Tag: NBA Playoffs

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 Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Thompson and Durant are keys to Warriors’ success through first two games

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Photo credit: @NBCWarriors

On the Warriors podcast with David:

#1 The Warriors, after having that regular season-ending wrinkle, you couldn’t recognize them now. Was this a ploy created by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to sit his stars down at the end of the regular and give the San Antonio Spurs the element of surprise for the playoffs?

#2 Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson have been a force in these first two games with Durant scoring 32 points and Thompson scoring 31. They make playing against the Spurs like cutting through butter.

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

 

Warriors get Spurs in first round of 2018 NBA playoffs

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Photo credit: Twitter.com

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — Familiar foes face each other as the San Antonio Spurs will square off against the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2018 Western Conference playoffs.

The Spurs (47-35) secured the No. 7 seed after losing 122-98 in New Orleans to end the regular season. The second-seeded Warriors (58-24) lost their final regular season game 119-79 at Utah Tuesday night.

As the Spurs are making their 21st consecutive trip to the playoffs, this will be the first time that the team failed to win 50 games in a season since the 1998-99 season.

The Warriors failed to win at least 60 games for the first time in three seasons, which would’ve tied the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s with four-straight 60-win seasons for most in NBA history.

Golden State won three of the four regular season match-ups against San Antonio: winning 112-92 on Nov. 2 at San Antonio, 122-105 on Feb. 10 in Oakland and 111-107 on March 8 in Oakland.

San Antonio took the regular season final meeting, defeating Golden State 89-75, in San Antonio on March 19.

The two teams met last May in the Western Conference Finals, with Golden State completing a four-game sweep over the Spurs in route to their second title in three seasons.

Here’s the Warriors’ schedule for the first round of the 2018 playoffs:

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Warriors second half struggles lead to Game 6 loss

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by Michael Martinez

picture credit Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

At the half, the score was tied at 61. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James each had a tremendous first half, but Klay Thompson kept the Warriors right in it.

Out of the half, James and Irving continued playing great on the offensive end of the court while the Warriors began to struggle. The Cavs shot over 60 percent from the field in the third quarter while the Warriors shot 29 percent.

And then in the fourth quarter, Cleveland only shot 42.1 percent but Golden State shot an abysmal 23.8 percent. After things had been close and both teams played tough, James and Irving kept playing like great players do in elimination games.

As Draymond Green was suspended from game 5, it seems as if James took advantage of facing anyone else but Green. Andrew Bogut also came out early in the third quarter with a knee injury, which effected the Warriors defensive presence.

In place of Green, Andre Iguodala had a solid game finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Thompson finished with a team high of 37 points as the forward was 11 for 20 from the field with six threes. Thompson was nine of nine from the charity stripe.

MVP Steph Curry scored 25, but the James and Irving were simply too much.

James and Irving became the first pair of teammates to score 40 or more points in a Finals game. With Kevin Love playing poorly, the duo was the reason Cleveland is sending the series to a game 6.

James and Irving scored 41 points apiece. James grabbed 16 rebounds and tallied seven assists shooting 16-30 from the field. James’ jumper looked smooth and the Warriors had no answer on the defensive end.

Irving also had six assists and incredibly knocked down  17 of 24 shots from the field.

As the final horn sounded, the Cavs defeated Golden State 112-97. Cleveland shot 53 percent from the field for the game and the Warriors just shot over 36 percent.

Tonight, the Warriors struggled to find their shot from beyond the arc, which is usually how they take the lead and maintain it.

Heading back to Cleveland, the Warriors should be excited to get after it in hopes of grabbing their second championship in as many years. Golden State will have Green back and more news is to come regarding Bogut.

The Warriors are going to need to find an answer to stop either James or Irving because if both play as well as they did it’s going to make difficult to finish off the series.

Tune in to ABC on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT and be prepared to watch a game full of offensive flurry. Golden State will look to try and finish off their historic season with the greatest prize the NBA has to offer.

Historic season not over yet, Dubs back in the NBA Finals

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by Michael Martinez

picture credit Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

Down in the Western Conference Finals three games to one, the Golden State Warriors looked lost, worn out and defeated. While the Oklahoma City Thunder seemed unstoppable and their path to the NBA Finals appeared clear.

But did people forget that this Warriors team won a record setting 73 games? If anybody could come back down three games for just the tenth time in league history, it would be these guys. And the Warriors showed their resiliency and in game seven their fearless leader, Steph Curry showed that his second MVP selection, an unanimous decision, was no fluke.

The best player on the planet and his team defeated the Thunder, 96-88, in a tough game 7.

The first quarter was all Thunder as their defense was relentless and made Golden State take tough shots. The Warriors only scored 19 points, while Kevin Durant looked to be locked in. Oklahoma City showed up in the first and gave the impression that they had forgotten about the past two games.

However, the second quarter was different and the Warriors went back to what they do best, shooting the three ball. Klay Thompson got off to a rough 0 for 7 start, but knocked down four triples in the second to help his team cut the Thunder’s lead, who looked poised to take a big lead.

At the half, OKC led Golden State, 48-42 and out of the half, the MVP reigned supreme.

Curry made three big triples in the third and the Warriors played tremendous defense. The defending champs outscored the Thunder, 29-12, in the third quarter. The third quarter was the turning point and the home team never looked back.

While Curry had a solid third quarter, his clutch performance in the fourth proved why he is currently the best player in the NBA. Curry went 5-6 from the field, including 2 for 3 from beyond the arc for 15 fourth quarter points. Curry absolutely went off and made the big shots when the Thunder tried to make a come back of their own late in the game.

The Warriors lived by the three in tonight’s game, shooting 45.9 percent from behind the three point line. Their defense also did a great job of not allowing Durant the ball and holding their opponents to a shooting percentage of 38.2 percent.

Durant did finish with 27 points on 10 of 19 from the field for a team high and Russell Westbrook totaled 19 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. But Westbrook had difficulty shooting as he went 7 of 21 on the night.

Curry finished with a game high 36 points, hitting 13 fields goals on 24 tries with seven of those field goals coming from three point range. The Warriors win was definitely a collective effort as the team had to come together strong to make this incredible series come back. Thompson ended the game with 21 points of his own as the Splash Brothers once again guided their team to one of the franchise’s most important victories.

The Warriors spent a ton of energy on winning this series and that could be a factor as their next task begins on Thursday. But, the Warriors are headed to back to back finals. They have a player who won back to back MVP trophies. And now, repeating as champions is in plain sight.

The Cavs and LeBron James look better than the team the Warriors saw last year, but again do not count out the Western Conference Champions. History is unfolding right in front of our eyes, can the Warriors be historical once again?

Tune in to ABC on June 2 at 6 p.m, where Golden State and Curry will take on James and company at Oracle Arena in front of a rambunctious Oakland crowd.

 

Thunder roll past Warriors in game 3

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by Michael Martinez

After the Warriors 27 point blow out win in game 2, the momentum seemed to be in there in Golden State’s favor.

But the Oklahoma City Thunder made it seem like that game was in the very far past.

While the first quarter was close, OKC broke things open in the second quarter thanks  to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The big key for the Thunder in the game was that they were able to get to the free throw line and get easy points. In the second quarter alone, the Thunder went 17 of 18 from the charity stripe.

As everything went right for the Thunder, everything went abysmal for the Warriors who shot 22.6% from the field in the second quarter. Golden State also only made two three pointers in the quarter.

At the half, the Thunder led 72-45 and the third quarter was no different. Golden State showed a little more offensive life, but were still outscored by their opponent. The Thunder took their biggest lead in the game in the third quarter, going up by 41 points at one point in the game.

Golden State scored more than OKC in the fourth quarter, but it was a very lost cause. Oklahoma City blew out the defending world champs in dominate fashion. Durant and Westbrook both had huge games and the Thunder shot 50% from the field for the game.

Westbrook neared a triple double with 30 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. Durant scored a game high 33 points and eight assists while going 10-15 from the field. The two All Stars played really well and collectively as a whole the Thunder played well.

Steph Curry had a team high for the Warriors with 24 points and Klay Thompson added 18. The Warriors just looked flat and were completely outplayed.

Draymond Green was not a factor in the game at all, which played a role in why the Warriors did poorly. Green also picked up a flagrant one foul after kicking Steven Adams in the groin, which he claims was inadvertent.

Whether it was or not, my guess is that Green will not pick up a suspension for the foul. In the end, the Thunder defeated Golden State, 133-105. OKC’s blowout victory was a point more than the Warriors game two win. After everybody thought the Warriors would have the momentum, Oklahoma City struck right back.

Can Durant and Westbrook continue their incredible play? With the Warriors down two games to one in the series, they will look to try to even the series on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on TNT.

Curry Drops 40 In Legendary Performance, Warriors Take 3-1 Lead.

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry who led the Warriors in scoring in game four over the Portland Trailblazers is jubilant to be back in the line up

For fans of the Golden State Warriors, watching star point guard Stephen Curry drop 40 points on an opponent is something that could happen on any given night. But last night’s performance from the unanimous MVP of the league carried with it the type of legendary ethos that put’s him in the conversation with the likes of Michael Jordan and other playoff legends.

Returning for the first time since spraining his MCL in Game 4 of the Houston series, Curry was at the forefront of a resurgent effort from the Golden State Warriors, as he would score an NBA-record 17 points in overtime to notch a 132-125 win, giving his squad a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Curry was only supposed to play sparingly, if that, in his first return to action. But a uncharacteristic ejection from guard Shaun Livingston thrust him back into the thick of it in the second half. Curry didn’t disappoint, going on to secure yet another personal record while stomping any notion of momentum from a scrappy Portland team in the series standings.

Golden State trailed for most of the game, taking their first lead late in the third quarter. The two team’s exchanged baskets in a close contest until a late Harrison Barnes triple forced overtime.

From there on, it was the Curry show, as the sharpshooter went to work all over the court to put his first mark on the series. After giving his team the lead with a layup with just over two minutes to go, Curry would come down the court to nail a three from the top of the key, pounding his chest while stating “I’m back” to the Portland crowd.

Portland would be unable to make up the difference, being sent to the fringe of elimination following the loss.

Damian Lillard played big for Portland again, scoring 36 points on 9-for-30 shooting, with five of his buckets coming from behind the arc. Nearly all Portland starters would end up in double-figures besides Maurice Harkless, who finished with 8 points.

The game was a scrappy showcase from both teams who seemed to refuse to quit. But it was yet another notch in Steph Curry’s legendary belt, and showed how dangerous a team the Warriors are on the court with their healthy MVP knocking down buckets.

Should Curry be fully recovered from his knee injury-and by the looks of things last night it appears he is- last night may have been a dagger in Portland’s season.

 

 

Warriors dominate Rockets 104-78; Curry suffers ankle injury

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Playoffs-Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors
Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The juggernaut that is the Golden State Warriors steamrollered the Houston Rockets 104-78 in game one of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs. The Warriors led the game wire-to-wire en route to the win.

The dominate win has been overshadowed by an injury to superstar Stephen Curry. Curry tweaked his right ankle late in the second quarter and had to be taken into the locker room have the ankle re-taped. Curry would return to start the third quarter but played only 2:47 in the period before having to return to the bench.

In his postgame  media conference, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr told reporters that Curry would not have been available to return to the game if Houston would have made a comeback. Kerr went on to say that Curry is questionable for game two on Monday night. In NBA terms, questionable means there is only a 50 percent chance that Curry will play.

Curry was the Warriors leading scorer with 24 points in his limited playing time of 19-plus minutes. Not only would the Warriors miss Curry’s scoring punch but the sight of Curry on the bench could serve as real source of motivation for Houston who do not want to go home down 0-2 in the series.

The Warriors defense was as impressive as their offense. Golden State held the Rockets shooting to just 35.7 percent (30-for-84) from the field. Houston who lives by the creed of “score in the paint or shoot the three” shot just 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from long range.

The Golden State defense kept James Harden off the free throw for the entire game. Harden makes his living driving to the basket and forcing reach-in fouls for opportunities to score from the free throw line.

Kerr told reporters after the game that not reaching in on Harden was major point of emphasis for the Warriors defensive scheme. The plan worked to perfection.

The Golden State defense also caused the Rockets to be sloppy in guarding the basketball. Houston turned the ball over 24 times in the game. The Rockets had more turnovers than assists (16). A negative assists-to-turnover ratio makes it literally impossible to win a game in the NBA.

The Warriors held the Rockets to just eight second-chance points. For comparison, Golden State scored 25 points when give a second chance to score.

There will be much talk about the Warriors outscoring the Rockets by 26 points. The real discussion should be about the Warriors holding the Houston offense to just 78 points.

Warriors

Stephen Curry was the team’s leading scorer with 24 points. Curry went 5-for-7 from 3-point land. He also grabbed seven rebounds, had three steals and dished out two assists in his limited playing time.

As you might have guessed, Klay Thompson helped to fill the gap left by Curry having to leave the game. Thompson scored 16 points but had to take 14 shots to score those points. He was perfect from the free throw line going 6-for-6. Thompson finished with five rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Draymond Green had a double-double game scoring 12 points and recording 10 rebounds. Green led his team in playing time with 33:17 played.

Marreese Speights was the Warriors leading scorer off the bench with 12 points. He shot 5-for-11 from the field.

Andre Iguodala was real force on offense for Golden State coming off the bench to dish out a game-high seven assists.

Rockets

James Harden was the leading scorer for the Rockets with 17 points but he had to take 19 shots to score those points. He was just 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. Harden turned the ball over six times.

Dwight Howard was surprisingly a big factor in this game for the Rockets. Howard has experienced a less than stellar season for Houston. He put up a double-double in this game scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for his team.

Patrick Beverley was also a surprising non-factor for Houston on Saturday. After a first quarter skirmish with Curry that resulted in off-setting technical fouls, Beverley picked up three personal fouls and was sent to the bench. He played just 5:10 in the second half after picking up his fourth foul. Beverley finished just two points.

What they said after the game

Steve Kerr evaluating how his team played

“…Very satisfied. I thought our defense was excellent. We didn’t reach. We made them earn every point and we did have the brief spell when Steph (Curry) went out where we sort of lost our focus, lost our poise but we quickly recovered, a lot of guys played but it was a good, solid victory.”

Klay Thompson on the intensity of the game

“It did (get chippy). You expect that in the playoffs.No team is going to lay down against us. I’m just happy we didn’t let it phase us. We’ve got a strong group.”

Houston head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on his team’s first half performance

“One of their strengths defensively is their versatility. They do a lot of switching. They have guys who can defend multiple positions. We didn’t do a good enough job making them pay. When they switch, we have to move more. Instead, we moved less which made us easier to guard. They just sat … they has 10 eyes on the ball-handler. We didn’t put enough pressure behind them, move them around enough so our penetraters could penetrate and make plays for other people. This can’t be a one-sided game offensively. The ball has to move. There has to be a thrust to your offense.There has to be early action, early attacks. They’re too good defensively if you don’t.”

Up next

Game two will be played on Monday at 7:30 PM (PDT) in Oakland. The game will be televised on TNT.

Despite Rally, Depleted Dubs Downed by Desperate Knicks

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By Matthew Harrington

With Oakland native MC Hammer sitting courtside at Oracle Arena, it was the visiting New York Knicks who brought the hammer down on the shorthanded Golden State Warriors 89-84 Sunday night. New York used a big second quarter to grab the lead before its play down the stretch in holding off a Warriors comeback bid echoed Hammer’s hit “Can’t Touch this”.

Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry continued his strong play against the Knicks, collecting his third 30-plus point performance against the Gothamites in two seasons. Curry went 10-for-21 from the field, including hitting half of his 12 three-point attempts, for 32 points in 40 minutes of play. Andre Iguodala (12) and Klay Thompson (15) also finished in double-digits in scoring, but the absence of David Lee and Andrew Bogut from the frontcourt doomed the Dubs.

Guard J.R. Smith topped the Knicks with 21 points while Carmelo Anthony went 7-of-21 from the field for 19. Amare Stoudemire reeled in a game-high 13 rebounds for the desperate Knicks (31-43) who entered Sunday sitting a game behind the Atlanta Hawks for the last spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The Warriors (45-28) appeared to have the game in hand after a dominant 32-22 first quarter but the visitors fired back with a dominant second 12 minutes to take the 56- 44 halftime lead. New York stifled its host to only 12 second-quarter points while exploding for 34 of its own.

The Dubs cut the lead by four after the third frame, scoring 22 points to New York’s 18 then continued its run to nearly force a tie early in the quarter at 74-72. The Knicks would add breathing room before a Warriors 6-0 run capped by a Curry trey knotted the game at 81-81 with 2:48 left in regulation. The Knicks held the Warriors to only one basket, a three out of the hands of Thompson, down the stretch while Anthony netted four of New York’s eight points over final three minutes to hang on for the win.

Golden State hopes to have Lee back for Tuesday’s pivotal contest in Dallas with Western Conference playoff implications. The Mavericks currently sit in ninth place, outside the playoffs looking in, and are two games behind the Warriors who sit in sixth place. Bogut is not expected to play Tuesday or Wednesday night as Golden State heads to San Antonio Spurs.