team tallied 29 points in the third quarter and the score at the end of the quarter was 91-89 in favor of Sacramento. The Kings led for the entire quarter. They led by seven 91-84, but Durant scored the last five points of the period. He made a bucket to make it 91-86 and then hit a three as the buzzer sounded to close the quarter trailing 91-89.

DeMarcus Cousins scored four points to start the fourth quarter and put Golden State ahead 93-91. Cousins made two free throws and a bucket.  The Kings came back to tie the score at 96. Draymond Green made a three, but the Kings countered with a three of their own to tie at 99. The lead changed hands a couple of time and tied at 104. Curry made a three and Thompson followed with a two-point bucket to give the Warriors a 109-104 advantage. They went up by six when Curry hit another three to lead 117-111. The Kings’ Buddy Hield knocked down a three. Thompson responded with a three of his own, and the Warriors led 120-114 with 1:11 left to play. On the next play, it appeared that Green stripped Bagley driving to the basket. The referee tagged Green with a foul. Green couldn’t believe the call and he sprinted to the other end of the court to avoid being charged with a technical foul. His histrionics didn’t help him as he was charged with a technical. Bagley made all three free throws, and the Kings were still alive. Thompson made a mid-range jumper to increase the lead to five. Buddy Hield knocked down another three to make it 123-120. Hield then fouled Curry in the backcourt. Curry made both free throws. The Kings came back with another three to rail by two with 7.4 seconds left. The Warriors almost turned the ball over as Curry had trouble handling the ball on the inbound pass. Somehow, he was able to get the ball to Andre Iguodala. Iguodala was fouled attempting a reverse layup and was awarded two free throws. If Iguodala made both free throws, the game would have been over. He missed both and Sacramento took time out with 6.5 seconds to play. Their strategy was to inbound the ball to Buddy Hield and have him take a three-point shot for the win. The Kings got the ball to Hield, who was open. He did not take the shot, but opted to drive to the basket and make a mid-range jumper to tie the score and send the game to overtime. The Warriors defense rose to the challenge and the best Hield could do was shoot an airball that landed in Kevin Durant’s hands. The Warriors escaped with a thrilling 125-123 win over the Kings.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improve to 42-16. The Kings drop to 30-28. The Kings are in a race with the LA Clippers and LA Lakers for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs. If the Kings finish eighth and the Warriors first, the two teams will meet in the opening round of the playoffs. The Warriors outscored the Kings by just 12 points to win all four games. The Warriors would have their hands full if that were to occur.

All five Warrior starters were in double figures. Curry led the team with 36 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Curry made 10 three-point shots. It was the 14th time in his career that he made 10 or more three-point shots in a game and the fifth time this season. Durant had 28 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and a tied a career-high with seven blocked shots. Cousins had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson had a tough night as he was 4 for 12 until late in the game. He finished with 18 and made two clutch threes down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Green had 12 points, 6 boards, 8 assists, and knocked down three threes in five tries.

The Kings had seven players in double figure. Marvin Bagley, coming off the bench, led Sacramento with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Buddy Hield had 19, Harrison Barnes 13, De’Aaron Fox 18, Willie Cauley-Stein 10, Bogdan Bogdanovic 14. Veteran forward Corey Brewer had 11, and he made three threes to keep Sacramento in the game.

The Warriors defense held the Kings to 43.4% from the floor. The Warriors had 6 steals and blocked 12 shots. The Warriors committed 11 turnovers in the first half and that cost them 14 points. They focused on protecting the ball in the second half and were able to limit the turnovers to four.

Up Next: The Warriors face the Houston Rockets Saturday night at Oracle Arena. The Rockets lost to the Lakers Thursday night. Game time will be at 5:30 pm.

Warriors run out of gas in fourth quarter, lose to Trail Blazers 129-107

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors, playing their fifth game in eight days and the second in a row, fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 129-107 at the Moda Center in Portland. The Warriors were without the services of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and DeMarcus Cousins.

For three quarters, it was a very entertaining game as neither team could pull away. The biggest lead the Blazers had was six points, and the best the W’s could do was five points. The Warriors finished the first quarter leading 33-31. Kevin Durant led the Warrior attack with 16 points. Oakland native Damien Lillard paced the Blazers with 13. The Blazers won the second quarter 33-28 and led by three 64-61 at the end of the first half. Durant led the Warriors with 20 in the first half. Steph Curry had 14. Draymond Green added 9, and Klay Thompson had 7. Lillard led the Blazers with 15. CJ McCollum had 9, Jusuf Nurkic 9 and Evan Turner 8.

The third quarter was more of the same. Neither team would give an inch. The Warriors managed to outscore the Blazers 34-30 and led by one point 95-94 heading into the fateful fourth quarter. Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr sent out Quinn Cook, Jonas Jerebko, Klay Thompson, Kevon Looney, and Alfonzo McKinnie to start and that enabled Curry and Durant get some rest. The Portland bench had other ideas as they played well on defense and were able to increase the lead to nine 110-101. Jonas Jerebko made a bucket to make it 110-103. It was at this point in the contest that things went south for the Warriors. Draymond Green was called for a flagrant foul on forward Zach Collins. There was no question that it was a hard foul. However, to this observer, it was a long way from a flagrant foul. Steve Kerr went ballistic and went after the refs as he felt the call was not appropriate. There were three technicals called on Golden State. Two were on Kerr, and he had to leave the arena. Lillard made all three for Portland. Collins made his two, and the ball went back to Portland. The Blazers made a three, and they expanded the lead to 118-103. The Warriors were toast at this point. The Warriors removed the Big Three from the game, and the Blazers coasted to a 129-107 win.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors’ 11-game road winning streak came to an end. They lost for the second time in the last 18 and finished 41-16 at the break for the All-Star game. Portland improved to 34-23.

Curry and Durant finished with 32 each. No other Warrior was in double figures. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green had 9. Thompson scored two in the second half, and Green did not score at all. The Warrior bench was outscored 52-23.

The Blazers had 8 players in double figure. Lillard led the club with 29. Jake Layman, coming off the bench, had 17 for Portland. Steph’s brother, Seth, added 11 to help his Blazer team beat his brother’s Warriors.

Up Next: The Warriors are off until February 21st. They face the Sacramento Kings at Oracle. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Champion will have to wait another day

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Photo credit: @GolfCentral

By Jeremy Harness

In a tournament that has featured some delays and a play suspension in the last three days,

The tee times were delayed three hours on Sunday, and when the course finally opened up for the players for the final round, the skies were clear and the course looked as beautiful as ever.

However, that did not change the fact that it was downright cold at Pebble Beach. The morning temperatures hovered around the high 30’s, which is considered to be unusual for this area, even in this time of year.

Paul Casey started the final round with the lead, but Phil Mickelson caught him at the ninth hole at 15-under with a birdie, and then overtook him on the back nine. While Casey could not get anything going and had to settle for pars, Mickelson birdied the 10th, 13th and 14th to take a three-shot lead.

He then parred the 15th and 16th holes, and then at around 5:50pm PST, a discussion was has as to stopping play, as the sun had set five minutes prior.

By all accounts, Mickelson was doing everything in his power to keep going and try to finish the round. However, Casey was much more hesitant and ultimately decided to call it quits until Monday morning. At that point, three horns blasted, signaling the suspension of play.

“Well, I get exactly where Paul’s coming from,” Mickelson said. “It’s dark, and we’re going to have a good chance tomorrow to come out on fresh greens and have them mown. They got pretty rough this afternoon, so I totally get it.

“But I have pretty good vision, I can see fine, and I’m playing well, so I wanted to continue, and that’s all there is to it. In all honesty, it’s probably a good thing because now we’ll play the last couple holes in pure conditions, and it will be helpful for us both.” Mickelson and Casey will resume play at 8:00am PST Monday morning, and admission to the course will be free – with no ticket required – and 17 Mile Drive, which usually requires some sort of a pass, will be open to the public on Monday.

Scott Stallings made a huge charge on Sunday, with a mix of great putting and a brilliant short game, to shoot a six-under round of 66. He was five-under on the front side with no bogeys, including three birdies in a row on holes six through eight.

He dropped a shot at the 12th, but he quickly rebounded with a birdie at the 13th, and then he closed things out with a well-played 18th that resulted in his draining a three-footer for a birdie.

Ducks shut down struggling Cardinal 69-46

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 10, 2019

Leading from wire-to-wire, Oregon cruised to a 69-46 Pac-12 men’s basketball victory over visiting Stanford Sunday in Eugene, Ore., as the Ducks have won four of their last five games.

Payton Pritchard’s 20 points led the Ducks (15-9 overall, 6-5 Pac-12), along with 16 points from Louis King and Victor Bailey’s 11 points off the bench. Defensively, Kenny Wooten matched his career high with seven blocks. King also had seven rebounds.

Bryce Wills, a freshman who is the Pac-12’s youngest player, paced the Cardinal (12-11, 5-6) with 13 points. KZ Okpala was held to 10 points – nearly eight below his average. Josh Sharma scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

In an overall miserable night for the Cardinal, Stanford was held to 46 points for the second time this season, making 15 of 55 field goal attempts (27 percent), its second-worst shooting night of the season.

Meanwhile, Oregon hit 44 percent from the field (26 of 59) and held a 41-37 rebounding edge.

The Cardinal opened the game by missing 21 of their first 22 shots – five of them blocked by Wooten – and Oregon led 16-2 13 minutes into the game. Oregon led 30-20 at halftime.

The Cardinal were without the services of point guard Daejon Davis, who sat out Sunday’s game after suffering a head-to-head injury on Thursday against Oregon State. A Stanford official would only comment that Davis was unavailable due to an unspecified injury.

Stanford returns home on Wednesday night to host Southern California. Tipoff set for 8:00 pm PT.

Warriors win another thriller as they come back to defeat the Heat 120-118

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- It appeared to be deja vu all over as the Warriors, as they did in Phoenix Friday night, got off to a slow start and trailed the visiting Heat until late in the third quarter. The Warriors could do nothing right in the early going, and the Heat did everything right as the visitors raced out to an early 34-24 lead after twelve minutes of play. The Heat have two players on their roster that have killed the W’s in the past. They are the big center Hassan Whiteside and guard Dion Waiters. It seems these two mark the calendar as to when they will be playing Golden State and salivate knowing they do well against the World Champions.  The Warriors outscored the Heat 30-25 n the second quarter and finished the half trailing 59-54.

The Warriors made the necessary adjustments at halftime and scorched the Heat 36-23 in the third quarter. The W’s led 90-82 and the Big Three of Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry led the team in scoring. The W’s started the fourth quarter with an 8-point lead but any team in the NBA can easily make up that deficit, and that is what the Heat did. The Warriors had a slim one-point lead 115-114, but the W’s turned the ball over twice in a row. Josh Richardson and Dwayne Wade had back-to-back steals, and that gave the Heat the lead 118-115. Kevin Durant connected on a three to tie the game. Durant recorded 11 straight points down the stretch for the Warriors. He missed a three-pointer that would have put the W’s in the lead. However, DeMarcus Cousins was able to snag the rebound. Cousins was fouled on the play, and he was able to make both free throws with just 5.4 seconds left to play. The Heat tried but failed to score, and the Warriors won the game.

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors are now 15-1 in their 16 games and improved to 40-15 for the year. Miami drops to 25-29. Kevin Durant led the W’s with 39 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists. Draymond Green put 5 points on the board, but he corraled 7 rebounds and dished out 14 assists. Klay Thompson had 29, and he connected on six 3s. Curry added 25, and he made five 3s. The Warrior bench added just 15 points. Cousins had 7 points but his two free throws late in the fourth quarter won it for the Warriors. “I was really happy that he was out there at the end of the game,” coach Steve Kerr said of Cousins, playing his 10th game for Golden State. “It’s good experiences for him because he hasn’t been out there much since he’s come back to close games.”

Josh Richardson led the Heat Heat with 37. He made eight three-pointers. Dion Water had 24, and he made six three. Justisce Winslow had 24 including 4 threes, Hassan Whiteside finished the night with a double-double. He had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Dwayne Wade, who may have made his last visit to Oracle Arena as a player, ended the night with 10 points. The Warriors gave a nice tribute to Wade as they showed highlights of his career on the big screen and the fans gave him a nice round of applause.

Andre Iguodala was not able to play Sunday night as he tweaked hi left hamstring Friday night against the Suns in Phoenix. The Warriors resume play Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz at Oracle Arena. Game time is at 7:30 pm.

 

 

 

Warriors struggle, but manage to beat the Suns 117-107

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by Jerry Feitelberg

It was the kind of game that the Warriors make their fans crazy. They were playing the lowly Phoenix Suns in Phoenix Friday night. Everyone thought the Warriors would walk right over the Suns as they had the best scorer, Devon Booker, unavailable. T.J.Warren and De’Anthony Melton did not play either. Someone forget to tell the Suns that they could not compete against the World Champions. The Warriors had their hands full with the Suns and finally put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter as they won 117-107.

The Suns took it the Warriors in the first 12 minutes of the game. The Warriors were making shots, and committing turnovers and shooting poorly. The Suns led 26-9 before Kevin Durant helped lead the W’s comeback. The Warriors finished the quarter trailing 31-26. In the second quarter, the Warriors outscored the Suns 34-22 and finished the first half with a seven-point lead 60-53.

The Suns entered the third quarter knowing that the Warriors usually have their way against their opponent. The Warriors were outscored 32-22 and Phoenix finished the third period leading 85-82. Steph Curry was having a tough night. He was 2 for 12 and was 1 for 8 in three-point attempts. Warrior fans were hoping Steph would snap out of his slump and he did just that in the fourth quarter. Steph was 4 for 5 from the floor, and he made two-three pointers in three attempts. The Warriors went on a 13-0 to start the quarter. The Suns cut the lead to 101-98. Steph came back with a three, and the Warriors were on their way to another victory.

Game Notes and stats- The Warriors are now 39-15 for the season. The Suns fall to 11-46. Draymond Green was ejected from the game after he picked up his second technical foul between the third and fourth quarters.

Klay Thompson led the W’s with 25 points. Durant had 21, Steph 20, DeMarcus Cousins 18, and Draymond Green 13. The Warriors’ bench added 20 points. The Suns had four players in double figures: Kelly Oubre, Jr. knocked down 25, and the number one pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, Deandre Ayton tallied 23. Josh Jackson and Mikal Bridges each had 19.

“They totally outplayed us all night,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “The only reason we won is because we have a lot more talent, obviously.”

The Warriors shot 50.6% from the floor and held Phoenix to 38.6 %. The Warriors recorded 30 assists and were able to move the ball well. On Defense, the W’s had 5 steals and 9 blocks.

The W’s return home to Oracle Arena to face the Miami Heat Sunday. Game time is at 5:30 pm.

Patriots win sixth Super Bowl, hold off Rams in defensive battle

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Photo credit: @Patriots

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 3, 2019

Down at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots combined their offensive efforts to become the first teams to go three quarters in a Super Bowl game without a touchdown.

That changed in the fourth quarter, when New England running back Sony Michel scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl LIII, a 2-yard jaunt that put the Patriots up 10-3.

One field goal later, the New England Patriots made a 13-3 lead hold up despite a late Rams charge and defeated Los Angeles to win their sixth Super Bowl. It was the Patriots’ second NFL championship in three years and their sixth since 2001.

Veteran quarterback Tom Brady did not receive the game’s most valuable player award — that went to Patriots’ wide receiver Julian Edelman, who racked up 141 receiving yards.

Seventeen years ago, the Patriots shut down a high-powered Rams offense in a Super Bowl. New England did the same thing in SB LIII, holding the Rams to an average of 3.4 rushing yards per carry and quarterback Jared Goff to 229 passing yards and no touchdowns. Goff was sacked four times.

In the first half, all six of the Rams’ drives ended with a punt.

Los Angeles tried to answer, but with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter, Goff was picked off by the Patriots’ Stephen Gilmore deep in New England territory. That play led to Stephen Gotkowski’s second field goal of the game, a 41-yard effort that gave the Patriots a 10-point advantage with 1:12 left.

The Rams’ offense, which was essentially shut down for most of the night by the Patriots’ defense, briefly came to life. With 5 seconds left, the Rams’ Greg Zuerlein missed a 48-yard field goal attempt, as Los Angeles hoped to make it a one-possession game.

New England opened the scoring on Stephen Gotkowski’s 42-yard field goal with 10:29 left in the second quarter. That accounted for the lowest halftime score in Super Bowl history since SB IX in 1975, when Pittsburgh led Minnesota 2-0 at the break.

The Rams tied the game at 3-3 in the third quarter on Zueriein’s 53-yard field goal.

In the record books, Rams punter Johnny Hekker launched the longest-ever punt in a Super Bowl – 65 yards, even if it took a 27-yard roll to do it. Elias Sports Bureau reports that Los Angeles also set a Super Bowl mark for consecutive punts to begin a game — eight. Zuerlein’s 53-yard field goal was the first from beyond 50 yards in 15 years.

Patriots Coach Bill Belichick became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl at age 66. Brady, at age 41, is the oldest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, passing Peyton Manning, who won the title with Denver at age 39.

Brady is also the all-time leader in individual Super Bowl wins with six, passing Charles Haley.

At halftime, Maroon 5 paid tribute to SpongeBob SquarePants. Adam Levine removed his shirt to display his tattoos, providing more excitement than the first half offered. Rapper Big Boi made an appearance, and rapper Scott concluded the halftime show by performing “Sicko Mode” before falling backwards into the crowd of unpaid volunteers.

On social media, fans expressed their displeasure with the halftime show, many calling it “the all-time worst ever halftime show.” No memory, apparently, of the days of marching bands.

Curry leads the Warriors to a 132-100 rout over the Pacers

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

Steph Curry scored 23 points in the first half to lead the Warriors to a 132-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Steph was 9-for-10 from the field and connected on all 5 3-point shots attempted. He connected on a 3 as the buzzer sounded to give the Warriors a commanding 69-48 halftime advantage.

The Warriors led from start to finish. With the score tied at 16, the Warriors went on a 24-6 run to finish the first quarter with a 40-22 lead. The Pacers’ leading scorer, Victor Oladipo, was not available as he injured his knee and underwent a season-ending surgery to correct the problem. His replacement, Tyreke Evans, also was not able to play. The Pacers started Edmond Sumner, who made his first start in the NBA.

The Warriors, behind Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevon Looney, continued to expand the lead. They finished the first half 69-48. The Warriors shot 59.6% from the floor. They made 6 3s in 12 attempts and recorded 20 assists in the half as they moved the ball well.

The Pacers played well in the third period. they scored 31 points against the Warriors defense. The Warriors, however, scored 32 and led by 22 heading into the final period of play. In the fourth quarter, DeMarcus Cousins played very well. He made several buckets and the score was 115-90 and 7:46 left to play, Steve Kerr had Curry, and Kevin Durant watching from the bench. Thompson exited with 6:50 left and Cousins departed with 4:50 to play. Kevon Looney, Quinn Cook, Damian Lee, Marcus Derrickson, Jordan Bell, and Shaun Livingston finished the game for the Warriors.

Game Notes and Stats: Draymond Green did not play Monday night as coach Steve Kerr gave him a night off. Jordan Bell started in Green’s forward position and played well. Bell, who has not been as consistent as he was a year ago, recorded 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson each finished with 16. DeMarcus Cousins had a season-high 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists in 34 minutes of action. Kevon Looney had a career-high with 15 points to go along with 5 rebounds and two assists. Curry led the Warriors with 26, and he made 6 3s.

The Warriors finished the 12-day, 5-game road trip undefeated. It was the fourth time in Warrior history that the team went undefeated on a road trip of 5 or more games. The Warriors won their 11th game in a row and the 10th road game in a row. The Warriors are now 36-14 for the year while the Pacers drop to 32-17.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night at Oracle Arena. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.