Tag: NBA

Warriors outlast Kings to win another thriller 125-123

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors, playing the first game in a week due to the All-Star break, had their hands full as they were able to stop the Kings on the last play of the game to win. The Kings, coached by Dave Joerger, are not the Kings of old. They are a good young team of gifted athletes that are on the rise. They have drafted players that are speedy, have size, and can score. They are good inside and have players that can make three-point shots. They took the 6-foot-11 forward Marvin Bagley III in the first round of the draft. Bagley was one and done at Duke, and the 19-year-old rookie is making his presence felt. Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox are young and improving. The Kings traded for the veteran forward Harrison Barnes. They acquired Harry Giles, who is 6-foot-10, and Alec Burks. They signed Corey Brewer to a 10-day contract. These players are making the Kings so much better. However, they were playing the defending the NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors. Thursday night’s game was the fourth and final game between the two teams during the regular season, and it was not easy for the Warriors, but they were able to hold off the Kings to sweep the season series. The Warriors won the game 125-123.

The Warriors won the first quarter 35-30. It was a fast-paced first quarter. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant led the team to the early first quarter advantage. The Kings turned the tables in the second quarter as they outscored the Warriors 32-25 to finish the first half leading 62-60. The Kings led 54-43 until the Warriors went on a 10-0 run. Steph made two three-pointers in the run to get the Warriors closer to the lead. The Kings increased the lead to six, but Durant and Klay Thompson made key buckets to get the Warriors closer.

Each team tallied 29 points in the third quarter and the score at the end of the quarter was 91-89 in favor of Sacramento. The Kings led for the entire quarter. They led by seven 91-84, but Durant scored the last five points of the period. He made a bucket to make it 91-86 and then hit a three as the buzzer sounded to close the quarter trailing 91-89.

DeMarcus Cousins scored four points to start the fourth quarter and put Golden State ahead 93-91. Cousins made two free throws and a bucket.  The Kings came back to tie the score at 96. Draymond Green made a three, but the Kings countered with a three of their own to tie at 99. The lead changed hands a couple of time and tied at 104. Curry made a three and Thompson followed with a two-point bucket to give the Warriors a 109-104 advantage. They went up by six when Curry hit another three to lead 117-111. The Kings’ Buddy Hield knocked down a three. Thompson responded with a three of his own, and the Warriors led 120-114 with 1:11 left to play. On the next play, it appeared that Green stripped Bagley driving to the basket. The referee tagged Green with a foul. Green couldn’t believe the call and he sprinted to the other end of the court to avoid being charged with a technical foul. His histrionics didn’t help him as he was charged with a technical. Bagley made all three free throws, and the Kings were still alive. Thompson made a mid-range jumper to increase the lead to five. Buddy Hield knocked down another three to make it 123-120. Hield then fouled Curry in the backcourt. Curry made both free throws. The Kings came back with another three to rail by two with 7.4 seconds left. The Warriors almost turned the ball over as Curry had trouble handling the ball on the inbound pass. Somehow, he was able to get the ball to Andre Iguodala. Iguodala was fouled attempting a reverse layup and was awarded two free throws. If Iguodala made both free throws, the game would have been over. He missed both and Sacramento took time out with 6.5 seconds to play. Their strategy was to inbound the ball to Buddy Hield and have him take a three-point shot for the win. The Kings got the ball to Hield, who was open. He did not take the shot, but opted to drive to the basket and make a mid-range jumper to tie the score and send the game to overtime. The Warriors defense rose to the challenge and the best Hield could do was shoot an airball that landed in Kevin Durant’s hands. The Warriors escaped with a thrilling 125-123 win over the Kings.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improve to 42-16. The Kings drop to 30-28. The Kings are in a race with the LA Clippers and LA Lakers for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs. If the Kings finish eighth and the Warriors first, the two teams will meet in the opening round of the playoffs. The Warriors outscored the Kings by just 12 points to win all four games. The Warriors would have their hands full if that were to occur.

All five Warrior starters were in double figures. Curry led the team with 36 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Curry made 10 three-point shots. It was the 14th time in his career that he made 10 or more three-point shots in a game and the fifth time this season. Durant had 28 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and a tied a career-high with seven blocked shots. Cousins had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson had a tough night as he was 4 for 12 until late in the game. He finished with 18 and made two clutch threes down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Green had 12 points, 6 boards, 8 assists, and knocked down three threes in five tries.

The Kings had seven players in double figure. Marvin Bagley, coming off the bench, led Sacramento with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Buddy Hield had 19, Harrison Barnes 13, De’Aaron Fox 18, Willie Cauley-Stein 10, Bogdan Bogdanovic 14. Veteran forward Corey Brewer had 11, and he made three threes to keep Sacramento in the game.

The Warriors defense held the Kings to 43.4% from the floor. The Warriors had 6 steals and blocked 12 shots. The Warriors committed 11 turnovers in the first half and that cost them 14 points. They focused on protecting the ball in the second half and were able to limit the turnovers to four.

Up Next: The Warriors face the Houston Rockets Saturday night at Oracle Arena. The Rockets lost to the Lakers Thursday night. Game time will be at 5:30 pm.

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Will Machado signing open doors for Harper and Keuchel?; Raiders-Coliseum to get a deal done; Kings at Golden State tonight; plus more

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bleacherreport.com file photo: Bryce Harper’s negotiations with the Washington Nationals is not the same offer that the San Diego Padres Manny Machado received as Harper remains a free agent

On Headline Sports with Tony:

#1 The recent signing of Manny Machado to the a ten year $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres could that mean more big signings to come with Dallas Keuchel and Bryce Harper.

#2 The Raiders are at the bargaining table with the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority to get a deal on the table to get the Raiders back at the Coliseum for home games the Raiders might even sign a two year deal if the stadium in Vegas is not ready by the 2020 season.

#3 The Sacramento Kings are coming off a tough two point loss to the Denver Nuggets on Feb 14th they’re in Oakland tonight to face the Warriors.

#4 The Oakland A’s president David Kaval finally solved the A’s radio flagship station issues getting KTRB 860 in San Francisco and now the biggest task at hand trying to solve the toxic waste clean up at the A’s future new home at Jack London Square

#5 The Giants biggest story is the retirement announcement of manager Bruce Bochy who will finish his career this season

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports with London Marq: Machado locked in, will Pads shop for more big signings?; Donaghy uncovered fixed NBA games; Baseball superstars still unsigned; plus more

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Photo credit: @TimFromPuyallup

On Headline Sports with London Marq:

#1 Manny Machado signed baseball’s biggest contract with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday for 10 years and $300 million. What does this do for the Padres and how does someone like Machado get away from the Dodgers?

#2 Former NBA official Tim Donaghy was accused of betting on basketball, but it was never really revealed how he fixed games until an ESPN report saying that Donaghy was paid to fix games and got paid to do it. Some of the top NBA officials came from Philadelphia and Donaghy was from those parts. The influence as to why was simple…money!

#3 Baseball superstars Dallas Keuchel, Bryce Harper and Craig Kimbrell are still free agents looking for that longterm lucrative contract and all three are not in a MLB spring training camp holding out until some big league team comes calling with boatloads of money in the neighborhood of $300 million. At this early stage of spring training, are they fooling themselves or are they onto something?

#4 One of the first African American pitchers in baseball history, Dan Newcombe passed away on Tuesday at age 92. Newcombe joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949. He finished his ten-year career with the Dodgers at 149-90 and an ERA of 3.56. Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said he was the best hitting pitcher he ever saw.

#5 Knowing that San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who has announced his retirement after this season, was it a matter of Bochy losing his magical touch in the last few seasons or he just simply doesn’t have the talent on the Giants roster to win a World Series again–much like he did previously?

London Marq does the Sports Headlines podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings prepare for Warriors on Thursday night; Trying for W at tough venue in Oakland

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Photo credit: @TheCrossover

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Sacramento Kings had no answer for the Denver Nuggets Isaiah Thomas. Thomas worked the game without head coach Mike Malone who ejected and also the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic helped out on offense for the 120-118 win.

#2 The much improved Kings, despite Wednesday’s loss, played a tight ball game against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

#3 Knowing Malone’s coaching style, was there any advantage for the Kings or did Malone know the Kings’ style of play and knew how to play the Nuggets?

#4 The Kings are looking to get back in the win column. They play at Golden State on Thursday night. What are some of the things they need to do to win in Oakland?

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

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Importance for Golden State of Durant’s MVP All-Star award

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Photo credit: @NBA

On the Golden State Warriors podcast with David:

#1 How important is it for Golden State to have Kevin Durant win the 2019 All-Star Game MVP?

#2 Durant made it look easy with his 31 points in the All-Star contest for Team LeBron and also he played against his Golden State teammate Stephen Curry on Team Giannis, who scored 17 points.

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

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Warriors looking forward to All-Star break after playing five games in eight days

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Photo credit: @warriors

On the NBA podcast with Jerry:

#1 Golden State were without Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and DeMarcus Cousins for Wednesday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. How much of a load was it for the rest of the team in the loss to the Blazers 129-107?

#2 How exhausted is the team playing its fifth game in eight days?

#3 In the second and third quarters, neither team gave in. It was a tough bout, noting that the Warriors held a five-point lead at most and the Blazers had a six-point lead.

#4 Draymond Green had been hit with a flagrant foul, resulting in head coach Steve Kerr getting thrown out on two technicals.

#5 The Warriors host the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 21st and the Kings could be a handful at times this season.

Jerry does the NBA podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings For a Half: Nuggets pick it up after the break in 120-118 win over Sacramento

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By Morris Phillips

The Sacramento Kings may have run wild in the first half on Wednesday night, but the third quarter belonged to the Denver Nuggets–with Isaiah Thomas in his debut, without Coach Mike Malone who was ejected, and MVP candidate Nikola Jokic reaching into his bag of tricks.

The Nuggets overcame an 11-point halftime deficit in the first six minutes of the third quarter and held on for a 120-118 win over the Kings.

Both teams concluded play prior to the All-Star Break, with the Nuggets moving within two games of the conference-leading Warriors, and the Kings temporarily falling out of the eighth and final playoff spot by losing while the Clippers blew past the Suns, 134-107 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Kings started the evening four games over .500 for the first time this season, and they hardly looked satisfied, shooting a high percentage from the start on their way to an 11-point lead after a quarter. Buddy Hield put up 11 of his team-high 25 points in the opening frame that end with Sacramento leading 41-30.

The Kings continued to roll into the second quarter, and with their lead holding at eight prior to the half, Malone was at his boiling point. When Malik Beasley took a physical path to the basket without a foul call, Malone went from coaching to observing instaneously. Two technicals sent the defensive-minded coach to the showers.

“I think our players know me, they know who I am,” Malone said of his ejection. “I am a fighter, I am a competitor. I didn’t like some of the calls that were not being called and I am going to stick up for my players.”

Denver’s third quarter response was an example of why and how quickly they’ve vaulted to the top of the Western standings this season. With Jokic the primary ballhandler, the Denver offense turned poetic, a parade of driving, cutting and passing with the 6’11” center as the hub. Jokic’s consecutive assists on baskets by Torrey Craig and Malik Beasley brought the Nuggets within 85-83 with 3:09 left in the third.

Isaiah Thomas got into the act later in the third with eight, quick points in the final two minutes plus that allowed the Nuggets to open the fourth period with a 93-91 lead. Thomas, seeing his first action in Denver uniform, missed the first 56 games of the season rehabbing his hip.

When asked what type of impact Thomas will have on the Nuggets and their post-season aspirations, Monte Morris, a player who likely will lose minutes to Thomas, was quick to chime in.

“13 minutes out there (and score) eight points quick.” Morris said. “That just shows you right there what type of player he is.”

Jokic tipped in the game winner with 0.8 seconds remaining, which allowed enough time for a desperation shot from the Kings. Hield got a shot off that would have counted, but it merely grazed the front of the rim.

The Kings open the post All-Star break portion of the schedule in Oakland a week from Thursday against the Warriors.

Warriors run out of gas in fourth quarter, lose to Trail Blazers 129-107

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors, playing their fifth game in eight days and the second in a row, fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 129-107 at the Moda Center in Portland. The Warriors were without the services of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and DeMarcus Cousins.

For three quarters, it was a very entertaining game as neither team could pull away. The biggest lead the Blazers had was six points, and the best the W’s could do was five points. The Warriors finished the first quarter leading 33-31. Kevin Durant led the Warrior attack with 16 points. Oakland native Damien Lillard paced the Blazers with 13. The Blazers won the second quarter 33-28 and led by three 64-61 at the end of the first half. Durant led the Warriors with 20 in the first half. Steph Curry had 14. Draymond Green added 9, and Klay Thompson had 7. Lillard led the Blazers with 15. CJ McCollum had 9, Jusuf Nurkic 9 and Evan Turner 8.

The third quarter was more of the same. Neither team would give an inch. The Warriors managed to outscore the Blazers 34-30 and led by one point 95-94 heading into the fateful fourth quarter. Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr sent out Quinn Cook, Jonas Jerebko, Klay Thompson, Kevon Looney, and Alfonzo McKinnie to start and that enabled Curry and Durant get some rest. The Portland bench had other ideas as they played well on defense and were able to increase the lead to nine 110-101. Jonas Jerebko made a bucket to make it 110-103. It was at this point in the contest that things went south for the Warriors. Draymond Green was called for a flagrant foul on forward Zach Collins. There was no question that it was a hard foul. However, to this observer, it was a long way from a flagrant foul. Steve Kerr went ballistic and went after the refs as he felt the call was not appropriate. There were three technicals called on Golden State. Two were on Kerr, and he had to leave the arena. Lillard made all three for Portland. Collins made his two, and the ball went back to Portland. The Blazers made a three, and they expanded the lead to 118-103. The Warriors were toast at this point. The Warriors removed the Big Three from the game, and the Blazers coasted to a 129-107 win.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors’ 11-game road winning streak came to an end. They lost for the second time in the last 18 and finished 41-16 at the break for the All-Star game. Portland improved to 34-23.

Curry and Durant finished with 32 each. No other Warrior was in double figures. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green had 9. Thompson scored two in the second half, and Green did not score at all. The Warrior bench was outscored 52-23.

The Blazers had 8 players in double figure. Lillard led the club with 29. Jake Layman, coming off the bench, had 17 for Portland. Steph’s brother, Seth, added 11 to help his Blazer team beat his brother’s Warriors.

Up Next: The Warriors are off until February 21st. They face the Sacramento Kings at Oracle. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.

Warriors find a way to take down the red-hot Jazz 115-108

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The game between the Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz Tuesday night at Oracle Arena had the feel of a playoff game. Both teams came into the contest red hot. The Jazz had were 12-3 entering the game, and the Warriors were 15-1. The Warriors, who started slowly against Phoenix and Miami, were determined to get off to a good start against the Jazz. Both teams struggled to put points on the board in the early going. Both squads played excellent defense until late in the quarter. The Warriors finished the first 12 minutes with a 25-14 advantage. With the score 11-5, Klay Thompson left the game with an injured left hand. He went to the locker room and came back with his middle finger and ring finger taped together. Thompson suffered a sprained ring finger and was able to continue.

The Jazz won the second quarter 30-22 to finish the first half trailing the W’s 47-44. The Jazz’ Jae Crowder, who tormented the Dubs, when he was with Boston, made two threes to keep Utah in the game. As mentioned above, both teams viewed the contest like a playoff game, and neither team could get much offense going. The Warriors made just four threes in twenty attempts. The Jazz was slightly better as they connected five times in eleven tries. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry led the W’s with eleven each. Klay had six, and Andre Iguodala helped out with two three-point buckets. Leading scorers for the Jazz were Rudy Gobert, Roye O’Neale, and Jae Crowder with 8 each. Donovan Mitchell had 7.

Utah, feeling the shift in momentum, took it to the Warriors in the third period. The Warriors did score 34 in the period, but Utah scored 40. They grabbed their first lead of the game since they started the game 2-0. They led 67-66. The W’s fought back, but Utah was able to build a five-point advantage 78-73. The Warriors trailed 79-78 after Durant made a basket and free throw. Utah didn’t wilt and finished the quarter leading 84-81. The Jazz upped the lead to seven 91-84. It was at this point that the Warriors went on a 22-6 run to go ahead 108-97. The Warriors, who were one for fifteen on threes to start the game, started to hit them. Draymond Green started the run with a basket. Andre Iguodala followed with a steal and a dunk. Klay hit a three. Later in the spurt, Steph Curry made two threes in a row. The Warriors were able to maintain the lead, and they won another thriller 115-108.

Game Notes and Stats- With the win, the W’s are 16-1 in their last 17 games and are now 41-15 for the year. Utah drops down to 32-25.  The Jazz, coached by Quin Snyder, may be the team that no one wants to face in the playoffs.

Leading scorers for the W’s were Kevin Durant with 27, Steph 24, and Klay 22. Klay didn’t play as many minutes as usual and was fresh when he started the fourth quarter. He tallied eight points that helped the Dubs stay close. He passed Dale Ellis with his 1720th three-pointer.  Iguodala had 13 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and made three 3s in 3 tries. DeMarcus Cousins had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Cousins, Kevon Looney, and Draymond Green kept Rudy Gobert in check all night long. The big Frenchman finished with 13. Donovan Mitchell found his game in the second half and led the Jazz with 25. He made three threes in eight attempts. Ricky Rubio had 16. Joe Ingles finished with five. Stopping Ingles had been a problem for the Dubs as the Jazz had beaten them five times in the last 7 games. Ingles was not able to damage from beyond the three-point arc Tuesday night.

The Warriors travel to Portland to pay the Blazers Wednesday night. Game time is at 7:30 pm. This will be the last game for the Warriors before All-Star weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson will represent the Warriors.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings take advantage of Heat’s bad shooting; Bagley buries Suns with scoring

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie:

#1 Two players in the rotation and two players trade on the Kings.

#2 Kings head coach Dave Joerger said the win over the Miami Heat 102-96 in a word “discombobulated.”

#3 To show you how good the Kings are going, they scored their final six points to seal the victory at game’s end.

#4 Miami and Phoenix is having a tough time with their shooting was that an added advantage for the Kings?

#5 The Kings defeated the Phoenix Suns on Sunday 117-104. Marvin Bagley III led the way with scoring with 32 points in the win.

#6 The Kings are off to Denver this Wednesday night for a 6:00pm tip at the Pepsi Center

Charlie O does the Sacramento Kings podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com