Tag: Kevin Durant

Curry returns, Warriors hold off Pelicans in Game 2 121-116

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photo from nba.com: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry made his return in game 2 of the NBA Playoffs Wednesday night at Oracle Arena against the visiting New Orleans Pelicans

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, May 01, 2018

After five weeks off due to injuries, Steph Curry returned to the Golden State Warriors in grand fashion on Tuesday at Oracle Arena, bagging 28 points in 26 minutes off the bench, helping Golden State defeat New Orleans 121-116.

The Warriors have a 2-games-to-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal best-of-seven.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr chose not to start Curry, going with Nick Young instead. Curry entered the game with 4:20 left in the first quarter, receiving a rousing ovation. Curry, who missed five weeks with a sprained MCL in his left knee, sank a 3-pointer with his first shot and rolled on from there.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 29 points, hitting 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter. Draymond Green contributed 20 points, nine boards and 12 assists.

Klay Thompson suffered through an off-night, hitting 4-of-20 shooting – 2-of-11 behind the arc – finishing with 10 points. But the Warriors’ bench made up for it, outscoring the Pelicans’ reserves 44-13.

New Orleans received strong production from its core – Jrue Holiday scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists in 46 minutes; Anthony Davis finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks; Nikola Mirotic fouled out with 18 points and nine boards; and Rajon Rondo added 22 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.

As an aside, Green and Rondo were seen having words going to the locker rooms at halftime. On TNT, Charles Barley said, “I just want somebody to punch him in the face.”

Upon learning what Barkley said, Green felt that if Barkley wants someone to do that, then Barkley should be the one.

“If you’re not going to punch me in the face when you see me, then shut up,” Green said.

The series resumes in New Orleans on Friday night.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors could make this series a cakewalk with Curry back tonight

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On the Warriors podcast with Dave:

Game 2 is set for tonight at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors made it look easy in Game 1. Dave takes a look if the Warriors can repeat Game 1’s performance. Will it be like taking candy from a baby?

The Pelicans know their in over their heads in this series, opening up the series at Golden State. The Warriors dominated on offense in Game 1 and Stephen Curry if he’s back on all cylinders can make this game look like nothing.

David Zizmor does the Golden State Warriors podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsraadioservice.com

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: KGO ABC 7 sports anchor Mike Shumann pulled from Warriors coverage for stealing a Warriors jacket

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Photo credit KGO ABC 7 San Francisco: Right now KGO 7 sports anchor Mike Shumann isn’t ready to be asked anything after being videoed taking Warriors director of security Ralph Walker’s jacket before game four on Sunday in San Antonio

On the Golden State Warriors podcast with David:

KGO ABC 7’s sports anchor Mike Schumann has been pulled from covering the Golden State Warriors playoff assignment. During a practice session, a video showed Schumann taking a jacket from a seat before Sunday’s Game 4 in San Antonio. Schumann apparently picked the wrong person to steal from Ralph Walker, who is Stephen Curry’s personal security guard and also is the team’s security director knows a few things about finding stolen property.

Walker, who was missing the jacket, requested to see who might have taken the jacket from at the AT&T Center Arena and a security video showed a man with a red jacket on walking up to the seat taking the jacket and walking away. Identified as Schumann, who has been a Channel 7 anchor since he retired from the San Francisco 49ers in the 80s. Channel 7 said they take this matter seriously and have pulled Schumann from the assignment. The statement basically said the station is embarrassed by the incident.

The Warriors who couldn’t get it done in Game 4 on Sunday will take a look at what the difference was from the first three games and the Game 4 loss. The Warriors take on the Spurs for Game 5 at Oracle Arena tonight to try and close out this first round of the playoffs.

Head coach Steve Kerr said that Stephen Curry won’t be available until this series is over. The ankle is under treatment and doctor’s care. The Warriors want to make sure that Curry is fully prepared enough to compete at the highest level on the fragile ankle that’s given Curry past problems.

Catch David with all the Warriors podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NBA Playoffs: New Orleans will be tough in potential second round series with Golden State

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Photo credit: @NBAonSP

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

The Spurs shouldn’t be returning to Oakland for a Game 5 on Tuesday.

Golden State, leading 3-0 in their first-round series against San Antonio and looking unbeatable in the first three games, now has to play one more game after dropping Game 4 with a 103-90 rout Sunday afternoon in the Alamo City.

The Warriors now lead the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series, 3-1.

Instead of sweeping the seventh-seeded Spurs, who are dealing with a myriad of issues from the recent death of Erin Popovich, the late wife of San Antonio’s head coach Gregg Popovich, to the ongoing Kawhi Leonard saga, Golden State allowed itself to cut 48 hours off its schedule to prepare for a New Orleans Pelicans team that will give the Warriors all it can handle in the second round.

The sixth-seeded Pelicans showed no remorse against the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in their first-round series. Many prognosticators, including myself, thought this could be a series that would go six or seven games with the Trail Blazers likely prevailing.

And why would you not pick Portland over New Orleans?

The Trail Blazers arguably have one of the NBA’s best backcourt duos in point guard Damian Lillard and shooting guard CJ McCollum to carry them over unheralded combination of  point guard Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday.

Oh yeah, and the Pelicans were without center Demarcus Cousins, who tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the season on Jan. 26. Before the injury, Cousins was averaging 25.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per game and along with power forward Anthony Davis (28 ppg and 11 rpg during the regular season), were on pace to become the first set of teammates in NBA history to average at least 25 points and 10 rebounds per game according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Boy were we wrong.

Now, The Pelicans have all of their detractors eating crow with a side of “we told you so.” Portland (49-33) did finished the regular season with one more win than New Orleans (48-34), but it were the Trail Blazers that were over-matched.

New Orleans capped off the franchise’s first sweep of an NBA playoff series with 131-123 victory in Game 4 over Portland on Saturday night in front a rabid and sold out home crowd at the Smoothie King Center. The 131 points scored by New Orleans are a franchise record for a playoff game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

In the clinching game, it was the combination Davis and shooting guard Jrue Holiday that punched the Pelicans’ ticket into the second-round for the first time since 2008 with Davis pouring in 47 points with 11 rebounds. Holiday finished with 41 points and eight assists against the Trail Blazers who had no answer for either guy in this series.

Both Davis and Holiday surpassed current Warriors’ power forward David West’s franchise record 38 points (also occurring in 2008 according to Elias Sports Bureau) with their scoring barrage.

The 6-foot-10, 253-pound Davis imposed his will against Portland bigs, most notably against center Jusuf Nurkic, averaging 33 points and 12 rebounds in four games against the Trail Blazers this postseason. There’s no doubt that Davis will be a force against Golden State’s stable of bigs, centers Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee and Kevon Looney.

Throw in the aforementioned Rondo, a 11-year, defensive, pass-first veteran with a championship ring from 2007 as the starting point guard for the Paul Pierce-Ray Allen-Kevin Garnett Boston Celtics, the Pelicans have some pieces in place to make the inevitable second-round matchup with Golden State interesting.

Rondo, or #PlayoffRondo, is the unquestioned floor general for the Pelicans. In the four games against the Trail Blazers, Rondo recorded 17, 9, 11 and 16 assists respectively. For the series, Rondo averaged 11.2 points and 13.2 assists per game and was glued at Lillard’s hip the entire time, helping New Orleans limit Lillard to 35.2 percent shooting in the series.

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, who also has a championship ring as an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2015 before leaving for New Orleans, knows some of the offensive and defensive tendencies of shooting guard Klay Thompson and power forward Draymond Green.

Even with two-time MVP Stephan Curry still not ready to play in the playoffs for the Warriors, Golden State is still the better team than the Pelicans by far and can win the series without him since the Warriors still have another former MVP in Kevin Durant.

In the four regular season matchups between New Orleans and Golden State, the Warriors won the first three matchups: 128-120 on Oct. 20 at New Orleans, 110-95 on Nov. 25 in Oakland and 125-115 on Dec. 4, while the Pelicans got the best of the Warriors 126-120 on Apr. 7 in Oakland.

Golden State shows no mercy, jumps all over San Antonio in Game 1

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@warriors photo: Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant (left) and Draymond Green (right) address the media at press conference after their game one win at Oracle Arena on Saturday

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — It almost felt like forever since we’ve seen the Warriors dominate a basketball game from start to finish.

Until Saturday afternoon.

Already without All-Star point guard and two-time MVP Stephan Curry, the defending NBA Champions started their title defense with a 113-92 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

The win extends Golden State’s win streak to six games in postseason openers, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Both Kevin Durant and Draymond Green flirted with triple-doubles, as Durant finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists; while Green chipped in with 12 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.

Klay Thompson finished with a game-high 27 points. San Antonio had no answer for Thompson, especially coming off of hard screens from Warriors’ bigs, allowing Thompson to shoot 11-of-13 from the floor including 5-of-6 on 3’s in the game.

Golden State held the edge in assists (32 to 19), rebounds (51 to 30) and points-in-the-paint (34 to 22) over the Spurs. The Warriors shot 44-of-81 from the floor (54.3-percent) and 10-of-22 on 3’s (45.5-percent).

Golden State held a 86-63 lead, their biggest of the game, at the end of the third quarter and they never looked back from that point.

JaVale McGee, who made his fourth career postseason start, finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 16 minutes of action was the real story. The 7-foot McGee had two of Golden State’s six blocks and for now, looks like the best center in head coach Steve Kerr’s center-by-committee rotation which includes, Zaza Pachulia and Damian Jones in the mix.

Rudy Gay led San Antonio with 15 points off the bench, to go along with a team-high six rebounds, while LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio’s leading scorer during the regular season at 23.1 points per game, scored just 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting in 24 minutes played.

San Antonio was cold from the floor in Game 1, connecting on 32-of-80 (40-percent) of their shots.  The Spurs can take some comfort that they did committed fewer turnovers (13 to 15) and shot better at the free throw line (19-of-24 to 15-of-22) than Golden State.

Second-year shooting guard Bryn Forbes added 14 points in 25 minutes for San Antonio.

Golden State is looking to eliminate San Antonio from the playoffs for the second-straight postseason. The Warriors completed a four-game sweep of the Spurs in last season’s Western Conference Finals in route to a 16-1 finish in the postseason and their second championship in three seasons.

The Warriors are 6-2 in the postseason against San Antonio at home.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Monday night at Oracle Arena.

 

 

Golden State too much for Kings to handle; Warriors win 112-96

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
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Warriors vs Kings Photo: Sports Radio Service

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings dream of winning the 2017-18 season series versus the NBA World Champion Golden State Warriors will not be realized as they were soundly beaten by the Dubs 112-96 on Saturday night in Sacramento. The Kings will finish the four-game series with a very respectable 2-2 record. No one would have predicted that outcome back in October.

The Warriors had to play with this game without their superstar Steph Curry but unlike the last time the teams met in Oakland, Golden State had their other three All-Star players available to face the upstart Kings. Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were all healthy and ready to go at the opening tip-off.

The Kings kept it close in opening 12-minutes as they trailed the Warriors by just three points – 28 to 25 – at the close of the quarter. Durant scored 15 for Golden State while De’Aaron Fox put up 10 for the Kings. Both teams were ice cold from 3-point land as the Warriors went 1-for-4 and Sacramento hit just 1-of-7 from long-range.

The Warriors opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run that really set the tone for the rest of the game. Golden State maintained a lead of nine to 11 points for most the period. SAC was able to cut the Warriors lead to eight points at the half when Buddy Hield hit a 25-foot jump shot at the buzzer. At the half, Golden State held a 57-49 lead over the Kings.

Frankly, there really is not that much more to talk about in what became a runaway game. The Warriors held a 93-69 lead at the end of the third quarter and the Kings second unit played hard in the final period to outscore Golden State 27-19 for the quarter.

The Warriors won the game 112-96. Golden State’s record improves to 55-21 while the Kings drop to 24-53 for the season.

A Dark Cloud Over the Game

McCaw
Teams huddle in prayer for McCaw Photo: @SacramentoKings

With less than 50-seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors Patrick McCaw cut across the lane to attempt a layup. Vince Carter stepped in front of McCaw to defend against him. McCaw’s leg came down on Carter’s shoulder and McCaw free-fell to the floor landing on his tailbone.

McCaw was not allowed to stand up and was eventually removed from the court by a stretcher. He was taken to the hospital where he will undergo testing.

The Warriors and Kings huddled together in prayer for McCaw before continuing the game.

Top Performances

Kings

  • Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 19-points. He shot 6-for-11 from the field and hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
  • De’Aaron Fox added 15 points of his own for SAC. He also led the team in assists with eight.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 12 points in the game.
  • Bruno Caboclo played 15-plus minutes in the game and scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.

Warriors

  • Kevin Durant put up a double-double scoring 27 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in just over 30-minutes on the court. He was their leading scorer.
  • Klay Thompson returned after missing eight games to score 25 points against the Kings.
  • Draymond Green scored eight points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Up Next

Kings

The Kings get to celebrate Easter in Los Angeles by playing the Lakers at the Staples Center. The game is scheduled to get underway at 6:30 PM PDT.

Warriors

Golden State will also have to work on Easter Sunday as they will host the Phoenix Suns for a 5:30 PM PDT tip.

 

 

Durant’s 37-point effort rallies the Warriors to a 110-107 victory over Spurs after Curry injures his ankle again

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors won their seventh game in a row, but it was not easy as the San Antonio Spurs played their hearts out but could not prevail. The Warriors needed the win to keep their hopes alive for winning homecourt advantage for the playoffs. The Rockets lead the Dubs by one-half game and own the tiebreaker. The Warriors lost their star, Steph Curry, early in the first quarter when he tweaked his right ankle. He was able to two free throws, but the Warriors sent him to the trainer’s table for treatment and Steph was done for the night. Three other players were not available Thursday night. David West missed his second game in a row with an infected cyst on his arm. Andre Iguodala was out with a sprained left wrist, and Jordan Bell was sidelined when he re-injured his right ankle. Steve Kerr had to use Kevon, Looney, Omri Casspi, Quin Cook, and Nick Young and hope that the Warriors could beat the Spurs. The game was not pretty, but they were able to come back late in the fourth quarter and beat the Spurs 110-107.

Both the Spurs and the Warriors were cold to start the first quarter. The Spurs led 3-0 when Steph Curry was fouled as he attempted a layup with just 2 minutes and 32 seconds played in the game. Steph turned his right ankle when he landed. He tried to walk off the injury, but it was apparent that he would not be able to continue. Steph went to the free throw line and made the two free throws, and that finished his night. The Warriors got the offense going late in the quarter, and they outscored the Spurs 28-21.

The Warriors could not get anything going in the second quarter. They scored just 13 points against Brooklyn Tuesday night, and the Warriors were cold again in the second quarter. The Spurs took advantage. The Dubs built the lead to nine 34-23, but San Antonio went on a 14-2 run to take the lead 37-35. The Spurs outscored the Warriors 29-18 and finished the half with a 4-point lead 50-46. The Spurs LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Durant scored 14, JaVale McGee 7, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green each had 4.

The Warriors played better in the third quarter. They have owned the third quarter, but on Thursday night, that did not happen as they were outscored 37-32 The game was tied at 78 when the Spurs went on a 9-0 run to finish the quarter leading 87-78. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs met every Warrior challenge and led 103-96 with under 3 minutes to play. The Warriors vaunted defense came through, and Kevin Durant scored 14 straight points to tie the game at 105. Draymond Green made a fantastic layup with his left hand to put the Dubs ahead by two 1:30 left. Klay Thompson made two free throws, and they led 109-105.  The Spurs scored and trailed by two 109-107. They fouled KD but he missed one, and the Spurs had a chance to tie if they could make a three-pointer. The Spurs got the ball to LaMarcus Aldridge, and he was fouled attempting a three. He made the first free throw but missed the second. He made the third, and the Spurs trailed 110-107. They got the ball back with 2.3 seconds left and, after a timeout, took the ball out from mid-court. Bryn Forbes missed a three-pointer with 0.01 seconds left, and the Warriors celebrated the win.

Game Notes and Stats. After the game Warrior head coach Steve Kerr announced that Steph Curry will travel with the team to Portland but will not play Friday night.

The Warriors won their 7th in a row and improved to 51-14. The Spurs dropped to 37-28.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 30 points and 17 rebounds. Kyle Anderson had 12, Davis Bertrans 13, DeJounte Murray 14, Tony Parker 11, and Rudy Gay 10. The Warriors were led by Kevin Durant’s 37 points, 4 assists, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Draymond Green had a triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists,12 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. JaVale McGee added 13, Nick Young had 12, and Shaun Livington had 9 points, 7 assists, and seven boards. Klay Thompson had a tough night. The Warriors needed a big night from Klay the ball was not going down for him. He finished the night with 12 points. He made two 3-point shots in 7 attempts.

The Warriors play the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night in Portland.

Sacramento Kings Friday game wrap: Warriors come to Sacramento hand Kings a 119-104 loss

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by Jordan Chapin

Sacramento – Friday night at the Golden 1 center, the Sacramento Kings returned home from their longest road trip of the year and were welcomed back by the the World Champion Golden State Warriors. Even with the return of Willie Cauley-Stein, Golden State handed the Kings their 35th loss of the year in a 119-104 Warriors victory. After winning three of their last four games, Sacramento came into the contest with a little momentum, but it was raining three balls in the Golden 1 Center, and not in favor of the Kings.

Sacramento came out of the gate hot, and started the game on a 20-7 run  led by Justin Jackson’s eight points in the first quarter. It didn’t take long for Golden State to close that gap with the help of Kevin Durant’s 17 point first half. The Warriors led 58-52 going into the locker room at halftime.

During the third quarter, Sacramento trailed as much as 14 points, but they continued to keep their heads above water as the Splash Brothers combined for 17 points in the period. Trailing 87-79 with 9:47 left to go, Sacramento’s Buddy Hield rattled off seven straight points, including back-to-back steals and cut the lead to just one, but that’s as close as the Kings would get to retaking the lead. KD put the team on his back scoring 13 points in the last 10 minutes of play, finishing his night with 33 points while shooting 12-for-17 from the field.

Even though the Kings forced 25 turnovers, it was not enough to overcome a stellar shooting night from the Warriors. The season series is now tied at one game a piece, and the Kings will not see the Warriors again until March 16th at Oracle Arena. The Kings have an opportunity to bounce back quickly as they will face the Dallas Mavericks Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back.

Sacramento Kings

Star of the Night: Justin Jackson

Jackson finished his night shooting 7-for-13 from the field for 17 points. He totalled 33 minutes for the game, but in those minutes he looked very aggressive, knocking down a couple three balls, and hitting his floaters from inside the paint. De’Aaron Fox on what he has seen from Justin Jackson, “Lately, he’s been great, his confidence has been up, he’s playing a lot, he’s making shots, something we know he can do.” Jackson was two points away from tying his career high.

Key Stats:

  • Forced 25 turnovers(19 points)
  • Shot 44.2% from the field and 40% from 3-point range
  • Led the game by as much as 13 points, but trailed as much as 17
  • Had six players in double figures, including all five of their starters
  • Six lead changes

Golden State Warriors

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Star of the Night: Kevin Durant

Durant continued his all-star campaign with 33 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. KD hit shots when they mattered, scoring 17 in the first half, and 13 in the fourth quarter to seal the game for the Warriors. Durant killed the Kings from behind the arc shooting 6-for-7 from downtown and finished hitting 12-for-17 from the field overall.

Key Stats:

  • Shot 17-for-33 from 3-point land
  • Had nine turnovers in the second quarter, which is a season high in TO’s for a quarter
  • Zaza Pachulia grabbed a game high 13 rebounds
  • Splash Brothers combined for 43 points
  • Out rebounded the Kings 51-33

Durant, Warriors, send the Hornets down with 101-87 win

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Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant reacts to making a dunk against the Charlotte Hornets during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors were without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Patrick McCaw, and saw Zaza Pachulia leave the game early in the first quarter with a shoulder injury.

The Warriors called up Quinn Cook from the G-League Santa Cruz Warriors and Cook made his first start in the NBA. With Pachulia out, head coach Steve Kerr rotated JaVale McGee, David West, Jordan Bell, and Kevon Looney. Kevin Durant had a triple-double (35 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds) to lead the Dubs to a 101-87 win. It was the Dubs’ fifth win in a row on their six-game road trip.

The Warriors held the Hornets to 38 points in the first half as they shot 31% from the floor. Klay Thompson, Nick Young, and Quinn Cook made significant contributions to the Warriors’ attack.

“I knew Quinn would play well,” Kerr said. “He’s played a lot of minutes for New Orleans last year and we have watched him in practice in the G-league…We have a lot of synergy between the franchises and we run the same stuff, so Quinn knows all of the plays.”

The Warriors played from start to finish and refused to let the Hornets climb their way back into the game. The Hornets made a run late in the game, but the Dubs answered the challenge.

“Even without those other guys, they’re still pretty good,” Hornets interim head coach Stephen Silas, who’s leading the team while Steve Clifford is dealing with a health issue. “Obviously with Kevin Durant and Klay (Thompson) it was hard to stop those guys tonight.”

Kevin Durant led by example. Durant scored just 16 points in the first quarter. The Warriors led 26-18 as they held Charlotte to just 31% from the floor. In the second quarter, Thompson, Cook, and young connected on several three-pointers as the Dubs ended the first half with a 53-38 lead. The Dubs had a 26-point lead, but Kemba Walker and the Hornets’ offense got going.

In the second half, David West and JaVale McGee made several key buckets. The Hornets cut the deficit to 11 at the end of the third quarter, but the Warriors played defense in the fourth quarter to put the game in the win column.

Game Notes and Stats — Curry has a sprained ankle and is wearing a boot. He’s going to head home to the Bay Area Thursday and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Green was out with a shoulder injury and it is not known if he will play in Detroit Friday night.

Patrick McCaw was hit on the nose by Demarcus Cousins Monday. McCaw may not be available Friday.

Pachulia injured his shoulder and his status is unknown.

Durant said: “It’s fun when you get to create and just be creative out there, whether it’s passing to JaVale (McGee) for a lob or shooting a pull-up jump shot…Tonight it felt like I could go in my bag of tools, my bag of tricks, to pull some stuff out. I don’t expect it to be like that every single game, but tonight I thought it called for it.”

“It wasn’t so much a vocal leadership role, but more of an ‘I got this’ type of thing,’ Kerr said. “It was the way he carried himself. He was clearly the best player on the floor and the dominant player on the floor. Without Steph (Curry), he almost had a different bounce to his step, like `This one is mine, I got it.”

Thompson ended the night with 22 points. Cook tallied eight points, three assists, and three rebounds. Young came off the bench and knocked down 10. Andre Iguodala had eight points and eight boards. David West added six points, four assists, three rebounds, and two blocked shots.

Leading scorers for the Hornets were Kemba Walker with 25, Nick Batum 15, and Dwight Howard with 14.

The Warriors shot 48% from the floor and held Charlotte to just 35% The Dubs knocked down 11 three-point shots and recorded 26 assists. On defense, they had eight steals and 12 blocked shots.

The Warriors finish the six-game road trip in Detroit Friday night. The Pistons beat the Warriors in Oakland early in the season. The Pistons will be trying to sweep the season series. Game time is at 4 pm.

Green takes home DPOY, Myers named NBA’s top executive

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Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year & Assist of the Year Award winner, Draymond Green, poses in the press room at the 2017 NBA Awards at Basketball City at Pier 36 on Monday, June 26, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
Sports Radio Service Writer

The Golden State Warriors continue its string of good fortune, picking up a pair of season-ending awards with forward Draymond Green taking home the 2016-17 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and general manger Bob Myers named Executive of the Year for the second time in three seasons at the NBA awards show Monday night in New York.

Two days after the Warriors wrapped up its second NBA championship in three seasons, Green mentioned that he didn’t cared if he won the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Green won the award anyway, edging out two-time winner Kawhi Leonard (Spurs) and Rudy Gobert (Jazz). Green finished second in balloting to Leonard in back-to-back seasons.

The unquestioned heartbeat of the Warriors, Green received 73 of the 100 first-place votes, totaling 434 points. Gobert received 269 points, including 16 first-place votes. Leonard received 182 votes, 11 for first place.

The three finalists accounted for all 100 first-place votes.

Green led the NBA in steals (2.03 per game) and blocks (1.39 per game), with Golden State leading the league in both categories per game as a team.

With a hard-hat and lunch pail mentality, the 6-foot-7 forward finished third in the league in defensive rating and second in defensive win shares. Even though he’s the Warriors’ starting power forward, Green plays the majority of games at center while also playing point forward on offense.

Green averaged 10.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, while leading Golden State with 7.0 assists per game.

During his acceptance speech, a smiling Green acknowledge teammates Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant for their commitment to the defensive end of the floor this season.

“This isn’t an individual award,” Green said. “There are five guys out there on the floor at a time. I can’t do this all by myself, so I appreciate them. With KD and Klay not making the All-Defensive team, I appreciated everything they do.”

Earlier on Monday, Green was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team. Green received 198 of a possible 200 points and voted to the first-team on 99 of a 100 ballots, but was shockingly left off one ballot.

At the Warriors’ championship parade, Green shouted into a microphone: “Can somebody give Bob some fu**ing credit?!”

Well, I guess the NBA heard Green loud and clear when Myers was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for 2016-17, announced Monday night.

Last June, Myers and the Warriors bought the 38th pick and selected Pat McCaw. McCaw turned out to be a key reserve for Golden State this season.

Then in July, Myers upgraded at small forward allowing Harrison Barnes to leave the Warriors and take a four-year, $94 million maximum deal with the Dallas Mavericks, and signed superstar forward Kevin Durant away from the Oklahoma City Thunder to a two-year, $54.3 million contract.

How that turn out for Golden State? Pretty successful.

Myers also added big-men in Zaza Pachulia, David West and JaVale McGee. All three guys provided the much needed toughness and height the team lost with the departures of Andrew Bogut and Mareese Speights.

Myers also won the award after the 2014-15 season.