Kevin Durant scores 50 points, but it’s not enough as Warriors lose a thriller to Trail Blazers 123-117

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors fell behind by 20 points in the first half almost made an incredible comeback, but they could not catch the Portland Trail Blazers as they lost 123-117 Wednesday night at the Moda Center.

The Warriors had another poor first quarter as the Blazers came out firing. The Blazers’ backcourt duo of C.J. McCollum and Damien Lillard were unstoppable as they led the team to victory over the Warriors. The Blazers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors and sent the Warriors down to second place in the Western Conference. With the loss, the Warriors record of 44-14 is 1/2 game behind the Houston Rockets’ 44-13. The Rockets also own the tie-breaker with the Warriors which means if the teams finish the season with an identical record, the Rockets would have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Blazers raced to a 40-27 advantage after the first period. The Warriors finished the first half trailing by 12 points 63-51. Kevin Durant came to life in the third quarter, and he tallied 18 points to help close the gap to 92-87 after three quartersof play. The Warriors came close and tied the game at one point, but they could never regain the lead. KD hit a 3-pointer to make it 114-111 late in the fourth quarter. McCollum answered with a three of his own with just 2:15 left to play. The Blazers handled all the challenges and finished the night with another victory at home.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors are off until February 22nd when they meet the LA Clippers at Oracle Arena. The Warriors’ Big Four of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are heading to Los Angeles to play in the annual NBA All-Star game. Head coach Steve Kerr is on his way to Hawaii for a few days of rest and relaxation.

The Blazers’ backcourt duo of McCollum and Lillard scored 73 points and the Blazer defense held Curry and Thompson to just 34. The Warriors bench did not give the team much help offensively as they were outscored by Portland’s bench 21-16. The Warriors committed 16 turnovers in the loss.

The offensive star for Golden State was Kevin Durant, who knocked down 50 points, and had six assists, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots.

Green had a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards.

Steve Kerr was very thoughtful about the events that took place in Parkland, Florida, where at least 17 people were killed in another tragic school shooting. Kerr had this to say, ”Nothing has been done. It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools. It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, movie theater. It’s not enough apparently to move our leadership, our government, the people who are running this country, to actually do anything. That’s demoralizing. But we can do something about it: We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives and not just bow down to the NRA because they financed their campaign for them. Hopefully we’ll find enough people, first of all, to vote good people in, but hopefully we can find enough people with courage to actually help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues, not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety, but actually protecting us from what truly is dangerous, which is maniacs with semi-automatic weapons just slaughtering our children. It’s disgusting.”

Up Next: The Warriors host the Clippers at Oracle Arena next Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 pm PT.

Barracuda snap losing streak with a 4-2 win over Roadrunners

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda (22-19-2-3) were happy to have Rudolfs Balcers and his scoring touch back in the lineup as his two goals led the way for a 4-2 victory over the Pacific Division leading Tuscon Roadrunners (27-15-2-1) on Wednesday night at the SAP Center. The win snapped the Cuda’s four-game losing streak.

Balcers’ second goal of the night proved to be the game winning goal for San Jose on the power play. Rourke Chartier kept the puck inside the blue line, passed it over to Tim Heed who fed Balcers who skated between the middle of the circles and fired a shot top self past Hunter Miska (15-5-0) for a 3-2 lead at the 8:26 mark of the third period. It was his team leading 14th goal on the season.

“It’s been a while (since I scored a goal),” said Baclers about his recent goalless streak. “I actually talked to my parents yesterday. We talked that I haven’t scored in a while. So it felt good.”

The Roadrunners would draw first blood when Mike Sislo skated in all alone on the right wing after taking a cross-ice feed from Lawson Crouse and fired a shot past Cuda goalie Troy Grosenick (6-8-3) into the back of the net for his 15th goal on the season at the 12:23 mark of the first period.

The Barracuda would even it up late in the first period when a turnover at the blue line gave the puck to Adam Helewka and he found a wide-open Emerson Clark who skated right down the middle all alone and buried a shot past Tuscon goalie Hunter Miska (15-5-0) for his sixth goal of the season at the 17:37 mark.

Despite the Roadrunners’ defense clogging up the middle of the ice and holding the Cuda to only three shots in the period, both teams headed into the first intermission tied at one apiece.

Tuscon regained the lead late in the second period with a power play goal from Lane Pederson. With Helewka in the sin bin for hooking, Laurent Dauphin found Pederson at the right point and he blasted a shot past Grosenick for his eighth goal of the season at the 16:14 mark.

Balcers tied it back up over a minute later with his first goal of the night when he received a pass from Tim Heed at the right slot and skated in on Miska and fired a shot that Miska wasn’t able to handle at the 17:21 mark.

In the third period, the Cuda took three undisciplined penalties (two too many men on the ice and one unsportmanlike conduct) that gave Tuscon a chance to come back but San Jose’s penalty kill along with Grosenick were perfect and didn’t allow another goal.

“Special teams were pretty good,” said head coach Roy Sommer. “It would’ve been a little disheartening if they had scored on those, but they didn’t.”

Chartier, back in the lineup after missing the last 30 games, gave the Cuda a huge insurance goal when Nick DeSimone connected with Chartier on a pass from center ice and he skated in from the left slot before firing a shot past Miska into the top right corner of the goal for his third goal of the season.

“He’s been through a lot these past couple of years,” said Grosenick about Chartier’s return to the lineup. “To see him comeback and get rewarded like that, with all his hard work, it’s a good thing to see.”

Grosenick made 37 saves on 39 shots, including a great sprawling save on Crouse in the second period while Tuscon was on the power play. Miska stopped 22 pucks on 26 shots for just his fifth loss on the season.

“It was big, it was big for him and just his psyche”, said Sommer about Grosenick finally getting a win. “He was kinda wondering when the next win was gonna come. He battled in there and made some big saves for us down the end for us.”

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play and snapped an 0/13 skid, while Tuscon went 1/6.

Along with Chartier, forward Danny O’Reagan was also back in the line up for the Cuda who has been up and down with the Sharks and Cuda this season.

Caleb Herbert made his debut for San Jose after recently signing with the team.

San Jose went 1-2-1-1 on their five-game home stand.

The announced attendance was 2,924.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda head out on the road to begin a four-game road trip beginning with a two-game weekend series in Stockton as they take on their Nor Cal rival the Heat on Friday 2/16. Face off is scheduled for 7 pm PT.

Rivalry night on Valentine’s Day: Spartans get blown out by Bulldogs 77-57

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans have only won three games under the new regime of head coach Jean Prioleau, and then they carried out a scheduled meeting on Valentine’s Day with the rival Fresno State Bulldogs at the Event Center Wednesday night.

Prior to the rivalry matchup, the Spartans were the bottom feeders of the Mountain West with a 3-12 (0-12 MW) record, while the Bulldogs rested comfortably with a 17-8 (7-5 MW) record.

The Spartans fell behind early, trailing the Bulldogs 11-3 in the first four-plus minutes of the first half. Ryan Welage ended the Spartans’ scoreless drought with a jumper at the 15:44 mark of the first.

Just when you thought the Spartans were done, Welage stole the show with a 3-pointer and a jumper. Isaiah Nichols hit a 3 of his own to tie the game at 11 apiece at the 13:31 mark. Oumar Barry made a layup to put the Spartans up 13-11 just 63 seconds later.

The Bulldogs tied the game at 13 apiece on New Williams’ jumper at the 12:19 mark, but Jalen James and Keith Fisher quickly responded for the Spartans, who took a 18-13 lead at the 11:23 mark.

The Spartan defense falted for a little bit. Both the Spartans and Bulldogs exchanged shots and leads up until SJSU went on a 6-0 run, thanks to Fisher, James and Jaycee Hillsman. Bulldogs’ Terrell Carter ended the Spartans’ run with a layup with 6:34 left in the first.

The Spartans held a comfortable 10-point lead after Nai Carlisle hit a 3 with 6:13 left.

The Bulldogs started getting feisty though. Sam Bittner hit not only one, but two 3s. Deshon Taylor followed with a jumper and Terrell Carter II added a layup to tie the game at 29 apiece with 3:08 left.

The Bulldogs were back on top with a 30-29 lead as Carter II made one of two free throws. Bittner made a layup to put the Bulldogs ahead 32-29 just 42 seconds later.

The Spartans made it a one-point game when James made a layup with 1:46 left. Then, there was a 30-second timeout, which sort of helped the Spartans since a Bulldog forward spent nearly 30 seconds finding an open Bulldog player.

It was a close game as the Spartans trailed the Bulldogs by just one point, 32-31, at the half. SJSU’s halftime stats: 11-26 FG-FGA (total), 5-9 FG-FGA (3-ptr), 4-8 FT-FTA, 3 offensive rebounds, 16 defensive rebounds, 19 total rebounds, 9 PF, 31 TP, 5 A, 6 TO, 2 Blks, 2 Stls, 100 Mins.

The second half opened up in an up and down manner as both teams exchanged shots with each other. Jaron Hopkins got the Bulldogs rolling with a dunk and a layup, Welage made a layup of his own, Bryson Williams made a layup and one of two free throws, Welage hit a 3 and then Fresno State went on a 7-0 run before James was assessed a flagrant foul.

The Bulldogs poured in the points, mainly off shots made by Taylor, Ray Bowles and Jaron Hopkins, taking a 58-39 lead over the Spartans at the 11-minute mark of the second. The Spartans only had eight second half points during that time span.

The Spartans continued to suffer from scoring droughts, which proved that the close score in the first half was pretty much just a fluke.

The Spartans lost to the Bulldogs 77-57 at home. SJSU’s final stats: 22-52 FG-FGA (total), 7-18 FG-FGA (3-ptr), 6-13 FT-FTA, 7 offensive rebounds, 26 defensive rebounds, 33 total rebounds, 16 PF. 57 TP, 12 A, 13 TO, 2 Blks, 5 Stls.

Notes 
Spartans’ starting lineup: Keith Fisher, Noah Baumann, Jalen James, Ryan Welage and Ashtin Chastain.

Bulldogs’ starting lineup: Jaron Hopkins, Bryson Williams, Sam Bittner, Deshon Taylor and Ray Bowles.

Up Next
The Spartans head out for a critical road trip, starting with the Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday, February 17 at 1:00 pm PT.

Kings lose to Rockets 100-91; Houston enters All-Star break with 10 straight wins

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Photo credit: @NBCSAuthentic

By: Ana Kieu

Last night, a streak was broken and swept up against the Dallas Mavericks, and the Sacramento Kings traveled to South Texas to take on the Houston Rockets in a Valentine’s Day game at the Toyota Center on Wednesday night.

The Kings were doing just fine in the first quarter. They got some insurance points from Buddy Hield too.

 

 

 

The Kings led the Rockets 25-20 at the end of the first.

However, the Rockets bounced back with 35 points in the second quarter. The Kings scored just 20 points in the second.

The Kings trailed the Rockets 55-45 at the half.

Since the Kings were down by 10 at halftime, they decided to have some fun on Twitter. Rapper Gucci Mane tweeted, “It’s never too late. You can still do it!” The Kings quoted the tweet with “That’s right, Gucci! Trailing at the half but plenty of basketball to go.”

It was a low scoring third quarter, but the Kings outshot the Rockets 18-17 to end the third. Hield continued to make it rain with various types of shots, including buckets, on the court.

 

 

 

Despite the Kings ending the third on a high note, they continued to trail the Rockets 72-63 at the end of the third.

After that, the Kings’ Twitter announced the game’s Cold Hard Fact sponsored by Coors Light. That fact said: “Seven Kings players have at least four rebounds so far tonight.”

Both teams scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, but the Kings’ hard-fought battle came up short as they lost to the Rockets 100-91. Kings’ De’Aaron Fox received stitches above his right eye and chin after making contact with the floor during the early moments of tonight’s game in Houston.

Notes
Kings’ starters:

Kings’ crowdsourced startup powered by Sacramento Urban Technology Lab will return for the third year in a row.

Kings’ De’Aaron Fox will participate in the 2018 Rising Stars Game.

Kings’ dancers posted for a Valentine’s day photoshoot.

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/963925839271391233

Up Next
The Kings return home to kick off a three-game homestand, starting with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 pm PT.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: After lack of offensive loss to Coyotes Sharks looking to take on Vancouver Thursday

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sports.yahoo.com file photo: The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl seen here stretching before a game injured his right shoulder and arm against the Tucson Roadrunners on Tuesday and is day to day

On the SJ Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa:

1 SJ Sharks after winning two straight had a rough time against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss

2 The Sharks offense couldn’t get anything going against the Coyotes and had trouble on the power play

3 The Coyotes back up goalie (who actually starts but not on Tuesday) Antti Raanta stopped 12 shots in relief in the third period for Scott Wedgewood who started. Wedgewood had to leave after getting hit by the Sharks Tim Meier from behind 28 seconds into the third period. Wedgewood hit his head on the crossbar and had to leave for concussion observation.

4 The Sharks Tomas Hertl was chasing down a puck with Arizona Coyotes Nick Cousins on a short handed play, Hertl fell and injured his right shoulder and right arm. His status is day to day.

5 The Sharks host Vancouver Thursday night at SAP Mary Lisa takes a looks at the match up

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda Podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda coming off two straight losses; looking for win against Tucson tonight

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Photo credit: instagram.com/sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda Podcast with Marko:

1 On Sunday the San Diego Gulls (26-17-1-0) swept the San Jose Barracuda (21-19-2-3) at SAP Center. The Gulls came back down 1-0 with three unanswered goals to beat the Barracuda for the second time 4-3.

2 The Barracuda opened the game with a goal from defenseman Jacob Middleton who scored his second goal of the season at 24 seconds

3 Middleton’s goal would the only goal of the afternoon for San Jose as San Diego would put four goals past Barracuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (14-9-2) who kept busy stopping 24 out of 28 shots

4 The power play is hurting the Barracuda going 0-6 Sunday and 0-10 during the two game against the Gulls

5 The Barracuda will face off against Tucson tonight after dropping two the Barraducda will need this one against the Tucson Roadrunners

Marko Ukalovic covers Barracuda hockey for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose State men’s basketball podcast with Ana Kieu: It’s not just about Welage anymore; Spartans make a date with Bulldogs; plus more Spartan news

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Photo credit: sbnation.com

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

1. The San Jose State Spartans geared up for round two with the Colorado State Rams, but ended up falling 90-79 at the Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colorado. What do you think was the largest problem for the Spartans?

2. Keith Fisher III and Noah Baumann recorded a career-high 23 points and a career-high 16 points, respectively. What else do you have to say about the Spartans’ leading scorers?

3. Last January, San Jose State defeated Fresno State 69-62 at the Event Center. What do the Spartans need to do in order to ensure a win tonight?

4. An article was recently posted on the Indianapolis Business Journal about Greensburg, Indiana–a town of about 12,000 people. There have been five starters in three different sports, including Spartans junior forward Ryan Welage. Welage has proved how far he has come. How far could he still go?

5. San Jose State has a wide variety of teams in men’s and women’s sports. Just give me a breakdown of the latest Spartan updates.

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

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: Big League names but no big league jobs as MLB owners freeze out many free agents

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fox4news.com photo: The Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish one of the few blockbuster free agents to sign on in the midst of over 100 MLB free agents

On That’s Amaury’s Podcast:

1 Very few agents in MLB are being signed baseball revenue has been cut and there a record number of free agents unsigned

2 San Francisco Giant shortstop said there’s a lot talent that could help teams that are unsigned and that could help a lot of big league clubs

3 The Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish is relieved to be one of the lucky ones who recently signed a $126 million deal but there are 100 free agents still available very telling of what MLB front offices are doing.

4 Amongst them some of the big names pitchers Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb, Lance Lynn, Greg Holland, Hitters; JD Martinez, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Jonathan Lucroy.

5 The players union has a camp for unsigned players that they can showcase to try and get some of the free agency

Amaury is the Spanish Oakland A’s radio play by play talent, the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum, and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Categories MLB

The Kings send the Mavs into the All-Star break with a 114-109 loss in Dallas

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00 vs Dal

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Two NBA Draft Lottery teams met on the court in Dallas on Tuesday night. The Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks are both looking ahead to next season right now because neither team will be a playoff contender.

The Kings were playing the second of three games on the road before the All-Star Break. Sacramento lost their first road game in Minneapolis on Sunday night. The game in Dallas was the first contest of a “Texas Two-Step” that finishes with a game versus the Rockets in Houston on Wednesday night.

The Kings shocked the Mavericks by handing them a 114-109 loss on their home court to sweep the season series in Dallas. That is the first time that has happened since 2003.

Sacramento jumped out to a 29-16 lead in the first quarter and led the Mavs 65-44 at the half.

Dallas finally woke up in the third quarter behind the play of Harrison Barnes and closed the gap to 17 points. The Kings held an 88-71 lead after three quarters.

Dallas dropped in 38 points in the fourth quarter behind J.J. Barea’s 12 points and Dirk Nowitzki’s 10 point effort. The Kings recorded just 26 points in the final period. The Mavericks outscored the Kings 65-49 in the second half.

Sacramento ran out of gas in the fourth period but they were able to hang on for the win. It was their quick start out of the gate that allowed the Kings to win the game. The Mavericks outscored the Kings in the third and fourth quarters but it was not enough to overcome Sacramento’s strong early start.

This was the Kings 10th road win of the season.

Star Performers 

5 in DAL

Kings

  • Once again – it was one of the “old guys” who starred for the Kings as Zach Randolph scored a game-high 22 points. Z-Bo hit 10-of-15 shots from the field and went 2-for-3 from 3-point range. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
  • Kings rookie (Euro veteran) Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points hitting 8-of-17 from the floor with three of those baskets being 3-pointers. Bogie also hauled in five rebounds and dished four assists in almost 34-minutes of playing time.
  • Rookie point guard De’Aaron Fox scored 11 points and distributed seven assists while playing just over 31-minutes in the game. Fox also recorded four rebounds and had one steal in the contest.
  • Special recognition goes to the Sacramento starting five who all scored in double-digits versus Dallas.

Mavericks

  • J.J. Barea was the man for Dallas in the game as he posted a double-double. Barea scored 19 points and handed out 13 assists in the game. Five of his baskets were 3-pointers.
  • Harrison Barnes had a slow start but you are not going to keep a talent like Barnes silent. He posted 18 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal in the game.
  • Rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. put up 17 points while handing out three assists and recording three rebounds.
  • Dwight Powell scored 18 points coming off the bench.

Prime Numbers

Sacramento (18-38)

  • The Kings shot 54-percent (47-for-87) for the game. They hit 12-of-29 (41.4-percent) shots from 3-point range.
  • Sacramento went 8-for-12 (66.7-percent) from the free throw line.
  • The Kings handed out 30-assists while committing only nine turnovers which resulted in 17 points for the opponents.
  • There was only one lead change in the game and the Kings largest lead in contest was 26 points.

Dallas (18-40)

  • The Mavericks hit 38-of-83 (45.8-percent) shots from the floor. The went 15-for-40 (37.5-percent) from long-range.
  • Dallas tried to get healthy from the free throw line by hitting 18-of-23 chances from the charity stripe.
  • The Mavericks recorded 29 assists while committing only nine turnovers which became seven Sacramento points.
  • Dallas was outscored in the paint 56-38 by the Kings

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings will complete their “Texas two-step” on Wednesday night when they play the Rockets in Houston. Then, it’s All-Star Break time for the men in purple and black (baby blue and red depending on uniform choices).

Dallas

The Mavericks are on their All-Star Break as of now. They will return to action on February 23rd in LA against the Lakers.

A dream come true for Team USA Olympian John McCarthy

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Photo credit: @SJP_Hockey

By Marko Ukalovic

The 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics is the first since 1994 that the NHL did not send their players to participate in at the Winter Olympics. For Team USA it is a group made up of college and minor league players that will compete in South Korea with the hopes of winning a gold medal for the first time since the Miracle on Ice team accomplished that feat back in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York.One of the members of Team USA is John McCarthy, captain of the San Jose Barracuda. McCarthy was picked among 24 other players to represent the red, white and blue by head coach, and former San Jose Shark, Tony Granato. For McCarthy this is a chance of a lifetime for him.

   “I’m really excited about it”, said the Boston, Mass native before he heading out to South Korea last Wednesday. “It’s going to be a fun experience.”
McCarthy described what the emotion was like when he received the call that he was going to be one of the 25 to represent Team USA at the Olympics.
“Yeah it was awesome, it’s really exciting. You know you dream that as a kid, so to get that phone call was awesome. Being able to tell my family, they were over the top excited for me too. So it was a very cool moment.”McCarthy didn’t get too specific on what activities he will do away from the hockey rink during his time in Pyeongchang.

“It’s going to be an awesome experience,” said McCarthy. “It’s going to be important to see everything and just take everything in.”

When asked if he expected to be on the team, McCarthy responded by saying, “No I was surprised for sure. They (the coaches) kinda let me they were looking at me and watching my games and everything. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I just took the attitude of just playing my game. If it works out, it works out and it worked out. It was a really good feeling.”

While he didn’t know what his exact role would be on the team he has had conversations with the coaches of what they expect out of him. “I think it will become a little bit clearer when we get started. I’m just really excited to be on the team.”

Team USA begins group play today at 4:10 am PST as they take on Slovenia in their first matchup in Group B. Good luck to John and the rest of Team USA as they try to bring home gold for the first time in 38 years.