Warriors bounce back beat 76ers 119-107; Curry leads with 37 points in win

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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (13) is fouled by the Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) as they land on the Chase Center floor in San Francisco on Tue Jan 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

Bj Jerry Feitelberg

Having lost the last two games by a single point, the Warriors rebounded to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-105 Tuesday night at the Chase Center.

The Sixers’ big man, Joel Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP, scored 70 points in a game last week. The Warriors’ task was to find a way to slow down Embiid. It would be challenging as the Warriors did not have Klay Thompson available to play. Thompson was under the weather. Steve Kerr had rookie Brandin Podziemski start in the backcourt with guard Stephen Curry.

The revamped Warriors lineup had Draymond Green at the center position, and the forwards were Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins. All five Warrior starters finished in double figures. Kuminga scored 26 points and was terrific in the fourth quarter.

For Kuminga, it was his seventh game in a row with 20-plus points and his 24th straight game in double figures. Wiggins, averaging about 14 points a game, kicked in with 23. Curry led the Warriors with 37 and was magnificent in the fourth quarter.

The Sixers won the first quarter 28-23. The Warriors’ offense was sluggish in the first period. Green paced the Warrior’s in the second quarter with nine points. The Warriors were trailing 44-36 when they went on a 12-2 run to lead 48-46. The Sixers tied the game at 50-50. Kuminga made a bucket to give the Warriors a two-point lead 52-50 at the half.

The Warriors picked up the pace in the third quarter. Curry made two threes to give the Warriors a 12-point advantage, 69-57. The Warriors increased the lad to 14. The Sixers went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to five, 80-75. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kuminga made the last three baskets of the quarter to propel the Warriors into a nine-point lead 86-77.

The Sixers came out firing in the fourth quarter, scoring 30 points. However, they needed to find a way to stop Curry, Kuminga, and Wiggins. They failed as the Warriors outscored them by three points to win the quarter 33-30 and the game 119-107. Curry and Kuminga did most of the damage.

Game Notes: With the win, the Warriors improved to 20-24, while the Sixers fell to 29-17.

The Warriors had four starters in double figures. Curry led the team with 37 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, connecting on eight threes in 13 tries. Wiggins followed with 23 points, five boards, and four assists. Kuminga had 26 points and seven rebounds.

Podzienski added 11 points, six rebounds, and three assists. The Warrior bench added 13 points. As a team, the W’s shot 55% from the floor. The Warriors made 14 three-point shots.

The Warriors defense held Embiid to 14 points. Embiid was five-for-18 from the floor. Embiid was saddled with five fouls and left the game with a knee injured late in the fourth quarter. Tobias Harris led the Sixers with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Former Warrior Kelly Oubre tallied 14 points. Patrick Beverly had 12. The Sixers had two bench players record double-figures. Furkan Korkmaz, averaging 1.8 points per game, came off the bench to tally 19 points. Jaden Springer added ten in a losing cause.

The Warriors play seven of their next nine games on the road. The Warriors will be in Memphis to play the Grizzlies on Friday night.

San Jose Sharks Win In A Shutout 2-0 Game Against The Seattle Kraken; SJ’s Blackwood stops 32 shots to blank Kraken

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The San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) looks on as Shark defenseman Nikita Okhotiuk (83) reaches out for the puck in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Jan 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, January 30th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

SAN JOSE, CA – In the “Shark Tank”, the SAP Center the San Jose Sharks host the Seattle Kraken. Logan Couture’s impact has been felt since his return, logging his first assist of the season in his first game back (Jan. 20 vs. ANA) and posting the game-deciding goal in a shootout in the following game against the Los Angeles Kings (Jan. 22).

The Sharks’ centerman lead the team in numerous categories, Hertl in scoring with 15 goals, Granlund in assists with 24 and Sturm in faceoff win percentage with 61.3% (min. 100 faceoffs). Starting in net for San Jose is Mackenzie Blackwood and for Seattle, Joey Daccord. Blackwood stopped 32 shots by the Kraken for the 2-0 shutout.

Slow first period for both teams and it was both defenses jousting for position. Shakir Mukhamadullin got a minor for tripping and even though the penalty was killed off, it came with a close call where fans and even players thought the puck crossed the line, but it was waved off as play continued.

The period was scoreless, Blackwood stopping 13 shots on goal, the Sharks only getting three shots on goal. The Kraken had as many shots on goal as the Sharks had in attempts in the first period. 0-0 at first intermission, but Sharks showed no sign of energy in the first period. 

The second period was an even slower period, but that’s because of this high defensive output from both squads. In that period the shots on goal total for both teams was ten (Seattle with six and San Jose with four) and it stayed scoreless after another 20 minutes.

Other than shot attempts where the Kraken out-shot the Sharks by double, the stats on paper seemingly were as even as they could be for this close contest. At the second intermission the score was 0-0 and now the game was a battle of composure, who can stay level headed, because each team had one penalty that was killed off, so another mistake could shake up this whole game.

The third period was the literal game changer for the Sharks. Luke Kunin and Will Borgen got into a fight early in the period and the hands they were throwing put a battery in the San Jose crowd. Almost four minutes later the Sharks took advantage of this hype crowd and the energy they gave them.

William Eklund got some oohs and ahhs from the crowd with his stick handling and it led to an opening in the Seattle defense where Marc-Edouard Vlasic (his fourth goal) was able to hit a wrist shot from the blue line, 1-0 Sharks. The goal was assisted by Ty Emberson, his eighth and William Eklund, his 14th.

The rest of the period was the Sharks holding off the Kraken and after Jan Rutta hit an empty net goal, the period ended 2-0 and the Sharks get a shutout victory and Blackwood was awarded the first star of the game.

This win for the Sharks is a big victory, their 14th win on the season, but they get less than 24 hours to enjoy this win, because they go to Anaheim to face the Ducks January 31st (tomorrow) and then it’s the All-Star break where they won’t have a game until Valentine’s Day.

The Sharks may not be in the hunt for a cup this year, but one thing is clear is they won’t go without a fight and especially against teams with winning records.

SJSU drops its fourth straight against #17 Utah State 82-61

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Photo courtesy of SJSU Athletics.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

San Jose kicked off their two-game road trip Tuesday taking on one of the best college basketball teams in the country Utah State.

Entering the game SJSU had quite the rough patch losing three in a row against Fresno State, New Mexico, and UNLV.

Things wouldn’t get much easier tonight having to battle the number 17-ranked Utah State on the road.

Despite the tough opponent San Jose State got off to a good start as they lead 13-7 at the 15:30 mark of the first half. This lead was mainly helped by back-to-back threes by Myron Amey Jr. and Trey Anderson.

They would hold on to that lead until 10:55 when Utah State took the lead on a three by Ian Martinez.

The first half continued to swing both ways until towards the end when the Aggies pulled away 37-30 to end the half.

The Spartans had to be somewhat happy with the first as they were hanging in with one of the better basketball teams in the country.

SJSU shot a respectable 36.7% from the field in the first half while Utah State shot an incredible 55.2%. On the flip side though the Aggies shot a dismal 16.7% from beyond the arch with SJSU doing only slightly better at 21.4%.

Once again the Spartans opened the half strong pulling only five points back from the Aggies. A sudden 12-0 run though by Utah State felt like all the home team needed to put SJSU away.

After that run things never really got close again leading Utah State to cruise to a 82-61 victory.

If there was anything in particular that doomed the Spartans it was their shooting beyond the arch as they went 5-23. Myron Amey Jr. continues to lead this team as he put up the most points tonight with 14 while also snagging seven rebounds.

On the other side of things, Great Osobor had a stellar night posting up 31 points against the Spartans and seven rebounds. Osobor also shot an outstanding 9-15 with Darius Brown II racking up five assists leading his team in that category.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, most of these losses have been coming against Mountain West teams making their hopes for the playoffs look bleak.

With this loss, they now fall to 1-7 in conference with an overall record of 8-13. Also to note is their away record where they are 1-7 which unfortunately for SJSU as stated earlier their next game is on the road.

That game will be against a somewhat more manageable team Nevada though their record is 15-4.

If you are looking to tune into that game it will be on Friday at 8 p.m. PST.

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson: Cardinal women host USC Friday; Cardinal men at ASU on Thursday

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Stanford Cardinal forward Cameron Brink is fired up as she led the Cardinal in scoring with 25 points against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson AZ on Sun Jan 28, 2024 (Stanford Cardinal photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Michael Roberson:

#1 Ever since Stanford Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer picked up her 1203 career win setting an NCAA record she has coached the Cardinal to two more wins her latest was Sunday in a win over the Arizona Wildcats 96-64. The Cardinal went through the Wildcats like butter.

#2 Cameron Brink led the Cardinal in scoring with 25 points once again she was the key player on offense that kept things going for the Cardinal.

#3 The Cardinal host the USC Trojans (14-4) on Friday night. The Trojans had a pretty good run until their last four games which they lost three of them. The Trojans lost to the Washington Huskies 62-59 in Seattle. Can the Cardinal take advantage of the Trojans while their in struggle?

#4 Stanford men’s basketball (10-9); It was a close game at UC Berkeley but the Cardinal didn’t quite get the job done losing by a basket 73-71 to the Cal Bears(8-12) last Friday night at Haas Pavilion. Stanford’s Spencer Jones led with 13 points.

#5 Stanford now head to Arizona State to face the Sun Devils (11-9) Thursday night. ASU has lost four of their last five games. Stanford has won three of it’s last five games. How do you see this match up in Tempe for Thursday night.

Michael Roberson is a Stanford Cardinal beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Troy Ewers: 5th place Kraken face off with last place Sharks tonight at SAP Center

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The Buffalo Sabres right wing JJ Peterka scrambles for the puck against the San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture (39) and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadulin (85) in second period action at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Jan 29, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Troy Ewers:

#1 Troy the San Jose Sharks (13-32-4) enter tonight’s game coming off a tough 5-2 three goal loss to the Buffalo Sabres (22-23-4) last Saturday here at SAP Center . The loss snapped San Jose’s three game win streak.

#2 It was a tough game for Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen who faced 35 shots and stopped 31 and allowed four goals.

#3 The Sabres came away with 48 points to the Sharks 30 points. The Sabres JJ Peterka scored twice to help burn the Sharks. The Buffalo offense certainly was up for this game wasting no time scoring twice in the first period, once in the second period and twice again in the third period.

#4 The Sharks host the Seattle Kraken tonight here at SAP. The Kraken (21-18-10) is a young franchise and have had much success. The Sharks will have to defend against Oliver Bjorkstrand whose 40 points leads the Kraken. Once again will the Sharks goalies either Kahkonen or MacKenzie Blackwood have a challenge in contending with the Kraken offense?

#5 The Sharks are %72.2 and the Kraken are %78.5 on the penalty kill and the Sharks on the power play are 16.7% whereas the Kraken are %21.9. Taking those numbers into consideration how close of a game do you see this one being tonight?

Troy Ewers is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Tropicana to cease operations Apr 2; Vegas hotel and casino property to make way for A’s ballpark

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The Tropicana Hotel and Casino are prepared to close up business on April 2, 2024 according to Tropicana general manager Arik Knowles. The towers will be imploded to clear the way for a Las Vegas A’s ballpark and new plaza. (photo by the Nevada Independent)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Tropicana Hotel and Casino will will ceasing operations on Apr 2, 2024 and will no longer be accepting reservations for after that date as the Hotel and Casino will be clearing the way to implode the towers and grounds to build a new Las Vegas A’s ballpark and plaza.

#2 The Tropicana has a lot of history going on seven decades as an institution and hosted many of Las Vegas top celebrities in their showroom like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson, Don Rickles, and Johnny Carson.

#3 For many who walk down memory lane this sound of the imploding buildings will bring those memories down for the people of the Oakland those famous A’s teams that won three championships in a row and the 1989 World Series with Bash Brothers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. For the people of Las Vegas all those great memories that the Tropicana brought for 70 years.

#4 Tropicana General Manager Arik Knowles said once the plans renderings and concept plan is in place the Tropicana can be cleared and the beginning of construction for the new ballpark will begin. Construction is expected to start Apr 2025. Once those towers are imploded at the Tropicana that will signal the beginning of the end for the A’s history in Oakland.

#5 The A’s are not expected to return next season at the Oakland Coliseum after the 2024 season is completed. The A’s have been looking for temporary sites in Sacramento and Salt Lake City. Oracle Park and the Coliseum will not host the A’s 2025 and beyond according to reports.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Super Bowl LVIII podcast with Tony Renteria: Chiefs are getting good defense in post season; 49ers never out of a game with two comebacks

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The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will duel in Super Bowl LVIII on Sun Feb 11, 2024 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (Reuters News photo)

Super Bowl LVIII podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Tony lets take a look at the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers for Super Bowl LVIII. First the Chiefs who are coming off a 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Pat Mahomes threw 30-39 for 241 yards and one touchdown.

#2 For Mahomes and Travis Kelce they’ll both be returning to the Super Bowl. For the Chiefs their an experienced team in the post season and playing the Big Game.

#3 The Ravens had home field and quarterback LaMar Jackson under center it would seem they had every advantage but the Chiefs did most of their scoring in the first half to beat the Ravens by a touchdown. The Chiefs defense basically shutdown the Ravens in the second half.

#4 The San Francisco 49ers once again had to come back from behind to win it against the Detroit Lions 34-31 at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Sunday. Down 24-7 at the half they proved they have the players to make a come back based on the Division Playoff win against the Green Bay Packers the week before in another come back game.

#5 Tony, it won’t be long before media day at Allegiant Stadium where the players will be meeting with the press what are some of things that you’ll be expecting on media day out of the Chiefs and 49ers?

Join Tony Renteria for the San Francisco 49ers at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Despite Slow Start Kings Finish Off Memphis 103-94; Sabonis grabs 26 rebounds most in a game for a career high

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The Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) and Keegan Murray forward (13) with the Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama battle for the basketball at the FedEx Arena in Memphis on Mon Jan 29, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings (27-18) had a horrendous start in Monday night’s game in Memphis. They did not take the lead once until the second half mid-way through the third quarter. They had 19 turnovers something that we don’t see from this squad very often. 

The Kings were able to pull this one off with improved play in the fourth quarter winning their fourth game in a row 103-94 to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies (18-29)

Sacramento had a terrible start in the first quarter trailing after the first 12 minutes 33-18. The Kings started to turn their game around in the second quarter. The biggest problem for Sacramento were the 12 turnovers. 

This Kings averages 13 turnovers in an entire game so they had a lot of trouble protecting the ball in the first half of this game. At the half the Kings trailed 50-47 so this game had become a one shot game. 

Sacramento had trailed by as much as 14 points in the first quarter and they had not led once in the first half. The good news for the Kings was the improved play in the later minutes of the second quarter. Domantas Sabonis had a terrific first half finishing with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

At 6:22 in the third quarter the Kings took their first lead of the game 64-62. Harrison Barnes hit his first three of the game to give them that lead and followed it up with a back-to-back three. After three quarters, the Kings led 75-71. 

They won the third quarter 28-21 and had really put the stops on the turnovers only committing one in the quarter. Sabonis continued to rack up those rebounds with 23 going into the fourth quarter.

The Grizzlies continued to hang in this game taking back the lead in the early minutes of the fourth quarter 78-77. Memphis was wearing a path to the free throw line. The Kings already had 17 fouls and they began to turn the ball over again in the fourth quarter with 18 mid-way threw the final quarter. 

The Kings were scoring most of their points in the paint struggling from downtown and with 7:03 left in the game the score was tied at 85. The Kings had a very poor start but a strong finish winning this game 103-94 for their fourth win in a row.  The Grizzlies pushed the Kings to their limits but Sacramento got it together in the final minutes of the game.

This was not the Kings finest hour but they played just well enough to win the game. Sabonis finished with 20 points and 26 rebounds. Fox had the high for the team with 23 points. It was a terrible start for the team with poor shooting, too many fouls and 19 turnovers but they were able to overcome all of it and come away with a win. That alone speaks to the strength and will-power of this team. 

Post game notes: The Kings started off the week on the road in Memphis taking on the Grizzlies Monday night. The Kings were coming off a couple of solid wins over the Golden State Warriors and last Saturday night they beat the Dallas Mavericks 120-115. The Grizzlies lost to the Pacers yesterday 116-110 and lost the second on back to back nights this time to the Kings.

Wednesday night the Kings will travel to Miami taking on the (24-23) Heat. Sacramento has a lot to clean up going into Miami looking for their fifth win in a row. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 4:30 PM.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Titus Wilkinson: Barracuda open road trip in Abbottsford against Canucks Friday night

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San Jose Barracuda forward Kyle Rau takes a fall on his back and is surrounded by Calgary Wranglers at the Tech CU Center in San Jose on Sat Jan 27. 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Titus Wilkinson:

#1 Things got off to a quick start in this one as just 2:28 in Ilya Solovyov scored his third of the season giving Calgary an early lead.

#2 Before the period came to a close San Jose would pull away as Thomas Bordeleau got his ninth putting the home crowd on their feet.

#3 Not only was Calgary’s power play doing well they also had a lot of chances in the period as they registered 21 shots.

#4 If there is any positive San Jose’s new acquisition Jordy Bellerive seems to be fitting in well as he scored last game and had an assist in this one.

#5 The Barracuda will have some time off before they play again on Friday against the Canucks on the road at 7 p.m.

Titus Wilkinson filled in for Marko Ukalovic for the SJ Barracuda podcast heard Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Tropicana in Las Vegas set to close, despite no real plan for site

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Tropicana Hotel and Resort are closing down business on Apr 2, 2024 after seven decades of doing business. The Hotel will clear the property for the construction for the Las Vegas A’s ballpark and plaza on the same footprint starting Apr 2025 (AP file photo)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Tropicana in Las Vegas is set to close on April 2, and be demolished soon afterwards to pave the way for a new $1.5 billion ballpark for the Oakland Athletics, despite the fact that there is no realistic plan for a ballpark to be built.

A’s Owner John Fisher has still yet to provide any real renderings, and any actual logistical plan for said ballpark that Fisher plans to open for the 2028 Major League Baseball Season. Fisher may not even have the money to cover the costs for this project, and is even offering to sell shares of the team to help him pay for it.

The lack of realistic plans for a ballpark didn’t deter the Nevada State Assembly and Senate from passing SB1, which will provide $380 million of state money to Fisher’s project, nor did it deter Governor Joe Lombardo from signing it into law.

The lack of a realistic plan didn’t deter anyone in Major League Baseball either. Despite how maddening this entire process has been, the 29 other MLB owners unanimously approved the A’s move to Vegas on Nov. 16, and Commissioner Rob Manfred has continued to go scorched earth to get this done.

As if the lack of any real plans wasn’t enough of a hindrance, ‘Schools over Stadiums,’ a referendum that if passed would overturn SB1 and stop any public funding for the stadium, could appear on the ballot in Nevada this fall.

Las Vegas isn’t exactly buying this either. In his visit to Las Vegas last week, John Fisher was not met with much enthusiasm. That was made quite clear when Fisher and others from his entourage were introduced at a live event on the Vegas Strip.

“The Las Vegas A’s! We like the sound of that, right, Vegas?” hollered the emcee. “Yeah? Yes? Are we alive back there? Las Vegas, how we feeling?” she nervously said, as she realized the hype and excitement weren’t there.

“The master plan for the site will accelerate once the Athletics’ ballpark concept design is finalized. The overall development will create energy and vibrancy that previously hasn’t existed on this side of the Strip, adding additional excitement for the sports destination,” said a statement put out by Bally’s Corp., which owns and operates the Tropicana.

Despite there not being a plan, the plan will still go on. The Tropicana will close and be demolished, and the future of not just the site, but of the jobs of the people who work at the Tropicana, will be up in the air.

Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents many of the employees at the Tropicana, and which reached a five-year collective bargaining agreement with the Tropicana in November, will likely weigh in on today’s news.

This is an ongoing story……..

Stephen Ruderman is a MLB beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com