The Golden State Warriors unexpectedly found themselves trailing the Sacramento Kings with six minutes to play in the game.
But the defending champions, who had been lackadaisical up to that point, found their game when they needed it most. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both drilled three-pointers as the Warriors outscored the Kings 25-13 from that point on to win 103-94 in Sacramento on Saturday night.
Curry’s three with 42 seconds to play put the Warriors up 97-88 and served as the exclamation mark on the victory.
The defending MVP struggled on the night, shooting just 2-of-10 from three-point range. But he still had 24 points and six rebounds. Thompson recorded 18 points, while Festus Ezeli had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Warriors committed 18 turnovers and were sloppy throughout the game. They led 20-14 after the first quarter and 46-38 at halftime, but allowed the Kings to hang around and stay in the game.
Sacramento nearly pulled it off too, as the Kings closed a 67-58 gap down to just four at the end of the third quarter
But what’s most important is the win, which the Warriors escaped with, advancing to 7-0 and remaining the only undefeated team in the NBA.
Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings had to face the undefeated Golden State Warriors without DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison on Saturday night. The result should have a very predictable “blow out” by the Warriors, but it was not walk over win for the defending NBA Champions.
Golden State defeated the Sacramento Kings 103 to 94. It was a two-point game with four minutes to go in the contest. No one – Warriors fans or Kings fans – could believe this game was so close at the end.
The Kings played tough, hard-nosed basketball, but in the end, the talent of Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green and Iguodala proved to be too much for Sacramento to handle with a short-handed team.
Frankly, the Warriors came out flat or overlooking the Kings in the first half. The Kings took an early lead in the first period and held that lead until the 3:35 mark in the quarter. Golden State stepped up their play with scoring from former King Jason Thompson, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala. The Warriors established a 20 to 14 lead after one quarter. Most people in the building expected them to just continue to stretch that lead in the second period.
Golden State did open up a 14-point lead with scoring from Klay Thompson (8), Iguodala (4) and Marreese Speights (4). Just as the game appeared to be headed for a runaway, the Kings came back with a 3-point basket from Marco Belinelli. Belinelli was then fouled attempting a 3-pointer and converted three free throws to cut the Warrior lead to eight.
At the half, Golden State led the Kings 46 to 38.
Sacramento came out strong in the third quarter as center Kosta Koufos scored six unanswered points. The Kings cut the Warrior lead to one on a Koufos lay-up at the 7:31 mark. Sacramento then took the lead when Belinelli sank another 3-point basket from 25-feet out. Golden State then went on 12-0 run that again threatened to put the Kings away. Again the Kings – led by Belinelli – closed the gap to four points. After three quarters, the Warriors led the Kings 72 to 68.
The Kings continued to keep the game close early in the fourth quarter. Sacramento took the lead 79 to 78 on a Rajon Rondo 19-foot jump shot with 6:37 to play. The game stayed close until the Warriors opened up a 10-point lead with under two minutes to play. The teams traded baskets and fouls, but the Kings were unable to find that something extra to propel them back into the game.
The Warriors defeated the Kings by nine points, 103 to 94.
Kings
Marco Belinelli on Saturday night showed why the Kings signed him to a 3-year contract. He scored 22 points shooting 5-for-11 from the floor. The Italian sharp-shooter was 3-for-6 from 3-point range. He went 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Twice Belinelli converted 3-point plays from the charity stripe after being fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer.
Rudy Gay stepped up for Sacramento against the Warriors. He shot 10-for-25 from the field scoring 22 points for his team. Gay showed an aggressiveness that George Karl would like to see more of on a nightly basis.
Rajon Rondo handled the point for 44 minutes against Golden State. With Darren Collison inactive due to a hamstring issue, Rondo was the only point guard on the floor for Sacramento. He put together a rare triple-double scoring 14 points, pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out 15 assists. After the game Kings head coach George Karl said, “He knows how to do that, he has great history of leading teams and tonight he was very special.”
Center Kosta Koufos recorded a double-double scoring 12 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. Omri Casspi put up 10 points. Willie Cauley-Stein added six points with two nice finishes off lob passes under the basket.
The Kings shot .437 (38-for-87) from the field. They went 6-for-19 (.316) from 3-point range. The team continued to improve from the free throw line making 12 of 16 attempts (.750).
Sacramento turned the ball over 22 times which resulted in 29 Golden State points. The Kings were out-rebounded 46 to 45.
Warriors
Steph Curry led the Golden State scoring with 24 points. Curry scored 21 of those points in the second half of the game. He did not have a great game from beyond the 3-point line shooting just 2-for10 from long distance.
The much anticipated Curry versus Curry match up did not occur as Seth Curry did not play for the Kings. Seth Curry was nursing an ankle sprain coming into the game.
Klay Thompson put up 18 points shooting 7-for-16 from the floor and hitting on 4 of 11 3-point opportunities.
Harrison Barnes (13), Draymond Green (10), Festus Ezeli (10), and Andre Iguodala (14) all scored in double figures for the Warriors. Ezeli made it a double-double game by recording 12 rebounds.
As a team, Golden State shot .413 (38-for-92) from the field. They were a dismal .205 (8-for-39) from 3-point land. The Warriors were impressive at the free throw line converting 19 of 22 opportunities (.864).
The Warriors scored 19 points off second chance opportunities. The Kings scored nine second chance points.
What they said after the game
“It was a pretty impressive game, but they (Kings) have fought through four games in five nights. Obviously there was some fatigue there (shown by) our turnovers in the first half. They kept fighting. I thought our leader was Rondo. Rondo was incredibly into the game, incredibly intense. His defense on (Stephen) Curry was first class. I just wish we would have (had) more gas in the tank to finish off the game,” said Coach George Karl.
“There’s a lot of good we can take out of it (the game) as a team,” explained Rudy Gay. “But I think we’re overdue for a win – we need one bad. It’s another game I thought we could’ve had.”
“Our guys played hard and we knew it would be a tough game coming in,” said Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton.”Sacramento – they compete. Like I said before the game, they haven’t been winning a lot of games but they’ve been playing hard and (been) in the games. We couldn’t get out shots to go in tonight which happens but we found a way like you said to grind it out and come out with a victory.”
“Definitely not pretty but we overcame missed shots, turnovers, kind of a sluggish first half,” said Stephen Curry after the game. “With our defense, we gave ourselves an opportunity to have some minute runs. Pretty much had control of the game the whole way through. They made a decent run to take the lead by one in the fourth. Made some plays down the stretch and pulled it out. That defense allowed us to overcome a poor shooting night.”
Up next
The Kings have Sunday off, but their day of rest will be short lived. Sacramento will host the very talented San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. DeMarcus Cousins is expected to be available for that game.
The Warriors will also have Sunday off and return to action on Monday night hosting the Detroit Pistons.
The Golden State Warriors stayed perfect on the season at the conclusion of Friday night’s contest, as an explosive first-half of play saw them easily dispatch the Denver Nuggets in a 119-104 victory at Oracle Arena.
The game seemed all but won for Golden State at the conclusion of the second quarter, when the reigning NBA champions took a 30 point lead into the locker room. But Denver refused to be downed quietly, mounting an admirable second half charge- outscoring Golden State by 15 through the final two frames- before ultimately suffering their fourth loss of the season.
Golden State’s hot start was too much to handle for the Nuggets, who gave up 74 first-half points to the Warriors before heading into the locker room. Leading the pack was none other than Steph Curry himself, who finished the night just shy of a triple-double with 34 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and three steals. Harrison Barnes followed Curry with 21 points and five rebounds, Klay Thompson had 18 points and six rebounds, and Draymond Green finished just short of his own triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Although Curry stole the offensive show, he wasn’t alone in his endevour, as all of the Warriors’ starters finished in double-digits. The team as a whole shot 49.5 percent on the night while tying their second highest point total on the season. Golden State has now scored 119 points three times through their first six games.
The Warriors put on an unselfish clinic on the night too, as their 28 first-half assists were a new franchise record.
Denver was led by SF Danilo Gallinari, who had an efficient night from the field, shooting 7-of-13 for 25 points. Golden State was able to contain the talented Kenneth Faried, who scored just eight points- the least amongst Denver starters- in 21 minutes on the court.
Golden State is now a perfect 6-0 against Western conference teams, and 2-0 against those in the Pacific division. The team has another divisional matchup on Saturday, as the Curry brothers will meet when Golden State takes on Sacramento at Sleep Train Arena. Tip off starts at 7 p.m.
The Golden State Warriors won their fourth game of the season Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Oracle Arena. Monday’s game was the first meeting between the two teams since the Warriors eliminated the Grizzlies in the playoffs last season. In that series, the Warriors lost two of the first three games but rallied to win the next three to eliminate Memphis and continue their run to the NBA title. The Warriors knew that they would have to contain Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph to win. The Warriors stopped them cold and after a very low scoring first period, they put on a performance at both ends of the court to blow the Grizzlies away, beating them by fifty points. The final score was 119-69 for Golden State.
The first period was fairly even as the Grizzlies slowed the game down. The Warriors did manage to take a six-point lead with 4:03 left to play in the period, but the Grizzlies came back and led 22-21 at the end of the first twelve minutes of play.
The second period belonged to the Warriors. Steph Curry and company picked up the tempo of the game. The Warriors moved the ball well. They ran the court and dazzled the Grizzlies. The Warrior defense was spectacular as they held the Grizzlies to just 28& from the floor. The Grizzlies could not make a three-point shot. Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli blocked shots and cleared the boards for the Dubs. The Warriors led 29-26 with almost three minutes played in the second period. They never looked back. They increased the lead to eleven leading 4-0-29 then 47-31 with two minutes left in the half. The Dubs finished the half with a nineteen point lead 53-34.
The Warriors, led by Steph Curry’s twenty-one points in the third period, iced the game for Golden State. Curry was brilliant again. At one point, he made two steals on defense. Curry demoralized Memphis with his brilliance. The Warriors were on a 52-16 run at this time in the game. They finished the third period with a 93-49 advantage. Interim coach, Luke Walto, pulled his regulars from the contest. Ian Clark, James Michael McAdoo, Brandon Rush, Jason Thompson and Mo Speights played the entire fourth period. Final score 119-69.
Game Notes- Steph Curry finished the night with thirty points to lead the Warriors in scoring. Klay Thompson had fourteen and Ian Clark, coming off the bench , finished with fifteen. Festus Ezeli had ten rebounds. Draymond Green recorded nine and Mo Speights had eight. Green had eight assists to lead the Warriors in that category. Leading scorers for Memphis were Marc Gasol with thirteen and Michael Conley with ten.
The Warriors set another record as they won their twentieth straight game at home. They face the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night at the Oracle Arena. The Clippers, led by Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, are aiming to send the Dubs a message. The Dubs and the Clips do not like each other, and the game should be a bruising battle between two elite teams. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.
Stephen Curry put on yet another dazzling display of basketball as he lit up the New Orleans Pelicans for 53 points, leading the way for a 134-120 victory by the Golden State Warriors on the road Saturday night.
Twenty-eight of Curry’s points came in the third quarter, where the Warriors outscored the Pelicans 41-26 (yes, Curry outscored the Pelicans by himself) and pulled away.
The Warriors actually trailed 65-64 at halftime before Curry, who had 15 at the half, went off. Three-pointers, scoop layups, four-point plays, fancy dribbling — Curry simply took over and would not let the Warriors lose.
By the end of the third quarter, the Warriors led 105-91 and cruised in the fourth to a double-digit win.
Draymond Green chipped in 21 points, making a few crucial threes in the second half. Klay Thompson got on track for the first time this season with 19 points.
The Warriors shot 54.8 percent from the field and a blistering 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from beyond-the-arc, a dazzling display of offense.
Golden State advances to 3-0 while New Orleans drops to 0-3. The Warriors fly home to take on the Grizzlies on Monday.
In their first meeting of the 2015 NBA season, Steph Curry gave James Harden a first-hand demonstration as to why he was voted the leagues MVP over the disgruntled Rockets player, dropping 25 points while leading his team to a 112-92 victory on Friday.
The league MVP and NBA Champion shot an efficient 9-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, while also dishing out six assists and grabbing seven rebounds in 27 minutes of play. Curry’s MVP challenger struggled for the second straight game, shooting just 4-for-18 for 16 points on the night in a losing effort.
Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson, Marreese Speights and Andre Iguodala all finished in double-digits for Golden State, with Speights leading the group with 14 points on the night.
The contest was tight and physical through the first quarter, with Golden State holding on to just a one point lead at the end of the first quarter. But a posterizing dunk from Barnes on Houston center Dwight Howard seemed to energize the team and swing the match in their favor, as they jumped out to a comfortable 57-44 lead at the half.
Golden state would continue to expand upon their lead as the game went on, cruising their way to a 20 point victory by the games end. The team worked their way into a 2-0 record, while denying Houston their first win of the season.
Houston was led by Montrezl Harrell’s 17 points off the bench, followed by Harden’s 16. Even without C Andrew Bogut, Golden State was able to limit Dwight Howard’s impact on the game, holding him to just nine points on 4-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds.
The Western conference runner ups were clearly frustrated by being steadily handled by the reigning NBA champions, as both Harrell and Houston coach Kevin McHale were called for technical fouls during the night’s contest. The team suffered a 4-1 series exit at the hands of Golden State before the team moved on to the NBA Finals last season.
The team will now move on to continue their win streak with their second game of the season against the New Orleans Pelicans on the road on Saturday, their first back-to-back games of the season.
OAKLAND, Calif — Talks of a championship hangover for the Golden State Warriors were quickly put to rest behind Stephen Curry’s 40 points, leading the reigning NBA Champions to a 111-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night to begin their title defense.
Curry was blistering hot in the first quarter, knocking down seven of his first nine shots, including four 3-pointers, en route to 24 points in the opening period. The Warriors point guard finished 14 for 26 from the floor, with seven assists and six rebounds for his 10th career 40-point game.
The Warriors raised their championship banner and received their rings in a pregame ceremony. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who is out indefinitely while recuperating after offseason back surgery, was on hand and got a huge roar from the sold out Oracle Arena crowd. Assistant coach Luke Walton is serving as interim head coach until Kerr returns.
“This is an unbelievable day,” Curry said. “We would not have been able to do what we did last year with your guys’ support.”
Andrew Bogut had 12 points and five rebounds before leaving the game in the third quarter with a right eye laceration following an inadvertent headbutt from Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham. Bogut was already wearing a protective face mask after breaking his nose during the preseason.
Festus Ezeli chipped in 13 points off the bench, while Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green combined for 18 points on 6 for 24 shooting. Earlier in the day, Barnes and the Warriors broke off talks for a new contract extension but left on “amicable terms” according to Warriors GM Bob Myers.
Golden State never was really threatened by the Pelicans, building a 10-point halftime lead and never looked back. The Warriors dominated the Pelicans on the boards, holding a 56-33 edge.
Anthony Davis, who terrorized Golden State last season, shot just 4 for 20 from the field finishing with a team-high 18 points. Golden State played great defense on the Pelicans center, who scored the majority of his points from the free throw line (10 for 15).
Ish Smith scored 17 points and dished out nine assists for the Pelicans, who had just nine players in new head coach and former Warriors assistant coach Alvin Gentry’s debute. The Pelican were without stars Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday and Omer Asik.
Curry had the second-most points by a reigning MVP in an opener since 1963-64, according to STATS. Milwaukee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 41 on Oct. 13, 1972, against Phoenix.
The Golden State Warriors were handed a convincing 130-95 defeat by the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on Tuesday night, dropping another preseason game.
The Warriors rested Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala and sat Andrew Bogut with a broken nose. Shorthanded, they were no match for Blake Griffin and the Clippers.
Griffin finished with 29 points, dominating anyone the Warriors put against him. He scored from inside and out, showing his vast array of offensive moves.
The Clippers had 67 points by halftime and 100 points at the end of the third quarter.
For the Warriors, Klay Thompson recorded 21 points, 15 in the third quarter. Shaun Livingston chipped in 10 points and roster hopeful Ian Clark had 11 off the bench, but otherwise it was an unproductive night for the rest of the team.
The game did get chippy, with eight technical fouls handed out and an ejection to Chris Paul for talking back to a referee. Luke Walton, Draymond Green, and Jason Thompson received technicals for the Warriors.
The Warriors have one more preseason game — Thursday in Anaheim against the Lakers — before the regular season begins next Tuesday against the Pelicans.
The Golden State Warriors routed a shorthanded Houston Rockets team 123-101 on Thursday night in preseason action.
Brandon Rush started in place of the injured Harrison Barnes and played 28 minutes, recording 12 points and knocking down two 3-pointers, a good sign for the forward who struggled mightily last season.
Playing a Rockets team without James Harden and Dwight Howard, the Warriors jumped on them early and often, scoring 83 points in the first half alone. Stephen Curry recorded 19 points in 17 minutes, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, leaving no doubt his preparedness for the regular season.
The second half was essentially an audition period for roster hopefuls and playing time for veterans such as Marreese Speights and Jason Thompson. Fetus Ezeli had a strong game with 11 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
Ian Clark, Chris Babb, Juwan Staten and Jarrell Eddie saw some action, with Clark seemingly the favorite to earn the final roster spot.
Andrew Bogut sustained a broken nose in the second quarter and did not return to the game.
The Golden State Warriors weren’t in championship form on Tuesday night, as sloppy play and a lack of defense spoiled the teams long awaited return to Oracle Arena in a 114-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
The Warriors defense looked uncharacteristically lethargic and porous, as the NBA champions failed to stop a rolling Denver offense that put up 63 first-half points. The Nuggets were able to use a 18-3 run late in the second quarter to give themselves a solid lead heading into the half and never looked back.
Klay Thompson had a particularly rough night for the Warriors, making just one-of-eight field goal attempts for eight points across 24 minutes of play. Draymond Green lead the starting five with 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting, while Steph Curry dumped in 14 points on a similar shooting line, going just 1-of-8 from behind the arc. Leandro Barbosa looked to be the most offensively consistent player for Golden State, adding a team-high 16 points off the bench on an efficient 5-for-8 shooting in just 15-minutes of play.
But while the Warriors failed to keep their foot on the offensive gas pedal throughout the middle-two frames of the game, the Nuggets, led by PF Kenneth Faried, took advantage of the spotty Warriors defense to score a preseason-high 114 points.
Faried led all scorers in the game with his double-double line consisting of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Five other Nuggets scored in the double-digits on the night, including four-of-five starters for Denver, and 16 points off the bench from PG Jameer Nelson.
Adding injury to insult, the Warriors lost Harrison Barnes in the second quarter after the small forward sprained his knee while running into a Denver player while running the floor in transition. The Warriors are expected to update his status on Wednesday.
After allowing the Nuggets to shoot 49.5 percent from the field on Tuesday, the Warriors will need to shore up their defensive effort before the Houston Rockets, and spurned MVP candidate James Harden, come to Oracle Arena on Thursday night.
