Tag: Golden State

Warriors Best Bucks, Run Longest Win-streak Since ’75 Season to 10

Published on by Matthew Harrington1 Comment

By Matthew Harrington

After a 101-80 win Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, the Golden State Warriors (24-13) now stand on the cusp matching team history. The Dubs dominated the Milwaukee Bucks (7-27), currently boasting the worst record in the NBA, to reel off their tenth-straight victory, putting Golden State one win away from tying a franchise-high 11-game winning streak set by the 1971-72 squad.

David Lee had a game-high 22 points while also pulling in 18 rebounds, most by a player on either side Tuesday night, for his second-straight double-double. The forward went 10 for 12 from the field in 35 minutes of play. Klay Thompson (15) and Stephen Curry (15) combined for 30 points, while Curry had six assists to lead Golden State.

Warriors center Andrew Bogut, whom the Bucks drafted first overall in 2005, made his first appearance in Milwaukee as a visitor after a 2012 trade sent him to the west coast. He had 12 rebounds, coming two points shy of a double-double. Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova topped Milwaukee with 20 points while Brandon Knight chipped in 18. No Milwaukee played had more than six rebounds.

The Warriors winning ways appeared to be heading to an unexpected demise at the hands of the last-place Bucks after Milwaukee took a 30-28 first quarter lead by virtue of more than half the Milwaukee shots finding their mark. Golden State held a slim 50-48 lead at the half after outscoring Milwaukee 22-18 in the second 12 minutes. The Warriors cushioned the lead with a 29-20 scoring advantage in the third for a 79-68 then shut the Milwaukee offense down in the fourth for only 12 points. The Warriors added 22 tallies in the closing quarter to cap the 101-80 victory for their longest win-streak since the 1975 championship season.

The Warriors will look to tie history in the second half of a back-to-back Wednesday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The contest against a Nets squad well below a .500 winning percentage will finish off a season-high seven road games in a row for the Warriors. With a win, Golden State could return home with a chance to break the record for the team’s longest win-streak at Oracle Arena in a Friday night showdown with the Boston Celtics.

Warriors Continue Historic Run, Make Wizards Early Lead Disappear

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington
The Golden State Warriors ran their win-streak to nine-straight games, topping the Washington Wizards 112-96 at the Verizon Center Sunday afternoon. David Lee and Andrew Bogut registered double-doubles for the Dubs who continued their longest win streak since the end of the 1991 season and start of the 1992 campaign with the win.
Guard Klay Thompson had a game-high 26 points for the Warriors (23-13) on 9 of 14 shooting while Lee dropped 21 points and 11 rebounds. Bogut also had 11 rebounds, tying Lee for the game-best, and 15 points on seven baskets made in nine attempts. Wizards starting point guard John Wall and reserve Nene Hilario tied for the team-high in points with 14 with Wall notching a double-double of his own courtesy of his 10 assists. The Warriors Stephen Curry matched his Wizards counter-part with 10 assists and 14 points of his own.

The Wizards (14-17) raced out to an early 36-28 lead but Golden State would send the teams to the half tied at 58 after outscoring Washington 30-22 in the 2nd quarter. The Warriors took the 92-73 lead in the third by outscoring the hosts 34-15 then cruised to the win despite the Wizards outscoring them 23-20.

The win, coming in Golden State’s fifth road game in a row amidst the season’s longest road trip of seven games, boosted the Dubs past the Clippers to the top of the Pacific Division standings. The Warriors will travel to Milwaukee Tuesday looking for their tenth in a row, a streak that would match a ten-game run the Warriors compiled in December, 1975. After that, it’s a stop in Brooklyn then back home to Oracle Arena.

Iguodala returns, Warriors cruise to 104-93 win over Pelicans

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Photo Credit: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty

By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (14-12) made easy work of the New Orleans Pelicans (11-12), cruising to a 104-93 victory, Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. The final margin of victory doesn’t do justice to a game that Golden State controlled from the tip-off. Andre Igoudala returned to the lineup after missing 12 games with an injury, and Stephen Curry was his usual electric self.

In a pleasant departure from the last several games, the Warriors started the game guns blazing. They hit seven of their first 10 shots, and in general played with a sense of urgency we haven’t been seeing until the second half of games. They held a seven-point first quarter lead, and extended that into an 18-point lead at half time.

They never gave New Orleans even a glimmer of hope. Golden State kept their foot on the gas pedal, opening up a whopping 23-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. From there the Warriors emptied their bench, but the final 11-point win was as close as the Pelicans ever got.

Golden State never trailed in this one, and led for 47 of 48 minutes. They had an uncharacteristically poor game from the three-point line, hitting just five-of-20 from beyond the arc, but that was just about the only negative on a night full of positives.

From start to finish Curry was phenomenal. He finished the game with a double-double, posting a game-high 28 points and 12 assists. For good measure he also had four rebounds and three steals. This marks his 11th consecutive game with 20+ points, the longest active streak in the NBA, and a personal career high.

David Lee had possibly his best game of the season. He was extremely active on both ends of the floor, and produced his almost customary double-double. He finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds.

Bogut finished just two points shy of the teams third double-double on the night. He had eight points and 10 boards.

Iguodala had a quiet night, as he was slowly eased back into game action. He played just 17 minutes, scoring two points and dishing out two assists. As always he was active on the defensive end, and seemed to be moving around well and without pain.

Five New Orleans players finished with double-digit points in the loss. Ryan Anderson led the team with 21 points, and had six rebounds.

Golden State is back in action this Thursday against the always tough San Antonio Spurs. The game begins at 7:30pm, back at Oracle Arena.

Walker’s season-high trumps Curry’s

Published on by smallforce2 Comments

Photo Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

By Pearl Allison Lo

Despite Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry’s season-high 43 points, the Charlotte Bobcats’ Kemba Walker’s season-high tying 31 points, was the one that counted in a 115-111 last minute victory Monday.

Curry also had 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 blocks while Walker had 5 rebounds and 5 assists as the teams met for the first time this season.

The Warriors did not really factor in the first half as they put up 37 three pointers over the course of the game.

With 21 seconds left in the game, Walker, went 6 of 8 from the free throw line, missing two right before Curry made it 109-111 with 11 seconds left and another three pointer. However, Curry could not make two more three pointers, including one from 40 feet out, as Walker went perfect his last four times from the line to seal the game.

Charlotte was never behind the whole game and built up a nine point lead during the 1st quarter. Within the first four minutes, Golden State had already attempted three three pointers and the Bobcats’ Al Jefferson was active on both ends, grabbing five rebounds and going 1 of 4 from the floor. Off a steal with 7:47 left to go, Charlotte’s  Josh McRoberts assisted Walker on a layup and then scored a three pointer less than 30 seconds later, when Walker assisted him off a defensive rebound. The Warriors went 0 for 8 from the three point line, while the Bobcats only attempted one, which they missed.

 In the 2nd quarter, Charlotte led by as many as 14 points and both teams went scoreless for over two minutes.

Golden State turned up the heat in the third, scoring 36 points, on 7 of 14 three pointers. The Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had three apiece. With 2:44 left in the quarter, Golden State cut the lead down from 13 to 6, attempting four three pointers in a row, making the first two, and one with less than a minute to go. The Bobcats had their biggest lead of 15 points during the quarter.

Thompson made it 80-83 with a three pointer to lead off the 4th quarter. Curry’s second free throw with 8:52 left and fourth consecutive of the quarter, tied the game at 88 apiece. However, four fouls by the Warriors, including two steals by Ben Gordon, and three three pointers from Charlotte, gave the Bobcats back a double digit lead. A three by Curry made it 102-107 with 2:28 left to go as Golden State made another comeback. The Warriors also had an over 30 second sequence in which they eventually scored and could have gotten more.

Game notes: Golden State had two technical fouls during the game. David Lee had a double double with a season-high 16 rebounds and 14 points and Josh McRoberts had one with 10 rebounds and 11 points. The Warriors next play Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.

Kings fall hard at Golden State

Published on by Charlie O. Mallonee1 Comment

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

Every NBA fan knows that there is nothing harder for a team to do than win game two of a back-to-back schedule. The Kings traveled to Golden State and proved how hard it can be as they lost to the Warriors 98-87 after losing to the Clippers on Friday night. Do not let that score fool you. The game was much uglier than the final score would suggest.

In his post-game comments, Kings Head Coach Michael Malone summed up the game by saying his team did not shoot well and they did not defend well. He went on to say that his team’s effort was less than acceptable.

The game was essentially over after the first half. The Kings shot just 31.7% (13-41) from the field and were outscored by 10-points in the first and second quarters. The Warrior shot 53.7% (22-41) from the field and 46.7% (7/15) from behind the 3-point line. At half-time, the Warriors led the Kings 56-36.

The Kings came out hot in the third quarter by going on an opening 8-0 run to start the period. As the Kings attempted to fight their way back into the game, Golden State kept finding ways to score and keep the Kings at bay. At the 2:28 mark, Klay Thompson hit a 3-pointer followed by a Kings turnover that set up another Thompson 3-pointer. Sacramento never recovered from that sequence.

In the final quarter, both coaches went deep into their rotations to finish up the game. For the Kings, there was the first Jimmer Fredette sighting of the season. The Kings closed up the score but still lost 98-87

The Kings finished the game with a 34.5% (30-87) field goal shooting percentage. No matter what else you do, a team cannot win shooting 34.5%.

On defense, the Kings allowed the Warriors to shoot 51.3% (39-76). Sacramento allowed the Clippers to shoot 50% from the field on Friday night. The Kings cannot allow opponents to shoot that well and expected to win.

The one highlight of the game for the Kings was the play of rookie Ben McLemore. McLemore scored 19-points in 30 minutes of playing time. He also pulled down four rebounds, blocked two shots and added one assist. McLemore may have earned more playing time for himself with his performance against the Warriors.

The Kings will take Sunday off and return to practice on Monday. Their next game will on Tuesday when they host the “new look” Atlanta Hawks at Sleep Train Arena.