Tag: NBA

Kevin Durant scores 50 points, but it’s not enough as Warriors lose a thriller to Trail Blazers 123-117

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors fell behind by 20 points in the first half almost made an incredible comeback, but they could not catch the Portland Trail Blazers as they lost 123-117 Wednesday night at the Moda Center.

The Warriors had another poor first quarter as the Blazers came out firing. The Blazers’ backcourt duo of C.J. McCollum and Damien Lillard were unstoppable as they led the team to victory over the Warriors. The Blazers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors and sent the Warriors down to second place in the Western Conference. With the loss, the Warriors record of 44-14 is 1/2 game behind the Houston Rockets’ 44-13. The Rockets also own the tie-breaker with the Warriors which means if the teams finish the season with an identical record, the Rockets would have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Blazers raced to a 40-27 advantage after the first period. The Warriors finished the first half trailing by 12 points 63-51. Kevin Durant came to life in the third quarter, and he tallied 18 points to help close the gap to 92-87 after three quartersof play. The Warriors came close and tied the game at one point, but they could never regain the lead. KD hit a 3-pointer to make it 114-111 late in the fourth quarter. McCollum answered with a three of his own with just 2:15 left to play. The Blazers handled all the challenges and finished the night with another victory at home.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors are off until February 22nd when they meet the LA Clippers at Oracle Arena. The Warriors’ Big Four of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are heading to Los Angeles to play in the annual NBA All-Star game. Head coach Steve Kerr is on his way to Hawaii for a few days of rest and relaxation.

The Blazers’ backcourt duo of McCollum and Lillard scored 73 points and the Blazer defense held Curry and Thompson to just 34. The Warriors bench did not give the team much help offensively as they were outscored by Portland’s bench 21-16. The Warriors committed 16 turnovers in the loss.

The offensive star for Golden State was Kevin Durant, who knocked down 50 points, and had six assists, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots.

Green had a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards.

Steve Kerr was very thoughtful about the events that took place in Parkland, Florida, where at least 17 people were killed in another tragic school shooting. Kerr had this to say, ”Nothing has been done. It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools. It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, movie theater. It’s not enough apparently to move our leadership, our government, the people who are running this country, to actually do anything. That’s demoralizing. But we can do something about it: We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives and not just bow down to the NRA because they financed their campaign for them. Hopefully we’ll find enough people, first of all, to vote good people in, but hopefully we can find enough people with courage to actually help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues, not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety, but actually protecting us from what truly is dangerous, which is maniacs with semi-automatic weapons just slaughtering our children. It’s disgusting.”

Up Next: The Warriors host the Clippers at Oracle Arena next Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 pm PT.

Kings lose to Rockets 100-91; Houston enters All-Star break with 10 straight wins

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Photo credit: @NBCSAuthentic

By: Ana Kieu

Last night, a streak was broken and swept up against the Dallas Mavericks, and the Sacramento Kings traveled to South Texas to take on the Houston Rockets in a Valentine’s Day game at the Toyota Center on Wednesday night.

The Kings were doing just fine in the first quarter. They got some insurance points from Buddy Hield too.

 

 

 

The Kings led the Rockets 25-20 at the end of the first.

However, the Rockets bounced back with 35 points in the second quarter. The Kings scored just 20 points in the second.

The Kings trailed the Rockets 55-45 at the half.

Since the Kings were down by 10 at halftime, they decided to have some fun on Twitter. Rapper Gucci Mane tweeted, “It’s never too late. You can still do it!” The Kings quoted the tweet with “That’s right, Gucci! Trailing at the half but plenty of basketball to go.”

It was a low scoring third quarter, but the Kings outshot the Rockets 18-17 to end the third. Hield continued to make it rain with various types of shots, including buckets, on the court.

 

 

 

Despite the Kings ending the third on a high note, they continued to trail the Rockets 72-63 at the end of the third.

After that, the Kings’ Twitter announced the game’s Cold Hard Fact sponsored by Coors Light. That fact said: “Seven Kings players have at least four rebounds so far tonight.”

Both teams scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, but the Kings’ hard-fought battle came up short as they lost to the Rockets 100-91. Kings’ De’Aaron Fox received stitches above his right eye and chin after making contact with the floor during the early moments of tonight’s game in Houston.

Notes
Kings’ starters:

Kings’ crowdsourced startup powered by Sacramento Urban Technology Lab will return for the third year in a row.

Kings’ De’Aaron Fox will participate in the 2018 Rising Stars Game.

Kings’ dancers posted for a Valentine’s day photoshoot.

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/963925839271391233

Up Next
The Kings return home to kick off a three-game homestand, starting with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 pm PT.

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: Players take on coaching roles calling own plays and crush Suns

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On the Warriors podcast with Dave:

What a difference a week makes after losing three out four games the Warriors have righted the ship and have won three straight games. The latest game had Warriors players, assistant coaches, and yes on occasion head coach Steve Kerr taking the clipboard and designing or calling plays. It was a technique that worked doing it for the first time as Golden State trounced the Phoenix Suns on Monday night 129-83 at Oracle Arena.

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

 

Warriors blow out Suns 129-83 for third straight win

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Phoenix Suns were the owners of one of the worst records in the NBA this season, but gave the Warriors a little bit of a tussle during the first 12 minutes of the game. They trailed 25-24 after one quarter of play, and it was as close as they would come close all evening. The Warriors pounded them the next three quarters and trounced the Suns 129-83 at Oracle Arena on Monday night.

The Warriors were without the services of Draymond Green Monday. Green sprained his index finger in the game Saturday night against the Spurs, and the Warriors felt that they could handle the Suns without him. Were they right? Yeah. Omri Casspi started in Green’s place and had his best night as a Warrior with a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors overwhelmed the Suns by 16 in the second quarter, 11 in the third, and 18 in the fourth quarter. During timeouts, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr turned over his chalkboard to the players and they did a great job as the dominant Warriors swamped the hapless Suns.

Game Notes and Stats: The Suns were without the services of Devin Booker for the fourth straight game due to a hip pointer. The Suns cannot afford to lose Booker, who is a rising star in the NBA.

The Warriors shot 58.4% from the floor and held the Suns to just 34.7%.

The Suns were just 3-for-23 from 3-point range while the Warriors made 11 threes.

The Warriors recorded 36 assists and turned the ball over  11 times. On defense, the Warriors made eight steals and recorded 16 blocks.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 22 points, Kevin Durant had 17 points, six assists, and seven rebounds and he blocked two shots. Nick Young and Klay Thompson tallied 16. Patrick McCaw, who had played a couple of games in the G-League to help rebuild his confidence, scored nine.

The Suns were led by Elfrid Payton’s 29 points. Payton was playing his second game as a Sun since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Orlando Magic. The only other Sun in double figures was T.J.Warren with 14.

Up Next: The Warriors face the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday night in Portland. This will be the last game before the annual NBA All-Star game, which will be held in Los Angeles this weekend.

Thompson’s 25 points leads Warriors to a 122-105 beat down over Spurs

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs played a very competitive first half in Saturday night’s matchup at Oracle Arena. The Warriors led by three at the half, 58-55; but they once again owned the third quarter and went on to defeat the Spurs 122-105.

All five of the Warrior starters were in double figures. Klay Thompson, who scored 10 in the third quarter, led the team with 25 points. Draymond Green had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists. He needed two more rebounds for a triple-double. By the way, he wasn’t called for a technical foul Saturday night. Zaza Pachulia, who celebrated his 34th birthday, scored 12 points. Steph Curry added 17 points. Kevin Durant was held to a season-low 10 points. However, Durant has been a force on defense and assisted on six buckets tonight.

The Spurs–who are always a dangerous team–kept pace with the Warriors for the first 24 minutes of the game. The Warriors pulled away in the third quarter as the Spurs are missing their leader, Kawhi Leonard, who’s out with a quadriceps injury that has caused him to miss most of the season. LaMarcus Aldridge and Kyle Anderson led the Spurs with 20 each. Manu Ginobili, the ageless wonder, scored 13 coming off the bench. Marc Gasol tallied 7 for the purs.

Game Notes: The Warriors shot 56.5% from the floor and held the Spurs to 45.7%.

The Spurs were 5-for-27 from behind the three-point arc, while the Warriors made 12 3-pointers.

The Warriors recorded 35 assists and turned the ball over 16 times.

The win marked the 250th for head coach Steve Kerr. He became the fastest to recorded 250 wins in NBA history.

Steph Curry had this to say about Kerr: “It’s been an amazing 3 1/2 years and hopefully more to come.”

“It’s a lot about him setting the identity and the culture around our team and just being a great people guy. There’s probably a better term for that. He just knows how to relate to each, and every one of us players and his coaching staff and you’re building that ultimate trust throughout the organization.”

Up Next: The Warriors welcome the Phoenix Suns for the first time this season on Monday night in Oakland at 7:30 pm PT.

After a slow start, Warriors regain their mojo and rout the Dallas Mavericks 121-103

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Photo credit: nba.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors did not get off to a good start Thursday evening at Oracle Arena against the Dallas Mavericks as they were outscored 33-23 in the first quarter. They were not playing defense nor were they scoring on offense, and the Mavericks raced out to an early 10-point lead.

The Warriors could not gain ground as they trailed by nine, 44-35, at one point. Then, veteran center David West sparked a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to one, 46-45. The two teams traded leads the rest of the way, and the first half was tied at 60.

The Mavericks took nine more shots in the half, but were held to just 46% from the floor. The Warriors shot 57.5% from the floor but made only four three-pointers in 13 attempts.

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson each hit a three-pointer to start the third quarter, but the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run to take a 70-66 lead. The Warriors continued to commit a lot of turnovers, and at one point in the game, they had committed 11, which allowed Dallas to score 17 points.

About halfway through the quarter, the Warriors apparently decided to play quality basketball as their defense improved and their offense clicked. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant led the Warrior attack, and they were able to build an eight-point lead, 93-86, at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors’ bench led by Green, David West, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala, shut down the Mavericks’ offense as they broke the game open. Curry and Durant sat out during the final moments of the game. Thompson made a couple of key buckets, but was taken out with less than six minutes to play.

The Warriors defeated the Mavericks by a score of 121-103.

Game notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improved to 42-13 and the Mavericks’ record dropped to 17-38.

Former Warrior, Harrison Barnes, did not play for Dallas as he is recovering from an ankle injury.

The Warriors’ Big Four were all in double figures.

Green had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Durant led the team with 24. Curry had 20 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Thompson finished the night with 18, David West had 10, and the Warrior bench was productive with 39 points.

Mavericks veteran power forward Dirk Nowitzki is in his 20th season with Dallas and tallied 16 points. Former Stanford star, Dwight Powell, scored 18 points. Dennis Smith, Jr was impressive for the Mavericks with 22 points. Wesly Matthews added 17 points.

The Warriors stopped committing turnovers halfway through the third quarter and finished the night with 16. They are 31-4 when they commit 16 or fewer turnovers in a game.

The Warriors finished the night shooting 14-for-29 from the 3-point range. They also recorded 37 assists.

After the game, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr had quite a few things to say: “It took us a while to get going but I “liked the way we dug out.”

“Dallas controlled the first half but (I) didn’t feel we were in danger.”

“Liked the way Draymond fought. He was “just competing, but nothing was going down for him.”

” I think our talent took over in the third quarter. If we take care of the ball, we’re going to be in good shape.”

Up Next: The Warriors will be tested on Saturday as they welcome the San Antonio Spurs to Oracle Arena at 5:30 pm PT.

Thunder dominate Warriors at Oracle 125-105; Golden State drops third game in last four

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Photo credit: @NBA

By Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland — There have been many people expressing doubts about this years’ edition of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have not been able to get things goings. They have fallen behind too many times in the first half and have not handled the ball well or played defense as well as they have in the past three seasons.

The Thunder came into the game having lost four straight.

Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr wanted the team to get off to a fast start Tuesday night against the Thunder, but that did not happen.

The Thunder came out firing on all cylinders. They were led by Russell Westbrook, who looked to be unstoppable. The Thunder raced out to an early lead and never looked back as they swamped the Warriors 125-105.

The Thunder outscored them 42-30 in the first quarter, and they never let the Warriors climb back into the game. They moved the ball and defended the Warriors. They wouldn’t let Steph Curry or Klay Thompson get into any sort of rhythm. Kevin Durant was the only Warrior to get anything going against his former team.

Westbrook and Paul George made shot after shot and the Thunder’s big man, Steve Adams, had a huge night both on offense and defense.

No matter what Steve Kerr did, the Thunder had an answer. The Thunder led 70-57 at the half. The Warriors could do nothing in the third quarter as Paul George led the Thunder attack. The Warriors fell behind by 22 at the end of three quarters, and it is very rare for a team to win when they trail by that many so late in the game.

The Thunder kept the momentum going and they cruised to an easy 125-105 win over The Dubs.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors have now lost three out of the last four games they have played, and two of the losses were blowouts.

The Warriors are now tied in the loss column with 13 with the Houston Rockets, and the Rockets own the tiebreaker. If the teams end in a tie, Houston would have home court advantage.

The Warriors committed 25 turnovers Tuesday night.

The Warriors committed 25 turnovers in the Sacramento game, but were lucky to get a win. Many people are wondering when the Warriors are going to turn on the switch and start playing the way they have in the past three years. They are limping to the All-Star break, and hopefully, they can regroup and get back on track in time for the playoffs.

Durant led the scoring with 33. Curry had 21, but Thompson was held to 12. Draymond Green knocked down five. Green had seven assists and eight boards, but had to leave the game when has was called for his second technical foul of the night.

The refs called five technical fouls on the team in the game.

David West led the bench with nine, and Shaun Livingston had six.

The Warriors’ bench has not been as productive this year as it has been in previous years, and that may be a factor in the team’s recent lackluster performance.

George led the Thunder with 38. Westbrook had 34. Jerami Grant added 16, and Adams had 14.

The Thunder’s Carmelo Anthony suffered a sprained ankle early in the game and did not return to action. The win was OKC’s first in Oakland since 2013.

Up Next: The Warriors return to action Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks. Game time is at 7:30 pm PT at Oracle Arena.

Golden State Warriors Podcast with David Zizmor: After losing two straight teams going after champs and it’s taxing every night

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Photo credit: @957thegame

By David Zizmor

OAKLAND — Golden State Warriors hosting the Oklahoma Thunder tonight at Oracle Arena after coming off a couple road loses to Utah and Denver. The Warriors have nothing to fear after losing two in such close proximity. They’ve won titles and their carrying the league they’re favored to go all the way again this year.

For them to repeat the title, it’s not an accident for example they’ve had a lot fewer wins than they did last year. It’s really really stressful. It’s really, really straining, teams come at you every night because you have a chance at best and they go 100%. For the Warriors to keep up that effort and to fend it off every single night, it’s taxing and it’s really difficult.

Dave has much more on the Warriors podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Kings complete 21-point comeback to beat Bulls 104-98

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: Jordan Chapin

SACRAMENTO–The boo birds were out early, but by the time the clock read 0:00, it was bedlam at Golden 1 Center on Monday night. The Sacramento Kings trailed by as much as 21 points in a game, but they ended up winning, 104-98, over the Chicago Bulls.

After De’Aaron Fox went down early in the third quarter, somebody needed to step up big for Sacramento, and that player was JaKarr Sampson. Sampson brought major energy off the bench, including an emphatic dunk and a clutch 3-pointer. He ended his night with nine points, six rebounds, and one block.

In the first quarter, Sacramento shot 4-for-20 from the field, scored nine points, trailed by as much as 19. Little to say, it seemed like it was going to be another long night for the purple and black faithful.

Things started to shift midway into the second quarter following Robin Lopez’s words with official Justin Van Duyne just moments after Lopez was ejected. As a result, Lopez had to watch the rest of the game from the locker room.

The Kings continued to trail 55-41 at the end of the first half.

Kings coach Dave Joerger had something good to say at halftime because the Kings had overcome a 21-point deficit and took the lead, 96-93, after a Buddy Hield’s significant 3-pointer with 1:33 left to go in the game.

The Bulls quickly responded as Bobby Portis hit a 3-pointer of his own. With under a minute to go, and a tie ball game, Bogdan Bogdanovic threw up a step-back 3-pointer over two defenders that found the bottom of the net.

The Bulls had two decent looks to tie the game, but were unable to capitalize. The Golden 1 Center was in uproar as the Kings seized their 17th win of the season.

Sacramento has now broke the hearts of Bulls fans twice this year, as they sweep the season series 2-0. The Kings will have three full days off before they have to see Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night in Sacramento. After that, it does not get much easier as they travel to the Midwest to face a very good Minnesota Timberwolves team.

Sacramento Kings
Player of the Game: Bogdan Bogdanovic

Bogdan Bogdanovic lead all scorers for the Kings tonight with 15 points, but in a game Bogey struggled from the field, he was able to get himself to the free throw line six times.

With De’aaron Fox going down, Bogdanovic was put in a tough situation, and answered the bell by hitting what ended up being the biggest shot of the game. To go along with his 15 points, he added four assists and four rebounds.

Key Stats
Six players in double digits.

Sacramento’s Bench outscored the Bulls bench 55-22.

First time the Kings have swept the Bulls since the 06-07 season.

With the win, the Kings complete their largest comeback of the season (21).

After shooting 20% from the field in the first quarter, the Kings finished there night shooting at 44%.

Chicago Bulls
Player of the Game: Zach Lavine

Zach Lavine was playing in his 11th game of the season and the Bulls fans finally got what they had been waiting for, a poster, unfortunately JaKarr Sampson was the victim.

More importantly, Lavine set a new season high with 27 points and shot 4-for-8 from behind the arc.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg on Lavine’s night, “Zach’s getting a rhythm, he’s playing better, he’s getting more comfortable out there”. Lavine racked up two rebounds and two assists to go along with his 27 points

Key Stats
Shot 40% from the field, and 39% from 3-point land.

Bobby Portis finished his night with a double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds).

Bulls extend there losing streak to seven games.

Innocent Chairs that were thrown from anger by Robin Lopez: 1

Warriors run out of gas in fourth quarter fall to Denver Nuggets 115-108

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, playing the back end of a back-to-back series in the Mile High City, lost to the Denver Nuggets 115-108. The Warriors finished the game against the Kings in Sacramento and then boarded a plane and flew to Denver for the game. They probably arrived at the hotel at 4 am and didn’t get much sleep before game time. While it is not an excuse, the record shows that the Warriors own a 5-24 record when having to play in Denver after playing a game in the Pacific time zone.

The Nuggets, under Mike Malone, are an up-and-coming young team and the Warriors will probably face them in the playoffs. The teams split the season series 2-2. The Nuggets have three stars under the age of 22, and they are just now becoming a formidable force in the NBA.

Both teams played a very spirited first half. The Warriors won the first quarter 32-29, but the Nuggets came back, and they trailed the Warriors by one at the half, 56-55. Klay Thompson was hot in the first quarter. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry led the attack in the second. Thompson finished the half with 14, Curry had 12, and Durant pitched in with 13. The Nuggets were led by Will Barton 15 and Gary Harris 12. Barton’s eyes light up when he plays the Warriors and tonight was no exception. The Nuggets take a lot of three-point shots. They were 7-for-16 in the half while the Warriors made just 4 three-pointers in 18 attempts.

The Warriors played well in the third quarter. They led 77-65 about halfway through the third quarter. The Nuggets did not cave, and they were able to reduce the deficit to just six at the end of three quarters of play. The Warriors could not increase the lead in the fourth quarter. Barton made a couple of three-pointers for Denver to give Denver the lead 102-99. The Dubs tied the game at 104, but the Nuggets’ big center, Nikola Jokic, made a three to give Denver the lead for good 107-104. The Warriors fell behind 113-105, and they were toast.  Denver prevailed 115-108.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors drop to 41-12, but still own the best record in the Western Conference. If they should finish with the same record as Houston, the Rockets have the tie-breaker and would have home court advantage over Golden State.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 31 points. Steph had 24. Klay scored just two points in the second half and finished with 16. Will Barton led the Nuggets with 25. Jokic tallied 19, Harris had 16, and Jamal Murray knocked down 15.

The Nuggets are now 28-25 for the years, and they could present problems to the Warriors should they meet in the playoffs.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 6th at 7:30 pm PT.