nbcsports.com: Elias Lindholm (28) of the Calgary Flames tries to get ahold of the San Jose Sharks Justin Braun (61) in a made scramble last Thursday in Calgary at the Saddledome
On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len:
#1 In last Thursday’s game in Calgary, the San Jose Sharks (32-16-7) made seven penalties, but got the 5-2 win. That means they were on top of their penalty kill.
#2 The Sharks also got help from goaltender Martin Jones, who stopped 36 shots.
#3 With the win, the Sharks move within two points of the Calgary Flames (34-15-5) for first place.
#4 Joe Thornton received his 1000th point with the Sharks and Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane scored two goals and an assist apiece.
#5 The Sharks face off against the Vancouver Canucks (24-24-7) on Monday night at Rogers Place. Len takes a look at this contest.
DWade’s last game in Sac included a jersey exchange Photo: @SacramentoKings
by Charlie O. Mallonee
Kings head coach Dave Joerger summarized the game on Friday night with one word — discombobulated! With two new players in the rotation and two key players traded to other teams, getting into sync was difficult for the Kings on Friday night.
Sacramento took their first lead of the contest with 1:21 to go in the game. Buddy Hield converted the second of two free throw opportunities to give his team a 97-96 lead. The Kings scored the final six points of the game to make the final score 102-96 to give them their 29th victory of the season.
Both teams had shooting and turnover problems
The Kings struggled early in the with their shooting. In the first period, they shot just 24.0-percent (6/25) overall and hit just 2-of-7 (28.6%) of their 3-point field goals. Sacramento also turned the ball over five times.
The Kings’ shooting percentage improved from there. Although it never was spectacular– 41.1–percent for the game. They cut down on the turnovers, finishing with 14 that resulted in 11 Miami points.
Miami’s poorest shooting streak came in the fourth quarter. The Heat shot just 25-percent (6/24) from the floor and hit just 1-of-9 (11.1%) from downtown. They turned the ball over six times in the final period that became nine Sacramento points.
The Heat shot 43.2-percent for the game and recorded 20 turnovers (22 SAC points). Those turnovers led to their demise.
Harrison Barnes who just joined the Kings made his first start on Friday night
Barnes who was traded to the Kings from the Dallas Mavericks started in his first game in a Sacramento uniform. The veteran forward scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out two assists in just over 36 minutes of playing time. Barnes went 2-for-4 from 3-point distance and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
Buddy Hield had an important night on the floor and in the huddles
Buddy Hield posted a game-high 23 points in the Kings winning effort. He hit 8-of-16 shots overall and went 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point arc. Hield converted 3-of-4 opportunities at the free throw line.
Kings celebrate the win over the Heat Photo: @SacramentoKings
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 16 points, hauled in five rebounds, made four assists and added two assists.
De’Aaron Fox added 12 points, four steals, and three assists.
Harry Giles III was very productive in his 16-plus minutes of playing time. He booked 10 points, three rebounds, and one steal.
Coach Joerger was quick to point out that Willie Cauley-Stein had a very strong game on defense to go with his seven points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots.
Newcomer Alec Burks recorded nine points in just over 14-minutes on the floor. He also had four rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
More Sacramento Team Stats
The Kings had a good night at the charity stripe as they hit 19-of-25 (76%) opportunities. Both the number of attempts and conversion percentage showed improvement.
The Kings were outrebounded 49-46.
SAC distributed 18 assists and turned the ball over 14 times.
The team had a total of 11 steals and five blocked shots.
The Heat outscored the Kings 50-48 in the paint.
The Kings won the battle of 2nd Chance Points 17-6.
Sacramento also won with speed scoring 19 Fast Break Points to 8 for Miami.
The best performances by the Heat
Josh Richardson scored a team-high 21 points to go with four assists and three blocked shots.
Hassan Whiteside was especially productive scoring in the first half and scored 17 points to with 19 rebounds in the game.
Dwyane Wade overcame a nasty fall in the first quarter to go on and score 15 points and dish out four assists in his final appearance in Sacramento.
Up next
The Kings (29-26) will have Saturday off – no practice. They will return to action on Sunday afternoon when the Phoenix “Tankers” — I mean Suns — come to Sacramento to wrap up the longest homestand of the season.
The Heat (25-28) have a date with Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
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.
When you are the hottest team in the AHL, you continue to find ways to win and the red-hot Bakersfield Condors scored three unanswered goals in the second period to come back and defeat the San Jose Barracuda 3-1 on Friday evening at the Rabobank Arena.
The Condors have won 11 games in a row while San Jose have lost their last two games in regulation. It was also Bakersfield’s first win in regulation against San Jose this season. Bakersfield closed within one point of San Jose for first place in the Pacific Division.
San Jose (26-10-2-4) drew first blood in the first period moments after their first power play opportunity expired. Nick DeSimone was able to keep in a failed clearing attempt by the Condors. He found Rourke Chartier in the slot, who drew a double team and sent over a pass over to a wide-open Anti Suomela, who banked the puck off the post into the back of the net past Condors goalie Shane Starrett (15-3-3) for his third goal with the Cuda at the 8:51 mark.
San Jose had the ice tilted in their favor in the opening frame as they outshot Bakersfield 12-8.
Bakersfield (27-15-2-1) came out determined to start and eventually dominate the second period as they gained the equalizer from Joe Gambardella in the opening minute. Ryan Spooner fed a cross-ice pass over to Gambardella, who back-handed the puck past Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (16-5-1) for his 22nd goal of the season at the 1:17 mark. Keegan Lowe received the secondary assist.
The Cuda had a golden opportunity to regain the lead when Josh Currie turned the puck over at the Cuda blue line. Francis Perron led a two-on-none break with Jacob Middleton. However, one too many passes led to Perron getting a weak shot on goal that Starrett was able to make the save.
Cuda killer Currie burned San Jose for the 18th time in his career against San Jose to give the Condors their first lead. His initial shot on goal was blocked, but regained his own rebound and fired a shot over the left shoulder of Korenar for his 20th goal of the season at the 9:11 mark. Currie’s first goal in three games was assisted by Cooper Marody and William Legesson.
Bakersfield closed out the middle frame with their third unanswered goal of the game. A failed clearing attempt was grabbed by Marody, who passed it over to Currie, who fired a shot on net, but Korenar wasn’t able to control the puck and Tyler Benson cleaned up the rebound for his seventh goal of the season at the 13:23 mark.
In the third period, San Jose had back to back opportunities on the power play, but weren’t able to cash in and cut into the lead. They also hit three posts during the game.
Starrett made 27 saves on 28 saves to earn his 15th win of the season. Korenar stopped 22 of the 25 pucks he faced in suffering the tough luck loss and has lost back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/5 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/4.
San Jose’s penalty is currently fifth best in the AHL at 84.1% and fourth best on the road at 84.9%.
The announced attendance was 5,111.
UP NEXT: The Barracuda head down to Ontario on Sunday, 2/10 to take on the Reign at 1:00 pm at the Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Running back Darrin Smith, who’s rated one of the top-100 high school football players for the 2018 season in the Dallas metroplex area by the Dallas Morning News, signed a National Letter-of-Intent to enroll at San Jose State University for the upcoming fall semester.
The 5-foot-10, 196-lb running back from Lone Star High in Frisco, Texas, was rated No. 38 overall and No. 2 among running backs in the Morning News’ February 6, 2019 rankings of the Top-100 area high school players. Smith also was listed by the Waco Tribune Herald’s Top-100 high school players for 2018.
Smith played four seasons of varsity football for Lone Star High. The Rangers posted a 46-9 win-loss record, a 27-2 mark in league action, and played for the 2015 5A-D2 state championship. He rushed for 2,520 yards on 437 carries and scored 34 touchdowns. He also caught 51 passes for 604 yards and returned 13 kickoffs for 273 yards and a touchdown during his high school career.
Smith was the 2017 District 13-5A Special Teams Most Valuable Player and the district’s 2016 Co-Offensive Newcomer of the Year. He concluded his high school football career playing for USA Football’s Under-19 national team in the 2019 International Bowl.
#1 The Stanford Cardinal (9-8) got a win over Washington State (8-8) at Pullman on Thursday night 79-70.
#2 The Cardinal’s Dorian Pickens led the Cardinal with 28 points and Pickens got a three-pointerat 1:16 left to help the Cardinal in their nine-point win.
#3 KZ Okpala scored 21 points and Daejon Davis scored 6-7 field goals and 15 points.
#4 WSU’s Malachi Flynn led the Cougars with 24 points and had seven three-pointers.
#5 The Cardinal play at Oregon this Sunday at 5 pm.
#1 The Indiana Pacers (36-19) got a 119-92 win past the LA Clippers (30-26). Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 29 points.
#2 The Orlando Magic (23-32) got a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (25-29) 122-112. The Magic’s Terrence Ross got 32 points.
#3 The Toronto Raptors (40-16) over the Atlanta Hawks (18-36). The Raptors Pascal Siakam got 33 points to lead all scorers.
#4 The LA Lakers (28-27) got a 129-128 win over the Boston Celtics (35-20). It was just like an old rivalry between these two NBA teams. The Lakers’ LeBron James led with 28 points and the Celtics’ Kyrie Irving had 24.
#1 The San Jose Sharks (32-16-11) have found their swing to the back of the nets with a great 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames (34-15-1). Sharks goals by Tomas Hertl (23 & 24), Evander Kane (22 & 23), and Brett Burns (11).
#2 The Carolina Hurricanes (27-21-6) got a narrow win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Hurricanes got three goals in the third period to hang on.
#3 The Florida Panthers got by the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. The Panthers got an OT goal by Mike Matheson for his fifth game and fifth goal of the year.
#4 The New York Islanders (31-16-6) got goals in the first period and in OT to beat the New Jersey Devils (20-25-8).
#5 The LA Kings got a one-goal win, scoring goals in each of the first and second periods, respectively. For the Kings, Austin (5) and Adrian Kempe (9) in the 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
San Jose State men’s basketball returns to the road and will take on Boise State Saturday inside the Taco Bell Arena at 11 am PT. Justin Allegri will have the Spartans radio call on the TuneIn app.
Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s game:
Game No. 22
San Jose State (3-18, 0-9) at Boise State (10-13, 5-5)
Saturday, Feb. 9, 11:00 am PT
Taco Bell Arena
Boise, Idaho
Live Stats
Fans can view live stats of all SJSU men’s basketball games, home and away, by accessing the “Live Stats” feature at www.sjsuspartans.com. Click on the link on the men’s basketball schedule page to follow the action.
Tune In
Check out the video below for a quick tutorial on how to access the Spartans radio call via the TuneIn app.
What Would a Win Mean?
The Spartans would snap a 12-game losing skid and pick up their first conference win of the season.
New Newcomers
The Spartans have played nine first-year players this season, including regular starters Michael Steadman, Zach Chappell, Craig LeCesne and Brae Ivey. The newcomers are accounting for 67.8% of the Spartans’ offense.
Steadman alone is accounting for about 20% of the team’s offense with 272 points (19.8%).
Baumann the Boss
Sophomore Noah Baumann is shooting lights out from beyond the arc this season, so good in fact that he leads the Mountain West in 3-point percentage at 48.6%. Baumann also ranks in the top-10 in the MW in 3-pointers per game (2.4).
In the loss to Utah State, Baumann had one of the most impressive performances of his career as he scored a career-high 29 points and tied the school record with seven 3-pointers (7-of-10). He also set career highs in 3-point attempts and field goal attempts.
Baumann holds the first and third highest-scoring performances by a Spartan this season with 29 vs. USU and 23 vs. Northern Arizona. The sophomore is averaging 10.4 points in conference play, second-most on the team (Steadman).
Baumann has hit at least one 3-point basket in 19 straight games this season, which is the second longest streak in school history with a 3-pointer made and longest since Robert Owens closed out 2009-10 on a 21-game streak.
Last season as a freshmen, Baumann finished the year 40-for-87 (.460) from the 3-point range. He has already eclipsed those numbers with nine regular season games to go (51-105, .486).
Chastain in Charge
Junior Ashtin Chastain has been filling in the gap in the starting lineup with senior Oumar Barry sidelined by injury. Chastain has started the last four games in his stead and is averaging 6.6 points and 6.0 rebounds in those starts.
Chastain scored seven points in the first start at Wyoming and followed up with with a career-high 13 rebounds in a season-high 39 minutes vs. Air Force. He tallied a season-high eight points in the loss at USU.
Ch-Ch-Changes
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau made some changes to his staff in the offseason. He brought in former NC State All-American Julius Hodge as an assistant coach and promoted director of operations Ryan Cooper to assistant coach.
Steady Steadman
JUCO transfer Michael Steadman has made a big impact this season as a leader on and off the court. The 6’10″ forward is averaging a team-high 13.0 points per game and ranks sixth in the MW with 8.6 rebounds per game. He has seven double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and has scored in double figures in 16-of-21 games. He also has 10 games with double-digit rebounds.
Steadman leads the team with three games with at least 20 points, including back-to-back efforts vs. AF and USU. He put up a career-high 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the loss to AF. He followed up with 20 points at USU.
Last Time Vs. Boise State
The Spartans dropped the first of two games vs. Boise State this season on Jan. 12 by a final of 87-64. SJSU trailed by just three at the half, however the Broncos scored 50 second half points to pull away. Zach Chappell had a season-best 12 points while Brae Ivey chipped in 11 more. Oumar Barry led the way with 16 points.
Shake It Up
Prioleau has used 10 different lineups throughout the season with no one player starting each time out. Barry had started the first 17 games before an injury kept him out of the lineup the last four games. Seven newcomers have made starts, including freshmen Seneca Knight, Zach Chappell, Trey Smith, and Christian Anigwe.
Still on Top
The Spartans are one of two teams that rank in the top four in both offensive and defensive rebounds per game in conference play. SJSU ranks third in offensive with 10.4 per game and fourth in defensive with 25.8 per game. USU’s the other team.
Few Fouls
SJSU has committed the fewest fouls in the MW this season with 17.0 per game.
Series History With Boise State
Boise State holds a 32-3 lead in the all-time series. SJSU’s three wins all came at home: February 2, 2002 (62-51), January 14, 2010 (76-74), and March 5, 2016 (68-63).
Boise State currently leads the MW with a 2-0 record in league play and are 7-8 overall. The Broncos began conference play with wins at Wyoming (69-55) and vs. San Diego State (88-64). Three players are averaging more than 10 points per game led by RJ Williams (13.3).
The Broncos are led by head coach Leon Rice, who’s in his ninth season.
