Tag: NBA

Short-handed Kings fall to the Nets 116-97

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Photo credit: nba.com/nets

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN — The Sacramento Kings had a “tough night” and beginning to their four-game road trip on Friday night as they played short-handed and lost 116-97 to the Brooklyn Nets.

Both teams struggled with offense to start at Barclays Center, but Garrett Temple hit a triple to give the Nets a lead—that lasted the entire game except for one tie with a few minutes remaining in the first quarter. Brooklyn lead by as many as 22 points. Sacramento was only 4-26 from the three-point line.

“Tough night for us,” Kings head coach Luke Walton said. “If you’re a 3-point shooting team and you shoot 15 percent, you’re not going to win a lot of games. Where we have to be better at are things that we can control.” The Kings could not control the number of injuries that have plagued the team. They played without Bogdan Bogdanovic due to left hamstring tightness, in addition to Marvin Bagley and De’Aaron Fox who have been out with injuries.

Buddy Hield, who tried to step up in his teammates’ absence, had similar words to Walton about their performance: “It was a tough night.”

“When we have extra guys that can make shots it’s a little easier, but missing Bogie didn’t help us for sure,” Hield said. “It’s always ‘next man up’ mentality and we had to come out here and play. They did a good job. they made some shots and made some good plays.” The Kings trailed 26-23 after the first quarter and stayed in the game in the second, trailing 56-49 at the half. Rookie Justin James scored 4 points in 13 minutes played in the first half.

“I felt good out there—I was playing my game. I had a lot of mishaps defensively that I’m not too happy about but coach called on my number and I was ready to play,” James said. “Bogie was down tonight so I tried to come up and play the best that I can.” The game ran away from them in the Kings in third. The Nets began 4-4 and a 10-2 run led Walton to call a timeout. The Kings finished the quarter down 86-70. Sacramento’s bench players came out in the fourth quarter and the Kings fell to a 6-8 record.

The Nets won on rebounds 48-33, while the Kings beat them on assists 26-22 and had 16 turnovers, two fewer than the Nets. The Nets dominated on three’s, scoring 12.

“Brooklyn executed it well tonight and for whatever reason we didn’t do a good enough job of creating looks,” Walton said. “When we did get good looks, we just didn’t knock them down.” Brooklyn was without injured stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

The Kings continue their east coast road trip on Sunday facing the Washington Wizards. Tipoff is at 3 p.m.

Mavericks trounce the Warriors 142-94

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The Dallas Mavericks overpowered the short-handed Warriors 142-94 Wednesday night in Dallas. The Warriors, down to eight healthy players, were not able to handle the Mavericks. They could not stop the Mavs’ offense, and they had trouble putting the ball in the basket while on offense.

The Mavs’ were led by the second-year star, Luka Doncic. Doncic outscored the W’s 22-16 in the first period. The Mavs finished the quarter leading 44-26. The game was over for all intents and purposes. The Mavs continued the onslaught in the second quarter and finished the first half with a 38-point advantage 74-36. The W’s were done, but they still had to play the second half.

Dallas did not let up. They won the second half 68-56 to hand the Warriors their worst loss since a playoff game in the 1973 season. The Warriors dropped to 3-13 while Dallas Improved to 9-5.

Game Notes- Luka Doncic led his team with 35 points. He had 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his second straight triple-double and seventh of the young season. He had help from Kristaps Porzingis with 14 points and 10 boards. Tim Hardaway, Jr had 20, and Jalen Brunson, a former teammate of Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall at Villanova, finished the night with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Mavs shot 57% from the floor and made 22 threes in 38 tries.

The Warriors were led by Eric Paschall’s 22 points and 7 rebounds. Ky Bowman had 16. Alec Burks, Omari Spellman, Marquis Chriss, and Kordan Poole all had 11 in a losing effort. All eight of the players Steve Kerr sent into the game were with the team last year. Draymond Green was not available due to soreness in his right heel. The W’s shot 39% from the floor, and they made 7 threes in 27 attempts.

The Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr, speaking about the devastating drubbing, said to “flush it down the toilet.” The Warriors are off on Thursday. They resume play Friday night in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.

 

Warriors cruise past the Grizzlies 114-95 in Memphis

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors looked to snap a 7-game losing skid and they did just that on Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum.

The Warriors’ starting five featured Alec Burks, Draymond Green, Glenn Robinson III, Eric Paschall and Willie Cauley-Stein. The Warriors were ready to rock as they took the floor.

The Warriors’ defense got off to a good start. Draymond Green went out of the group and ran with Robinson III to hammer down an alley-oop to extend the Warriors’ lead to 12-5 with 8:41 left in the first quarter. Moreover, with two blocks Tuesday, Green (583) passed Andris Biedrins (580) for fifth on the Warriors’ all-time blocks list.

Despite the Warriors’ positives, Memphis barely led 30-28 at the end of the first.

But the Warriors stormed back scoring 33 points in the second quarter. The Warriors took a 61-46 lead to the locker room at the end of the first half.

Willie Cauley-Stein made some sweet shots to open the second half. Also, Golden State made some 3-pointers the hard way with slips and falls in the process. In addition, Eric Paschall made a baseline jump for the step back with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter. Paschall, in my opinion, could take Green’s place in the future, but we’ll see what happens. Green reportedly believes Paschall doesn’t know his NBA game yet. Yet, it’s debatable because Paschall has been averaging 16.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

The Warriors’ largest lead of the night occurred in the fourth with 5:44 left in regulation, thanks to Robinson III and Cauley-Stein.

The Warriors scored 31 points in the fourth to put the game out of reach for the Grizzlies. Golden State won by a final score of 114-95. With the win, Golden State is now 3-2, while Memphis falls to 5-9.

Alec Burk led the Warriors with 29 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Glenn Robinson III had 20 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound. Marquese Chriss scored 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks. Eric Paschall added 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block.

The Warriors meet the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 4:30 pm PST.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings win 5 of 7, look to keep it going tonight against the Suns

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Photo credit: skysports.com

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings have won five of their last seven games. What has been the difference for the Kings — coaching, accurate shooting, or great defense?

#2 The Kings just got by the Celtics on Sunday 100-99. How stunning was that?

#3 The Kings’ Buddy Hield responded with 35 points. He was the deal breaker in the Kings’ win on Sunday.

#4 In the first quarter, the Kings’ Buddy Hield and Nemanja Bjelica had nine and seven points and the Kings had a 30-18 lead coming out of the first quarter on Sunday on the Celtics.

#5 The Kings host the Phoenix Suns tonight night at Golden 1 Center. Charlie O sets this one up for us.

Sacramento Kings podcasts with Charlie O are heard each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Despite nine healthy players, Warriors fall to the Pelicans 108-100

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors’ miseries continued Sunday night as the team, who has just nine players available, lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 108-100 at Smoothie King Center.

Warriors starting point guard, D’Angelo Russell, suffered a sprained right thumb Friday night in the loss to Boston. Russell will be out for the next two weeks. As a result, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to redo his starting lineup. He had Draymond Green start at the point guard position. He was joined in the backcourt by Alec Burks. Eric Paschall and Glenn Robinson III started at forward, and Willie Cauley-Stein was at the center position.

The Warriors were competitive in the first quarter. They trailed 26-23. The Pelicans’ JJ Redick led the Pelicans to the three-point advantage. The Pelicans outscored the Warriors 29-26 in the second period to finish the first half of play leading 55-49.

The Pelicans continued to control the game as they built a 17-point lead. The Warriors got things going as they cut the deficit to three 77-74 early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors did not have enough firepower in the lineup to overtake the Pelicans down the stretch. The Pelicans held on to win 108-100.

Game Notes and Stats: The star of the night for Golden State was rookie Eric Paschall. The young man, who played college basketball at Vilanova, continued to impress as he tallied 30 points and had 7 rebounds. The backup point guard, Ky Bowman, knocked down 19. He was 3 for 7 from 3-point range. Bowman had 4 assists in the game. Marquese Chriss, coming off the bench, had 10 points and 7 boards. Glenn Robinson had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Draymond Green had a tough night as a point guard. Green scored seven, had 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. He was also charged with his fourth technical foul of the season.

The Pelicans had six players in double figures. JJ Redick led his team with 26 points. Redick connected on six three-pointers. The other guard, Jrue Holiday, had trouble scoring throughout most of the game. Holiday caught fire late and ended with 22 for the night. Nickeil Alexander-Walker knocked down 19. He made 5 threes. Nicolo Melli had 16. E’Tuan Moore had 10. Six-foot-11 inch Jaxson Hayes, making his first start in the NBA, had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. He also blocked three shots.

After the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had this to say:

“There are some funky lineups that are out there because of our injuries, and we’re short on shooting … If you can’t spread the floor shooting, you’ve got to be able to play with pace and make all the cuts. You’ve got to play faster. You have to get stops defensively so you can run.”

“I didn’t think we did a very good job of making New Orleans guard,” Kerr added. “We just kind of took quick shots.”

With the loss, the Warriors fell to 2-12. The Pelicans improved to 4-9.

Up Next: The Warriors meet the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night. Game time will be at 5 pm PST.

Kings stun the Celtics 100-99 at home

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — Sunday was going to be a test for the Sacramento Kings. Their Sunday opponent was the Boston Celtics. The Celtics have started out the season 10-1 and were on a 10-game win streak. It has been well-documented how the Kings started their season. However, the Kings have played much better as of late. The Kings were 4-7 on the year and looking for an upset at home. The tip-off was set for 12:30 PM PST in Sacramento.

The Kings played one of the best quarters of the season to open up the game. Led by Buddy Hield and Nemanja Bjeilica, who had 9 and 7 points, respectively, the Kings would jump out to an early lead 30-18. Leading the way for the Celtics was Jaylen Brown, who had a Celtics-leading 6 points heading into the second quarter. The Kings played really well throughout the opening quarter. The key for the Kings has been the defensive play. When the Kings play good defense, the rest seems to fall into place.

In the second quarter, the Kings didn’t play as well but part of that has to be contributed to the Celtics hitting their shots. Leading the way for the Celtics in the second was Semi Ojeleye. Semi had 8 points in the second to help bring the Celtics closer to the Kings. Going into halftime, the Kings remained in the lead at 50-46. Buddy Hield continued his good play finishing the half at 16 points. Headed into the second half the Kings were looking to keep the game under their control and not let the Celtics flip the script.

In the second half, the Kings were looking to stay on track. It would turn out to be a fairly competitive back and forth third quarter. The Kings didn’t melt down, which has been an issue in the third this year. However, they were unable to maintain the lead. The Celtics managed to put up 29 points in the third compared to the Kings’ 21 to take a 75-71. Buddy Hield continued his torrid stretch from the field, adding 11 points to his total in the third.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Kings had a shot to win the game against one of the best teams in the NBA. Both teams would trade baskets and keep even through the quarter. The game would come down to the final few minutes of action. With 36 seconds left in the game, the Kings’ Buddy Hield threw the ball out of bounds to make it 99-98 Celtics with the ball. The Celtics were unable to score and Marcus Smart had a foul on the Kings’ Holmes. He made both his free throws and the Celtics failed to score on the other end for a Kings win.

It was a great victory for the Kings, who snapped the Celtics’ win streak and improved to 5-7 on the year. The next game for the Kings will be Tuesday against the Suns at home. Game time set for 7:00 PM PST.

Warriors lose a hard-fought game to the Celtics, 105-100

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO — The young Warriors, with six players not available due to injury, gave the Boston Celtics all they could handle Friday night. The game wasn’t decided until the last few seconds of the fourth quarter. The Celtics went on a late 11-0 run en route to a 105-100 win.

The Warriors lost their best scorer, D’Angelo Russell, in the third quarter when he sustained a sprained right thumb. He went to the locker room and did not return. Rookie Eric Paschall suffered a right hand injury, but he was able to stay in the game.

The Celtics entered Chase Center with the best record in the NBA 10-1. They were facing the team with the worst record, the Warriors (2-10). The way the game went, one wouldn’t have known which team had the best record. The Warriors scrapped all the way. They played defense, and every Warrior on the floor gave his all in the losing effort. Their effort likely pleased head coach Steve Kerr. They suffered a blowout loss Wednesday night against the Lakers in LA. They bounced back Friday night and put everything they had on the floor on Friday.

The Warriors played a very exciting first quarter. They outscored Boston 32-23. They led by 15 points 25-10 midway through the quarter. The Celtics bounced back, but weren’t able to catch the Warriors as they trailed by nine at the end of the period. The tide turned in Boston’s favor in the second quarter. The Celtics’ defense held the Warriors to 19 points. The Celtics scored 29 and finished the first half with a one-point advantage 52-51. Jayson Tatum led the Celtic attack with 17 points. Marcus Smart had nine. Jaylen Brown 8, and Kemba Walker, the team’s leading scorer, had 6. The Warriors were led by Eric Paschall’s 11, D’Angelo Russell 10, and Alec Burks 9.

The Celtics held the Warriors to 20 points in the third quarter. They scored 24 to increase the lead to 76-71 at the end of the period.

The Warriors refused to roll over. They played hard, and players such as Ky Bowman, Omari Spellman, Alec Burks, and Eric Paschall made vital buckets to keep the Warriors in the game. They tied the game at 80 and again at 88. The Warriors owned a five-point advantage 97-92 with  two minutes and 29 seconds left to play. It was at this point that the Celtics went on an 11-0 run to lead 103-97. Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker were the key Celtics making plays during the 11-0 run. The Warriors made a three to trail 1-3-100 with 3.5 seconds left. Boston made two free throws to ice the win.

Game Notes: Alec Burks led the Warriors with 20 points. Eric Paschall had 16 points and 8 boards. Draymond Green had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell finished with 12 points, Willie Cauley-Stein had 10 points and 8 boards. Omari Spellman had 8, Ky Bowman had 6, and Jordan Poole had 4.

Boston was led by Jayson Tatum’s 24 points, Kemba Walker found his game in the fourth quarter, and he finished with 20 points. Jaylen Brown had 22 points, and Marcus Smart had 15 points.

The Warriors lost their sixth in a row and are now 2-11 for the year. The Celtics won their 10th in a row and are now 10-1.

Up Next: The Warriors travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans Sunday at 4 pm PT.

Lakers put down Warriors 120-94; 5th straight loss for S.F. team

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photo from sfgate.com: Golden State Warriors’ D’Angelo Russell, right, dribbles around Los Angeles Lakers’ Avery Bradley, center, on a screen from Draymond Green during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 13

By Jerry Feitelberg

The undermanned Golden State Warriors fell to the bigger Los Angeles Lakers in LA on Wednesday night by a score of 120-94. The Warriors, down to nine healthy players due to the injury to Damian Lee’s hand, gave the Lakers a tussle for about the first six minutes of play in the first quarter. The Lakers were too big, and the Warriors could not protect the rim.

The Warriors, still without Steph Curry, Kevon Looney, Alen Smailagic, Are having a painful time scoring points and keeping the opposition from scoring. The Warriors are now 2-10 for the year. The silver lining is that the young players are learning on the job how to play in the NBA.

In the first quarter, with the Warriors trailing 17-15, the Lakers went on a 12-0 run to make it 29-15. They continued to outplay the young Warriors and finished the quarter with a 12-point lead 38-26. The Warriors kept pace with the Lakers in the second quarter. Each team scored 29 points, and the Lakers finished the first half leading by 12 points 67-55. The Warriors’ scoring was led by D’Angelo Russell with 17. Eric Paschall was second with 9, and Willie Cauley-Stein had eight. LeBron James led the Lakers with 19. Kyle Kuzman and Dwight Howard each had 9.

The Lakers went on a 10-2 run early in the third period to increase the lead to nineteen 79-60. The Warriors could not get anything going, and the quarter ended with LA in control 98-82. The Lakers outscored the Warriors 22-12 in the fourth quarter to win by twenty-six 120-94.

Game Notes: The Warriors, as mentioned above, played the game with nine healthy players. The Dubs hade five players in double figures. D’Angelo Russell led the team with 21. Rookie Eric Paschall continued to impress everyone with play as he recorded 15 points and three rebounds. Jordan Poole had 11. Cauley-Stein and Draymond Green each had ten. Alec Burks, coming off the bench, had nine.

The Lakers also had five players in double figures. LeBron James, in 26 minutes of action, knocked down 23 points, 6 boards, and 12 assists. Kyle Kuzma had 22. Former Warrior JaVale McGee also had a big night as he torched his old mates for 18points and 17 rebounds. Big Dwight Howard contributed 15 in helper the Lakers win. Former Warrior Quinn Cook finished with 10.

The stats showed the Warriors shot 40.5% from the floor. They made 36 buckets in 89 tries. The Lakers had the same number of shots, but they made 48. They were 54% from the floor. The Lakers outrebounded the Warriors 51-33.  The Lakers improved to 9-2 for the year.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face another tough opponent, the Boston Celtics, Friday night at the Chase Center. The Celtics have won nine in a row and are 9-1 for the season. The game will be at 7:30 pm

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings going for their fourth win in five games tonight in Sacramento

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sacbee.com file photo: The Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox drives on the Toronto Raptors defense on Nov 6th game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Fox is out with an ankle injury for unknown amount of time.

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings have won three of their last four games, including a win over the Atlanta Hawks 121-109. Were these games a matter of surprise wins for Sacramento or just hard work starting to pay off for the Kings?

#2 The Sacramento Kings’ Buddy Hield scored 22 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points in the game against the Hawks.

#3 The game was on the Hawks floor, and try as they may, the Hawks could barely keep up with the Kings. The Kings have some very quick players and the Hawks lost by 12

#4 Talk about the Kings defense. They seemed to maintain the Hawks throughout the game and were able to establish winning and their defense worked in the fourth quarter.

#5 The Kings host the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night at Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento. You’ve seen them win on this road trip. Could their odds go up a little bit for Tuesday night’s game having the home floor?

Charlie O does Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Jazz cruise to a victory over Warriors 122-108

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sfgate.com photo: The Utah Jazz Rudy Gobert takes a shot against the Golden State Warriors defense at Chase Center in San Francisco on Monday night

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO — The visiting Utah Jazz downed the Warriors 122-108 Monday night at the Chase Center. The Warriors’ All-Star forward, Draymond Green, returned to action after missing several games with an injured left index finger.

The Jazz, coached by Quinn Snyder, owned a record of 6-3 coming into the game. The Jazz revamped their roster as they added guard Michael Conley. Conley was an All-Star in Memphis for many years. Another addition to the roster was Bojan Bogdanovic, who came to Utah after playing for the Indiana Pacers last season.

The Jazz has other players that are All-Stars. Rudy Gobert, the seven-foot one-inch center, is back for another year. Donovan Mitchell continues to sparkle at the guard position, and he had a big night against the Warriors.

The Warriors and Jazz played a very competitive first quarter. The Jazz led early in the period. The W’s D’Angelo Russell knocked down three threes in a row to give the Warriors the lead 19-17. Utah came back and regained the lead briefly. The Warriors went ahead 24-23 on a D’Angelo Russell 2-point bucket. That would be the last time the Warriors had the lead. Russell finished the first period with 18 points.

Utah outscored the Warriors 35-24 in the second period to finish the first half with a 15-point lead 69-54. Utah knocked down 9 threes. The W’s had four. This was one of the reasons the Jazz led by 15. The other reason was the advantage the Jazz had at the free-throw line. Utah outscored the Warriors 16-2 from the charity stripe.

The Warriors outscored the Jazz 31-28 in the third quarter. Jordan Poole, D’Angelo Russell, Alec Burks, Damian Lee, and Eric Paschall all made contributions to help the Warriors win the quarter. They trailed 97-85 at the end of three-quarters of play.

The Warriors, as hard as they played, could not catch the Jazz. With 8:28 left to play, Draymond Green was charged with a double technical foul. Draymond appeared to be run over by a Utah player. He went to the floor but was charged with a reach-in foul. Green objected and was hit with a T.

He continued to question the call, and he was slapped with his second T. He had to leave. The Warriors could not catch the Jazz. They played well on defense, but they did not have enough firepower to get back into the game. The Jazz win 122-108

Game Notes: D’Angelo Russell led the Warrior attack with 33 points. Russell had 8 assists, and he made five threes in nine tries. The other Warriors in double figures were Jordan Poole with 11, Marquis Chriss 11, and Alec Burns 10. Willie Cauley-Stein, Glenn Robinson, Damian Lee, and Eric Paschall each had 8.

Utah had seven players in double figures. Rudy Gobert had a double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell tallied 23, and he made 7 threes. Michael Conley tallied 22, and he knocked down six threes. Jeff Green and Bojan Bogdanovic each had 12. Joe Ingles and Emmanuel Mudiay had 11 each.

With the loss, the Warriors are now 2-9. Utah improved to 7-3. They are a power in the Western Conference and will be battling with the Lakers, Clippers, Rockets, and Denver for the best record in the West.

Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and the Warriors Eric Paschall have been best friends since they were six years old, growing up in Westchester County, New York. Hard to believe that two young men from the same neighborhood would be playing in the NBA. It’s a sweet story.

Up Next: The Warriors are back in action Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Chase Center. The game will be on ESPN at 7:00 pm. The Boston Celtics visit the Warriors on Friday.