Curry scores 44 to lead Warriors in 134-127 victory, despite Clippers’ fourth-quarter rally

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors returned to action Thursday night against the vastly improved Los Angeles Clippers at Oracle Arena. The Clippers beat the Warriors at Oracle Arena the last time they played. Clippers’ Lou Williams knocked down 50 points that night, and the Warriors were determined to not let that happen again. The Warriors, behind Steph Curry’s 44 point performance, Thursday night sent the Clippers down to defeat, 134-127, but it was not easy.

The Clippers started poorly this year, but after the trade that sent Blake Griffin to Detroit, they have turned their season around. They still have Austin Rivers, DeAndre Jordan from last year, but they added Danilo Gallinari, Milos Teodosic, Tobias Harris, and Lou Williams. The Warriors owned the Clippers when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were their starters. They are gone, and the Clippers are on the rebound.

The Warriors made one change to the starting lineup Thursday night as Steve Kerr decided to start JaVale McGee at center in place of Zaza Pachulia. The move was made to jump start the offense in the first quarter, and the strategy worked as the Warriors raced out to a 34-23 lead at the end of the first 12 minutes of play. It was the first time since November 19th that the Warriors finished the quarter with an 11-point advantage. Curry electrified the crowd as he made a three pointer from half-court as the buzzer sounded to end the period.

The Warriors continued to play well in the second period. At one point, they led 57-40 when Nick Young connected on a three. The Clippers, however, came back on a 9-0 run to close the gap to eight. Curry connected on a three late in the first half to up the lead to 15 70-55, but Danilo Gallinari matched Steph with a three of his own as the buzzer sounded. The Warriors finished the half leading 70-58. Kevin Durant had 12, Curry 15, Thompson 17, and Draymond Green seven. Austin Rivers and Gallinari led the Clippers with 10 apiece. Teodosic had nine, and Lou Williams was held to five.

The Warriors, who have owned the third quarter this year, got off to a good start as they increased the led by 16 after Curry knocked down a three-point shot. Kevin Durant followed with a three of his own, and it looked as if the Warriors were on cruise control. The Clippers cut the deficit to 12 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Clippers went on a 9-0 run to make it a two-point game. They trailed 104-102. The Warriors behind three big three-point baskets by Curry and one by Durant were able to meet the challenge. They met every Clipper challenge as they showed they still know how to play defense and what they have to do to win a close contest.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improve to 45-14 and had just 23 games left on the regular season schedule.

The Clippers are now 30-27 but are in the race for the playoffs. The loss time was just the sixth in the last 19 games played and their coach, Doc Rivers, has made them very competitive.

Curry had a double-double with 44 points and 10 assists and he made 8 threes in 11 attempts. Durant knocked down 24, Thompson 19, Green 14. McGee tallied six points and had four boards. Pachulia also scored six. David West had 10.

The Warriors shot 62.7% from the floor but they allowed the Clippers to take 12 more shots in the game.

The Clippers shot 50% from the floor.

The Warriors recorded 31 assists and on defense, they had eight steals and eight blocked shots. The Warriors committed 15 turnovers. At one point in the first quarter, Steve Kerr called a timeout as the Warriors turned the ball over three straight times.

The Clippers had seven players in double figures. Austin Rivers 14, Gallinari 15, Jordan 16. Harris 22, Teodosic, 14. Montrezl Harrell pitched in with 15 and Lou Williams finished with 21. Williams made several big three-point shots when the Clippers rallied in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors’ next opponent will be the Oklahoma Thunder Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

The Thunder, behind Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Steve Adams, pounded the Warriors the last time they met at Oracle. In fact, the Thunder has won two of the three games played so far this season. The Warriors have their work cut out for them as they have to figure out a way to stop the Thunder attack. Saturday’s game should be a barn burner.

Westbrook adds 18th triple-double of season and hits game-winning shot for 110-107 Thunder win

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By Jordan Chapin

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings made their return to the Golden 1 Center after a well-needed week off. The return of Frank Mason and Skal Labissiere jump started the Kings final 25-game schedule with a 110-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night. The reigning MVP, Russell Westbrook, proved once again why he is one of the most clutch players in the league by racking up his 18th triple-double of the season and hitting the game-winning shot.

After trailing by 23 points in the first quarter, the Kings took advantage of their opportunities with the second unit lead by Buddy Hield with 19 points and Vince Carter with 13 points. The Kings cut the lead within eight at half, and then it was Zach Randolph time. Z-Bo finished his night with 29 points and 12 rebounds and put the Kings up by five with under four minutes to go. After several lead changes, the Thunder led by two with just 11 seconds to go in the game. Vince Carter put up a shot from about 34 feet out–missed–was tipped up several times, and with one second left, Justin Jackson came flying in for the put back lay-up to tie the game.

With exactly one second to go, Westbrook caught the in-bounds pass on the wing, and rose-up over Garrett Temple and drained the three-pointer as the clock expired. Although Westbrook did struggle from the field, he reminded us why he is a perennial All-Star in this league. His teammates Paul George and Carmelo Anthony picked him up on the scoring end, as they combined for 49 points.

When the Kings return to Golden 1 Center on Saturday night, they will have a fully rejuvenated lineup as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers. Sacramento will see Isiah Thomas for the first time since he has put on the Purple and Gold. The Kings extended  their record to 18-40 as OKC gets their 34th win of the season and stand pat as the fifth seed in the West.

Predators dominate Sharks 7-1; Rinne stops 32 shots, Preds pile on Sharks with four-goal third period

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~ NHL.com photo

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne earned his 300th NHL win stopping 32 shots, as the San Jose Sharks lost 7-1 Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators tied a season-high with seven goals as they flipped 46 pucks towards Sharks goalie Aaron Dell. Nashville replied to the Sharks’ goal with four more.  

It was Dell’s first game since February 10. Dell faced a season-high in shots and goals. Dell was making his first regular-season appearance against Nashville. San Jose have a 1-10-1 record recently in the Music City.

Despite a mix of familiar and new with the Sharks’ Tomas Hertl returning after three games and newest member Eric Fehr making his debut, it was not San Jose’s time against the Central Division leaders.  Sharks’ defenseman Brent Burns described it as a “nightmare night, not fun to play.”

However, head coach Pete DeBoer mentioned he wouldn’t “overreact. It wasn’t a disaster from start to finish.”

San Jose’s power play continued to struggle, now 0-for-18 after five more attempts.

All of the Predators’ goals came from different members. Viktor Arvidsson, Nick Bonino, Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok added assists as well.

In the first period, Nashville struck early and late.

Dell found his body on the wrong side of the net when Bonino used a wraparound attempt. Bonino was able to get the puck in before Dell’s left skate reached the left post at 1:55.

Scott Hartnell made the Sharks see double when he took an opportune pass from Bonino and found a hole under Dell’s right arm with under a minute left.

Both teams scored in the second period.

With his dad in the arena, Logan Couture potted San Jose’s first goal for the second game.

Starting from the other end, Marc-Edouard Vlasic fished the puck from the boards and sent it to Justin Braun who raced forward. Couture took the puck, exchanged a back-and-forth with Kevin Labanc and fought to eventually score from behind the goal line at 8:39.

Jannik Hansen had two point-blank rockets versus Rinne less than a minute later.

However, the Predators regained their first period cushion when Fiala capitalized on a 2-on-1 at 15:57.

Nashville continued to march off to the races with Arvidsson, Johansen and Mattias Ekholm joining the rush at 3:49, 6:30 and 11 minutes of the third period, respectively.

Dell made a save facing Colton Sissons’ shorthanded breakaway attempt. It ended up in a penalty shot, which Dell blocked too.

Up Next: The Sharks will play the second of back-to-back games Friday, facing the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time this season at 5:30pm.

Stanford Cardinal defeats Washington Huskies 94-78 for the ​second time this season; That’s two straight wins in a row for Stanford

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photo by gostanford.com: Stanford Cardinal Travis Reid (22) led Stanford in offense on Thursday night at Maples Pavilion with 33 points

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO—After defeating their archrivals, the California Golden Bears, in Berkeley on Sunday, the Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball team (15-13 overall, 9-6 in the Pac-12) returned to Maples Pavillion on Thursday night to face the Washington Huskies (18-10 overall, 8-7 in the Pac-12), whom they beat 73-64 in mid-January on the road. Both teams were 8-6 in the Pac-12 conference going into the match.

Humphrey made the first basket for the Cardinal and Noah Dickerson for the Huskies. The Cardinal kept a lead over the Huskies for the entire first half, which gradually increased as the period progressed. The Huskies started trailing the Cardinal by the double digits 5:29 in after forward Dorian Pickens made a three-pointer.

Huskies’ Dominic Green cut Stanford’s lead back into the single digits at 10:28, but only for 19 seconds, when Stanford’s Reid Travis made a jumper. The lead remained in the double digits from there on out. At the end of the period, the Cardinal exceeded the Huskies by 22 points.

Travis ended the period with 23 points, the highest on the team, and Pickens, Travis’ runner-up, finished the opening stanza with 12 points. Dickerson led the Huskies with 10 points, followed by Jaylen Nowell who had seven.

The second period began with a jumper from Pickens to make the score 50-26. The Huskies began inching their way toward cutting the Cardinal’s lead below 20 (and they came close at the four-minute mark when David Crisp got a layup to make the score 56-36), but the Cardinal held on as Oscar da Silva made a three-pointer at the five minute mark, keeping them ahead of the Huskies by more than 20 points.

Da Silva made one of three free throws just after the seven-minute mark to bring the score to 62-42. Daejon Davis (who was originally committed to the University of Washington) then stepped in for da Silva.

Dominic Green made a jumper for the Huskies to bring the Cardinal’s lead down to 18 points. Additionally, after Josh Sharma was fouled, Nahziah Carter made both free throws to cut the lead to 16 points. Then, Green made a three-pointer with 11 minutes remaining on the clock, and the Huskies trailed only by 13 (62-49), the closest they’d get to a single digit lead since early in the first half.

After much back and forth in the three minutes that followed, a dunk from Humphrey, a three-pointer from Pickens, a layup from da Silva, two free throws from Pickens, and a three-pointer from da Silva, the Cardinal inched their way back up to a 19-point lead, then 21 after da Silva made a dunk. Crisp made a three-pointer for the Huskies, followed by a layup from Humphrey for the Cardinals, and then another three-pointer from Matisse Thybulle brought the score to 78-62.

Carter chimed in on the three-pointer action and shot one for the Huskies with just over 6 minutes remaining in the match, and the score was 80-65. Nowell got a layup with 5:19 remaining and the lead was once again cut to 13 points, and then increased to 14 after Pickens made one of two free throws for the Cardinal.

Travis stepped on the line for a bonus one-and-one, making both shots to bring the score to 83-67. Carter then made a free throw (83-68) for the Huskies.

Carter was fouled with just over four and a half minutes remaining, giving Travis two free throw opportunities, both of which he made. Carter made a three-pointer for the Huskies before his teammate Hameir Wright was fouled, giving Davis two free throws; he made one to make the score 87-71.

A three-pointer from Thybulle cut the Cardinal’s lead to 12, then KZ Okpala made one of two free throws from Stanford to make it 13 once again. Carter missed a three-pointer which would have brought the lead down to 10 points.

The Cardinal closed out their win with one free throw from Travis and another from Okpala.

Travis earned a career high in points and led the Cardinal with 33, and Pickens finished second with 20 points. Nowell led the Huskies with 18 points, followed by Carter with 17.

Stanford will face the Washington State Cougars on Saturday, February 24, which is also Senior Day. Pickens and Humphrey will be honored for their contribution to Cardinal Basketball.

Tony Renteria Headline Sports Podcast: Olympic Gold for Women’s Hockey; Cuban and Mavs operations tied up in a nasty bunch

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abcnews.com: US Women’s Olympic team powers past Team Canada with a one goal victory to win gold at the 2018 Pyeonchang Olympics on Thursday

On the Headlines Podcast with Tony:

1 Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says losing is a good thing and that the Mavericks can cover their bad roster moves

2 Cuban was fined $600,000 for his remarks. The Mavericks who have only 18 wins and are in last place. Cuban in a meeting with the players said that the regular season is a farce.

3 Cuban was remorseful that former team President Terdema Ussery who worked for the Mavericks for two decades 1998-2015 was reported by team employees for harassing, demeaning, and made unwanted advances. Ussery is now a vice president at Under Armor.

4 The Sacramento Kings who have lost three straight open a three game homestand at Golden One tonight with Oklahoma City, Saturday with the Lakers, and Monday night with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

5. The US Olympic Women’s hockey team got gold with another miracle on ice victory Thursday 3-2 beating Team Canada at the Pyeongchang Olympics

Tony Renteria does headline sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

CoSIDA selects San Jose State’s Ryan Welage to All-District VIII First Team

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Photo credit: @TheSJSUSpartan

By: Ana Kieu

The 2017-18 CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District® Men’s Basketball Teams have been released, and San Jose State forward Ryan Welage was selected to the All-District VIII First Team.

The CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Welage is the first San Jose State men’s basketball player to receive all-district honors since the very first awards were handed out during the 1982-83 season.

“Ryan is a great student-athlete for our program,” said Spartans’ head coach Jean Prioleau. “He works extremely hard to have success both in the classroom and in the game of basketball. That’s why he’s a team captain. We’re very happy to see him receive this honor and hope to see him selected again later this year.”

With first-team honors, Welage now advances to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first, second and third team All-America honorees will be announced in March.

Welage, a kinesiology major with a minor in nutrition at SJSU, earned a 4.0 GPA (Grade Point Average) in the fall and has an cumulative GPA of 3.84.

Joining Welage on the First Team is Stanford’s Dorian Pickens, Oregon State’s Stephen Thompson, Jr., Grand Canyon’s Joshua Braun and Fresno State’s Sam Bittner.

Welage and the Spartans hit the home court Saturday night against San Diego State with a tipoff set for 7:00 pm PT.

Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Cardinal take on Washington tonight in first building block towards potential post season bid

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gostanford.com photo: Stanford Cardinal Michael Humphrey (10) goes for the dunk last Sunday at Haas Pavilion against the Cal Bears

On the Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Jerry:

The Stanford Cardinal (14-13) who snapped a three game loss streak last Sunday at Cal host the Washington Huskies (18-9) tonight at Maple pavilion a 6PM tip. The Cardinal are sixth place in the Pac 12 and a win tonight over Washington which is not out of the realm of possibility would possibly propel them and give them a 9-6 Pac 12 record and a two game win streak.

Then they have the Washington State Cougars for this weekend and next week the two Arizona schools ASU and Arizona. If Stanford can win three out of the four games it’ll get them a bye and put them in the Pac 12 Tournament that would put them in the top four. If they get a loss it’ll be devastating. The Huskies are going to be looking for revenge as the Cardinal beat them up there in Seattle.

Jerry does the Stanford Podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Barracuda fail in comeback attempt in 5-2 loss to Reign

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Marko Ukalovic

The Ontario Reign (25-19-3-1) scored three goals in the first period and held on with two late insurance goals to defeat the San Jose Barracuda (22-21-3-3) 5-2 on Wednesday evening at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The loss is the third in a row and seven out of their last eight games for San Jose.

The Reign didn’t waste any time getting off to a fast start when Matt Moulson drew first blood after Brett Sutter won a clean faceoff. He was able to pass it back to the point where Sean Walker blasted a slap shot that Moulson tipped past Cuda goalie Troy Grosenick (6-9-4) at the 2:57 mark of the first period.

Sutter would give the Reign a 2-0 lead when he scored a short-handed goal 59 seconds into a Cuda power play when the puck ricocheted off of Matt Roy’s stick and found a wide open Sutter who skated in on a breakaway and slid the puck right through the five-hole of Grosenick for his 10th goal at the 6:36 mark.

The Reign received a gift from Jacob Middleton when he turned over the puck to Justin Auger who skated it in all alone on Grosenick and was able to sneak the puck past the five-hole for his seventh goal of the season. The unassisted goal gave Ontario a 3-0 lead at the 10:25 mark.

Ontario had the ice tilted in their favor throughout the entire first period as they out shot San Jose 19-6. The Cuda weren’t able to get any of the goals back, despite three power play opportunities.

Colby Mcauly was able to get the Cuda on the board when he scored the first goal of his AHL career when he was able to poke home a rebound of a shot from Radem Simek. Simek’s shot sailed over the goal where McCauly was able to collect the puck off the back wall and put it past Reign goalie Cal Petersen’s (14-9-0) top self at the 6:29 mark of the second period.

Alexander True brought the Cuda to within one goal when he scored a power play goal when his wrap around shot deflected off the left pad of Petersen and trickled into the back of the net. True’s eighth goal of the season came on an extended power play with the Reign’s Stepan Falkovski in the sin bin for a double-minor high sticking penalty that drew blood from Rudolfs Balcers at the 16:58 mark. Simek and Nick DeSimone received assists.

San Jose had two power play opportunities in the third period to tie the game, but weren’t able to convert.

Ontario wrapped up the game with a pair of goals scored with under two minutes left in the game. An even-strength goal by TJ Hensick for his sixth goal of the season at the 18:09 mark. Andrew Crencenzi added an empty netter with his 10th goal of the season with 1:02 left in the game to complete the scoring for the Reign and end any comeback attempt by San Jose.

Petersen made 19 saves on 21 shots to earn the victory. He is now 3-0 against San Jose. Grosenick had another busy night, making 31 saves on 35 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/8 on the power play, while Ontario–who has the sixth best-ranked power play in the AHL–went 0/4.

This was the first game of the season the Cuda didn’t have John McCarthy or Paul Martin on the penalty kill. Balcers was able to return to the game after being cut by the high stick from Falkovski. Simek was hit in the face by the puck after a shot caught him up high late in the 3rd period. Hensick’s goal was his fifth goal in 13 games against San Jose.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their four-game road trip traveling up Highway 99 to take on the Bakersfield Condors on Friday evening (February 23) at Rabobank Arena. Face off is scheduled at 7 pm PT.

San Jose State’s woes continue as No. 20 Nevada eases to 80-67 victory

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

Radio broadcaster Justin Allegri set the scene for the unbalanced San Jose State Spartans vs. Nevada Wolf Pack game Wednesday night at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada. The lopsided matchup was broadcasted live on ESPN3 and KLIV 1590 AM, but the Spartans’ storyline remained the same as they’re still looking for a conference win.

The ball was up in Northern Nevada, and the Wolf Pack took an early lead and never looked back. The Spartans, though, were affected by 13 turnovers.

Nevada hit 7-of-11 shots from downtown in the opening moments of the game, and San Jose State trailed the Wolf Pack 23-14 at the 11:51 mark of the first half.

Ryan Welage had 10 points midway through the first, but the Spartans continued to trail the Wolf Pack 30-22 with 7:30 left in the first.

The Spartans trailed the Wolf Pack 42-29 at the end of the first.

Both teams scored 38 points apiece in the second half. However, Nevada handed SJSU a 80-67 loss at home.

For the Spartans, Welage led all scorers with 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Oumar Barry scored 12 points, one rebound and one assist. Jalen James had 11 points, three assists and two rebounds. Jaycee Hillsman had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Keith Fisher III had five points, five rebounds and three assists. Noah Baumann had five points and three rebounds. Ashtin Chastain had just four points and four rebounds.

Notes
Spartans’ starting lineup: Jalen James, Oumar Barry, Jaycee Hillsman, Ryan Welage and Keith Fisher III.

Wolf Pack’s starting lineup: Kendall Stephens, Cody Martin, Jordan Caroline, Caleb Martin and Hallice Cooke.

Up Next
The Spartans return home to host the Aztecs this Saturday, February 24 at 7:00 pm PT on ESPN3.

San Jose State men’s basketball podcast with Ana Kieu: SJSU still looking for conference win; Fisher III makes big impact; plus Spartans news for all sports

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

On the San Jose State men’s basketball podcast with Ana Kieu:

1. The Spartans lost to the Cowboys 89-75 in Wyoming last Saturday. What went wrong for San Jose State?

2. Keith Fisher III scored a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds vs. Wyoming Saturday. What does this say about his future at San Jose State?

3. Ryan Welage climbed up to seventh place on San Jose State’s all-time scoring list, passing Coby Dietrick and looking up at Chris McNealy in sixth place with 1,236 career points. What else can you say about Welage?

4. The Spartans host the Mountain West-leading No. 24 Wolf Pack tonight. What are your three keys to the game?

5. Enough of men’s basketball. What’s going on with the other sports teams at San Jose State?

Ana Kieu does the San Jose State Spartans men’s basketball podcast each week at www.sportsradioservice.com.