Turnovers and Fouls Spell Defeat For Golden State Losing To Bulls 132-118

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Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) drives against Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole, right, during the first half at the United Center in Chicago, Sun Jan 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Sunday afternoon the Golden State Warriors (21`-22) took on the Chicago Bulls (20-24) the second game of this five-game road series. The Warriors will be challenged by the Bulls. Chicago has a couple of formidable weapons in Nikola Vucevic and Zach Lavine. After crushing the San Antonio Spurs Friday night the Warriors could have kept the momentum going into game two of this road trip?

The first quarter answered this question with a resounding No! The Warriors couldn’t overcome the Bulls in a 132-118 loss at the United Center. Golden State came out flat in the first 12 minutes trailing 35-20. They had a lot of work to do in the second quarter. The seven turnovers in the opening quarter really hurt the team that they’ve seen this far too often.

Golden State really turned this game around in the second quarter scoring 42 points to the Bulls 24. They turned this game inside out leading at the half 61-59. With only four turnovers in the second quarter the Warriors started hitting shots from downtown to take this lead after trailing at one time by 17 points.

The third quarter was a tough one with too many empty possessions for Golden State. The Bulls had scored 28 points off turnovers and the Warriors continued with these mental mistakes with seven turnovers in the third quarter. The Bulls took back the lead 92-86. The Warriors continued to foul sending the Bulls to the line which was largely responsible for the Chicago lead.

After leading at the half this game turned around again and Golden State was faced with another uphill climb. A horrible start, turnovers, and the Warriors were beating themselves in this game. Chicago continued to extend their lead in the fourth quarter leading 108-93 with 8:40 left in the game.

Inside of four minutes the Warriors put the Bulls in the bonus. It was going to take nothing short of a miracle to win their first back-to-back road game this season. Chicago’s offense was high octane in the final quarter. They had now scored 31 points off turnovers and Vucevic came unhinged and with 5:15 left in the game had scored 37 points, a season high for him.

With the clock running out the Warriors trailed 120-107. Turnovers and fouls lost this game for Golden State and until they turn this around, they will continue to suffer disappointment.

The Warriors finished the game with 23 turnovers to Chicago’s ten. They did score 20 shots from downtown which was all wasted. The start of any game is critical and Golden State had a horrible start in this game. Klay Thompson finished with 26 points and Stephen Curry had 20 points.

The absence of DeMar DeRozan did not hurt the Bulls. Nikola Vucevic finished with 43 points and coupled with Zach Lavine’s 27 points it was just too much for the Warriors.

Monday the Warriors will be in Washington to take on the Wizards in another day game. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 PM.

Rough second period leads to loss for Barracuda against the Canucks 5-1

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Derrick Pouliot protects the puck against a Canucks player on January 14th.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE – In Derrick Pouliot’s return to the lineup San Jose came out flat at home and lost to Abbotsford by a final of 5-1.

The game took a little bit to get going with the first big play happening 6:24 into the game.

Wyatt Kalynuk threw a shot from the point towards the net and Kyle Rau perfectly deflected it to get his eight goal of the season and make it 1-0.

Less than five minutes after the goal San Jose took a penalty to give the Canucks a chance to go up two. However, as ended up being the story for the rest of the period the penalty kill was effective and killed off the power play.

The lone goal from Rau was the only goal of the period with the shots at the end of the period favoring San Jose 9-7.

To kick things off in the second Adam Raska and Guillaume Brisbois dropped the gloves just 1:09 into the period.

Seemingly feeling motivated by their teammates 5:53 into the second both Patrick Holway and Marc Gatcomb fought as well.

The second fight felt like it motivated the Barracuda and only a couple minutes after the fight Jeffrey Viel scored his seventh goal of the season.

It was a play right off the face-off were the puck came straight back to Viel and he ripped it past Artūrs Šilovs to tie the game up at one.

Only 45 second later though the Canucks had a response ready on a five-on-three power play as Linus Karlsson banged home his 11th goal on the campaign.

Later on that same power play which was now a five-on-four Phil Di Giuseppe one timed home a shot from the wing to extend the lead to two.

After the three straight goals from the Canucks the Barracuda were clearly reeling looking for a response.

13:02 into the second Abbotsford saw fit to tack on as San Jose made a terrible turnover behind their own net. On the turnover Danila Klimovich scored his eight goal of the season making the score 4-1.

Klimovich’s goal was the last of the period as the shots in total now favored the Canucks at 21-18.

The third period offered a major opportunity for San Jose to come back as their power play unit was given multiple chances.

In total the Barracuda had three power plays and could not score on a single one ending the night at an abysmal 0/6 on the PP.

With the score at 4-1 San Jose decided to pull their goalie but Arshdeep Baines scored on the empty cage to get his fourth goal of the season and essentially end the game.

At the end of the night Abbotsford lead in shots at 29-26.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Christian Wolanin 2nd: Artūrs Šilovs 3rd: Jeffrey Viel

The Barracuda will continue their home stand tomorrow were they will look for redemption against these same Canucks at 1 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Hawkes: 49ers chances of advancing to NFC Championship

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San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half  at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Sat Jan 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the 49es podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 San Francisco 49ers (14-4) quarterback Brock Purdy had himself a playoff on Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks (9-9) throwing four touchdowns going 18-30 for a whopping 332 yards and three touchdowns for a 41-23 win does Purdy just continue to surprise and amaze?

#2 Joe, after all you have seen with Purdy in his rookie year and being the last pick of the draft people are still waiting for him to have that first rough game but that hasn’t happened yet to the joy of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

#3 Joe after kickoff in the first quarter it really looked like an 11 on 11 ball game as the Seahawks and 49ers played to a one point Seattle lead 17-16 after that first half. After seeing that did you think this was going to be a battle for the 49ers once the second half started?

#4 Joe, talk about the 49ers defense in the third quarter shutting out the Seahawks and holding the Seattle to just six points in the fourth quarter.

#5 Joe talk about next week’s game at Levi Stadium how important is it to have homefield and how you see the 49ers chances of advancing to the Championship?

Join J Hawkes for the 49ers podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

WSU hangs on for 60-59 win over Stanford

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Stanford Cardinal Maxime Raynaud (42) is seen throwing down against the Utah Utes on Sat Dec 31, 2022 at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto. Raynaud led Stanford in scoring against the Washington State Cougars at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman WA on Sat Jan 14, 2023 (photo by Stanford Cardinal)

By Daniel Dullum

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Stanford had a chance to land in the Pac-12 men’s basketball win column Saturday, but a pair of misses in the final three seconds enabled Washington State to hold on for a 60-59 victory at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash.

There were six lead changes in the contest. The Cardinal (5-12 overall, 0-7 Pac-12) cut their deficit to one on a Maxime Raynaud layup with 22 seconds to play. Following a defensive stop, Stanford had a final possession. Raynaud missed a 3-point attempt, and Brandon Angel’s putback rimmed out at the horn.

Stanford held a 34-31 lead at halftime, sparked by a pair of 9-0 runs. The Cardinal held their largest lead at 26-18 with 8:19 remaining in the first half.

Raynaud led the Cardinal with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Harrison Ingram and Spencer Jones scored 14 points apiece. Ingram registered a game-high nine rebounds and six assists, and Jones matched a career-high eight boards.

Andrej Jakimovski led the Cougars (9-10 overall, 4-4 Pac-12) with 17 points, followed by DJ Rodman with 15 points. WSU hit 22 of 48 from the field for 46 percent, including 10 of 27 on 3-pointers. The Cougars scored 12 points off of 10 Stanford turnovers.

Stanford held a 35-23 rebounding edge. The Cardinal shot 43 percent (22 of 51) from the field.

The Cardinal return home to face Oregon State on Thursday night.

Canucks second period blitz take down Barracuda 5-1

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San Jose’s Patrick Holway and Abbotsford’s Marc Gatcomb battle with one another at Tech CU Arena on Saturday JAN 14, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Abbotsford Canucks scored three goals in less than five minutes in the second period to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 5-1 on Saturday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has three games in a row and 11 of their past 13. Abbotsford have won three games in a row and four out of its last five.

Abbotsford (22-10-1-1) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal.

San Jose (15-21-0-2) Wyatt Kalynuk’s shot from the point was tipped in by Kyle Rau past ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell for his eighth goal of the season at the 6:24 mark.

Despite out shooting the Canucks nine to seven in the opening frame, the Barracuda weren’t able to get a puck past Canucks goalie Artus Silovs.

The Barracuda evened the score at the 8:00 minute mark of the second period with an even strength goal. Luke Johnson won a faceoff out to Jeffery Viel and the veteran forward beat Silovs with a wrist shot to the far side of the net for his seventh goal of the season.

Abbotsford scored a pair of power play goals 64 seconds apart near the halfway mark of the middle frame. The Canucks scored on a 5-on-3 power play when Linus Karlsson finished off a tic-tac-toe play into an empty net for his 11th goal of the season at the 8:45 mark.

The Canucks scored its second power play goal when Christian Wolanin set up Phil Di Guiseppe’s one-timer that beat Dell for his eighth goal of the season at the 9:49 mark.

Abbotsford scored its third unanswered goal of the period at the 13:02 mark when Danila Klimovich tapped home a pass from Arshdeep Bains for Klimovich’s eighth goal of the season.

Bains finished off the scoring for the Canucks at the 18:55 mark of the third period with an empty net goal, his fourth of the season.

Silovs stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced to earn the victory. Dell made 24 saves on 28 saves in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Abbotsford went 2-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Wolanin 2) Silovs 3) Viel

San Jose is 0-18-0-1 when they have given up four or more goals in games.

Karlsson was given a 10-minute game misconduct for abuse of officials at the 16:41 mark of the third period.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Abbotsford conclude their two-games series on Sunday 1/15 at 1:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Second half surge power 49ers to 41-23 win over Seahawks in Wild Card matchup

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Brock Purdy helped the San Francisco 49ers defeat the Seattle Seahawks in a Wild Card game at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday Jan 14, 2023. (San Francisco 49ers)

by Marko Ukalovic

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Believe it or not, the San Francisco 49ers once trailed in the game.

San Francisco outscored the Seattle Seahawks 25-6 in the second half as they rolled to a 41-23 blowout victory in the first game of Wild Card weekend on Saturday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.

The 49ers have won 11 games in a row and advanced to the division round next weekend where they will host their second playoff game with the opponent still to be determined with the outcomes of the other two Wild Card games. Seattle’s Cinderella season came to an end after they finished the regular season 9-8 and earned the final playoff berth in the NFC.

“(Winning) 11 in a row in this league is not easy to do,” said 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk about his team firing on all cylinders at the right time. “It is so tough to win any game in this league so for us to string it together like that I do feel like that we’ve hit a good stride.”

This is the first time San Francisco has beat an opponent three times in the same season.

San Francisco jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter as their number one defense forced Seattle’s offense to two consecutive three and outs to start the game.

On the 49ers second offensive possession, Christian McCaffery was the catalyst of the drive. He began it with a 68-yard run on a sweep to the left. McCaffery concluded the five play 85-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Brock Purdy, who became the first rookie quarterback in 49ers franchise history to start a playoff game.

“There was some emotion going into the game, you just feel it. Once the game started, I was like hey it’s 11 on 11, I gotta do my job. I gotta get it (the ball) to the guys when they are in space and go from there. Overall, it wasn’t ‘o my gosh we’re in the playoffs’. We just gotta play our game and let everything else fall into place,” Purdy said.

Seattle responded with a Kenneth Walker III seven-yard rushing touchdown on a drive that completed a 14 play 78-yard drive.

The 49ers settled for a 33-yard Gould field goal after 10 plays and 60-yard drive on its next possession.

Seattle answered back with a five play 71-yard scoring drive. Quarterback Geno Smith threw a deep bomb down the left sideline to DK Metcalf for a 50-yard touchdown reception. It was the Seahawks first lead in the game as they went up 14-13 with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter.

“We expected a tight game, it was a tight game,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan regarding his team’s performance in the first half. “That’s playoff football. But I expected us to score first in the second half and respond.”

Down 17-16 to start the second half, San Francisco began the third quarter with a long methodical drive. Purdy drove his team down the field before finishing off the 13 play 75-yard drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak to regain the lead the 49ers would never relinquish.

The game changing play of the game happened on Seattle’s next drive. With the Seahawks deep into 49ers territory, Charles Omenihu stripped Smith of the ball on a sack that was recovered by Nick Bosa at the 49ers 30-yard line for the game’s first turnover.

“It was a huge play; it changed the momentum of the game. They (Seattle) were in field goal territory, so for us to get that turnover, it was a game changer. We were up by six (points). If they make that field goal, they get momentum (back). It was a big play at the right time,” 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw said.

San Francisco capitalized on the turnover with a seven play 70-yard drive when Purdy on a play action pass to Mitchell for a 7-yard touchdown reception. Purdy connected with Kittle on the two-point conversion for a 31-17 lead.

The 49ers drove the steak right through the heart of the Seahawks when Purdy connected with Deebo Samuel on a play action roll out that resulted in a 74-yard touchdown reception down the sideline where Brandon Aiyuk delivered the key block on the play.

“We’re a two seed for a reason. We know we just have to go out there and play our game. I think we scored on all of our drives in the first half besides one we had a three and out. Our defense said ‘hey we’re going to tighten up, we’re going to get some turnovers.’ They did exactly what they said they were going to do. And when our defense gets turnovers, our offense scores points. And that’s why we’re so good,” Kittle said.

San Francisco’s defense created its second turnover when Deommodore Lenoir intercepted a pass from intended for Tyler Lockett and returned it to the Seahawks 37-yard line.

Seattle closed out the scoring with 1:48 remaining in the fourth quarter when Smith connected with Metcalf for a three-yard touchdown.

Purdy, who played his best game as a starter, finished the game with 18 of 30 for 332 yards and three touchdowns to go with his four overall touchdown performance, no interceptions and a QB rating of 131.5. Samuel had one of his best performances of the season with six catches for 133 yards and one touchdown to go along with 32 rushing yards on three carries.

McCaffery had another dominating performance in the trenches as he led all rushers with 119 yards on 15 carries while chipping in two receptions for 17 yards and one touchdown.

Smith went 25 of 35 for 253 yards with two touchdowns and one interception with a QB rating of 98.9. Metcalf led all receivers with 10 catches for 136 yards to go along with his two touchdowns. Walker III chipped in 63 yards on the ground in 15 carries.

GAME NOTES: San Francisco finished the game 6-for-11 on third down conversions. Seattle was 6-for-13.

UP NEXT: San Francisco hosts a Divisional Playoff game on either Saturday 1/21 or Sunday 1/22. Team and time TBD.

Bears Can’t Reach The Finish Line in aggravating 81-78 overtime loss to Washington

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By Morris Phillips

The Cal Bears led Washington the entire second half, only to lose in overtime 81-78.

How’s that? Missed free throws and a tepid finish.

Eighteen games into a trying season, the Bears have changed the discourse from losing to winning. But this one–with Cal in control for the majority of the afternoon–will sting.

“We had every opportunity to win the game in regulation and just didn’t finish the plays, didn’t make free throws,” coach Mark Fox said. “When you have those opportunities, you have to seize them.”

The Bears missed three free throws in the final minutes, which allowed the hosts to calmly, and almost too patiently, work themselves into a tie ballgame when Keion Brooks scored in the lane with 12 seconds remaining.

Prior to Brooks’ equalizer, Kuany Kuany missed the front end of a one-and-one, surprising given his 84 percent shooting from the foul stripe.

In overtime, the Huskies seized control, missing just one shot and leading the entire five minutes. Cal had an opportunity to tie the game at the buzzer, but Kuany’s 3-pointer was blocked.

Cal led by as many as 11 points–with 10 minutes remaining, a showing spearheaded by Grant Newell’s breakout with 21 points, ten rebounds. Lars Thiemann added 13, and Joel Brown had 12 points, five assists.

Brooks led UW with 26 points, and Noah Williams added 22. The hosts held advantages in shooting percentage and blocked shots (7) to secure what was a statistically-even ballgame.

Cal returns to Haas Pavilion to face Oregon on Wednesday at 7:00pm.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Vegas’ Stone to sit out for tonight’s game; Leafs Matthews possible for tonight’s game; plus more NHL News

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The Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone is out with a upper body injury and will sit out for tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers (photo from NHL.com)

Check out Len on the NHL podcasts weekly:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone is listed as week to week with an upper body injury. Stone left at 10:42 in the first period against the Florida Panthers on Thursday as the Knights won it 4-2. Stone didn’t practice on Friday and will sit out tonight against the Edmonton Oilers.

#2 Len, the anticipated return of Austin Matthews has finally arrived, Matthews whose been out of the Toronto Maple Leafs line up has missed the last two games. Matthews has been out of the line up since last Sunday and is a maybe for Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins.

#3 Nick Leddy of the St Louis Blues is set to return on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Leddy a defenseman has 11 assists in 39 games. Leddy has missed the last four games with an upper body injury. Leddy did not play since last Thursday.

#4 Nathan Bastian of the New Jersey Devils could return Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings. Bastian a forward was injured against the Washington Capitals on Nov 26th. Bastian has eight points, three goals and five assists.

#5 The Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Dallas Stars Jason Robertson, Tage Thompson Buffalo Sabers, and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals are up for being MVP the season isn’t over yet but these are some top candidates.

Len Shapiro filled in for Matt Harrington for the NHL podcast heard Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: 49ers crush Seahawks 41-23; Advance to Divisional round next week

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San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) is congratulated by wide receiver Jauan Jennings after scoring against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Sat Jan 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the 49ers podcast with David:

#1 Dave, this Wild Card playoff was not even close the San Francisco 49ers (14-4) landslided the visiting Seattle Seahawks (9-9) behind the amazing quarterbacking of rookie Brook Purdy 41-23 who threw for four touchdowns.

#2 The Seahawks came out in the first half looking like they might make this a competitive contest with a one point 17-16 lead but that was all erased in the second half as the 49ers shutout the Seahawks in the third quarter and opened up the offense with 18 points in the fourth quarter.

#3 Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll during that second half tried to get them on track but quarterback Geno Smith unlike the first half just couldn’t execute in the red zone and the 49ers pass rush keep Smith running in the third quarter where Seattle was shutout.

Join David for the 49ers podcasts Wednesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oilers McDavid 2 goals helps bury Sharks 7-1 in San Jose

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The San Jose Sharks Oscar Lindblom scored the only goal of the night for the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose against the Edmonton Oilers on Fri Jan 13, 2023 (San Jose Sharks photo)

By Len Shapiro

SAN JOSE–The Edmonton Oilers (28-18-3) Connor McDavid gifted himself on his 26th birthday scoring two goals to lead the Oilers to a 7-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks (13-23-8) at SAP Center in San Jose on Friday night. McDavid picked up an assist in the contest and now has 25 points with ten goals and five assists for this road trip it’s his longest scoring total for the road.

McDavid now has scored in six straight road games with 37 goals and 45 assists for a total of 82 points McDavid has accomplished it in 44 games. McDavid is scoring Hall of Fame numbers and accomplishments his 80 plus in 44 games since some of the best players in hockey have done it in 44 or less games, Mario Lemieux (31), Jaromir Jagr (37), and Ron Francis (44) all doing it with the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins.

McDavid gave credit to teammate Leon Draisaitl who passed the puck to him that helped him get the scores, “Two pretty good passes from him (Draisaitl) there, so that helps,” McDavid said “I feel pretty good, but it’s about our group in here. We’re continuing to try to lay good games down one after another and take it one day at a time, kind of like our second half last year.”

The Sharks got their only goal of the night from Oscar Lindblom who scored in the third period. The Sharks hardly made any noise against the Oilers offensively and Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen looked like one of the goalies from the movie the Mighty Ducks getting pelted all night facing 41 shots and saving 37. Kahkonen stayed in the whole game and Sharks head coach David Quinn didn’t pull him out saying he was the only player on the ice doing his best.

Quinn said the team stunk the whole game not being to execute the shots in the Oilers end of the ice, not taking advantage of the power play, and not giving Kahkonen enough protection up front that saw a volley of goals to light the lamp before you could even turn around. “We just stunk. We stunk on the powerplay. We stopped on the penalty kill. We stunk 5-on-5. Our forward’s stunk, (and) our defensemen stunk,” Quinn said. “The only guy that didn’t stink was our goalie. And that hasn’t happened all year, and over 82 games, something like this is going to happen. You can move past it pretty quickly.”

The Sharks after Friday’s loss are sinking further in the Pacific Division to seventh place losing four of their last five games. The Sharks with the loss to the Oilers opened a three game homestand and have struggled at home this season and can’t seem to get it together on home ice. They host the New Jersey Devils (27-12-3) who are hot bringing in a three game win streak to San Jose on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr day a 1:00pm face off at SAP Center.