Tag: Orlando Magic

Warriors down Orlando Magic 110-100 win their seventh in a row

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Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant celebrates after scoring against the Orlando Magic during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. The Warriors won 110-100. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland — The Golden State Warriors, playing without Stephen Curry Monday night, beat the Orlando Magic 110-100 to win their seventh straight game and eighth in the last nine. The Warriors are now 11-3 for the season. The Magic, coached by Frank Vogel, gave the Warriors all they could handle in the first half of the game. The Warriors came to life in the third quarter and put the game away. It wasn’t as easy as the last six games, but they still won. The Warriors and Magic ended the first half tied at 56.

The team game was tied 10 times in the first half. The veteran Shaun Livingston filled in for Curry. Shaun didn’t score much in the first half, but he was dynamite in the third quarter. Kevin Durant led the Warriors in scoring with 12. Klay Thompson had eight and Draymond Green knocked down seven. The Magic was led by Nikola Vucevic who scored 13. Big Aaron Gordon, who happens to be from San Francisco, tallied 10.The Warriors outscored the magic by 13 points in the third quarter. Frank Vogel’s team likes to shoot 3-pointers. They made 10 in the game on 32 attempts. The Warriors made just eight, but the Warriors were dominant on the boards and scored 54 points in the paint to win the game.Golden State had won six games in a row by 17 points and had they done that Monday night, they would have set an NBA record. They increased the lead to 20 and at that point, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr inserted the bench players into the game. The Magic cut the deficit to ten, but they ran out of time as they fell to the Warriors.

Game notes and stats — Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 21 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Durant did not block a shot as the Magic kept firing from beyond the three-point arc. Draymond Green tallied twenty points, and he had five assists. Livingston finished with sixteen points, six assists, and two rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. Klay Thompson added 15.

Nick Young, Kevon Looney, Omri Casspi, and Andre Iguodala all made significant contributions in the win. David West also played well. Vucevic led the Magic with twenty points. The Warriors held Aaron Gordon scoreless in the second half, and he finished the night with 10. Terence Ross had 11, and Evan Fournier knocked down 16 for Orlando. Jonathan Simmons signed as free agent after playing with the San Antonio Spurs last season, scored 13. Former Warrior Mo Speights recorded nine points, and he and David West go tangled up under the basket late in the game. The referees went right there and separated the two big men. No fouls or technicals were called, and the game went on.

The Warriors play the next four games on the road. They meet the very hot Boston Celtics Thursday night in Boston. The Celtics have won 12 in a row after losing the first two games of the year. The Warriors meet the Philadelphia Sixers Saturday night in Philadelphia. The Warriors beat the Sixers last Saturday at Oracle Arena. They then play the Brooklyn Nets Sunday night and finish the road trip on November 22nd in Oklahoma City. Game time for the Boston game will be at 5 pm.

The Warriors start slowly but right the ship in the third quarter to beat the Orlando Magic

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors played a very sloppy first half in the game against the Orlando Magic in Orlando on Sunday. The game had a start time of 12-noon, and many of the players were on 9 am west coast time. The Warriors and the Magic were tied at 50 at the end the first 24 minutes of play. During the halftime, Dub’s head coach must have used some of his “magic”(pun intended) to get the Dubs back on track for the second. Whatever it was, the men in blue and yellow dominated the third quarter, and the Warriors coasted to their 8th straight win by a score of 118-98.

The Warriors ended the first quarter with a 6 point lead 28-22. Orlando, trailing 10-6, went on a 10-0 run to grab the lead 16-10. JaVale McGee entered the game Golden State, and in just five minutes of play, McGee scored 8 points and had an assist to help the Dubs end the quarter on a 13-2 run. McGee scored on a tip-in, a spike, a   layup and on a give-and-go. He recorded an assist when he dished off to Ian Clark who nailed a 3-pointer to give the Dubs the lead 28-22.

The second quarter was a nightmare for the Warriors. They went over five minutes without scoring a point. The Magic scored the first 16 points in the period to lead 38-28. Zaza Pachulia broke the spell with a bucket. The Warriors started to play defense and cut down on turnovers as they were able to come back and take a 50-47 lead near the end of the period. The Magic came back and tied it at 50 to end the half. Steph Curry was the only Warrior in double figures as he knocked down 11. The Magic’s scoring leaders were C.J.Watson and Serge Ibaka with nine each. The Warriors committed 12 turnovers in the half and were not in sync.

Now, we come to the third quarter. The Dubs have been superb all season long in this quarter and on Sunday, they shined. They outscored the Magic 42-24 and led by 18 at the close of the third period. Steph Curry made four 3-point shots, and Klay Thompson added two of his own. With the score 55-50 in Orlando’s favor. The Warriors went on a 19-2 run to lead 69-57. The Warriors kept the pressure on and ended the quarter with an 18-point advantage 92-74

The Warriors defense did not allow the Magic back in the game. Klay Thompson had two more 3-pointers. Andre Iguodala and Patrick McCaw also made a three. Kerr inserted his bench with six minutes left, and they coasted to the win.

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors won their 8th game in a row and now own a record of 38-6. The Magic, coached by Frank Vogel, fell to 18-28. The game was a sellout in Orlando. The Magic have not been drawing well this year. There were so many Warrior fans in attendance; the team must have felt they were at home. Shaun Livingston did not play as the Warriors gave him the day off. Damian Jones, the number one draft choice of the Dubs this year, saw about six minutes of action in the fourth quarter but did not score.

Now for the stats-Steph Curry led the team with 27 points, six assists, and four boards. Klay Thompson scored 21. Both Steph and Klay hit seven 3-p0int shots. Kevin Durant had another double-double. He pitched in with 15 points, six assists, ten rebounds, and two blocked shots. The big men, Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee, scored 14 and 13 respectively. Draymond Green played his usual superb game. His line was 6 points, four assists, and ten rebounds. Patrick McCaw, coming off the bench, added 10. Ian Clark had 7, and Andre Iguodala had a nice game with 5 points, five assists, six rebounds, and one blocked shot. The Magic leading scorers were Elfrid Payton with 23, Bismarck Byombo with 12, C.J.Watson 12, Serge Ibaka 10, Jeff Green 12, and Nikola Vucevic 12.

More stats- the Warriors shot 47.2% from the floor and held the Magic to 43.8%. The Dubs were 19-for-42 from behind the arc. Steph and Klay made seven each. The Dubs outrebounded the Magic 52-41. They had 27 assists on 42 field goals. They had eight steals and four blocks. The one negative was turnovers. They made 12 in the first half but got their act together and committed just 6 in the last 24 minutes of play. They had 37 fast break points and scored 46 in the paint.

After the game, Steve Kerr talked about the team’s defense. “If we can focus on defense, we can run.” “with the firepower we have that means we can get one or more (of our big guns) going .” Kerr also remarked about the crowd cheering for Steph Curry. Kerr said ” everybody loves Steph. There are a lot of supporters on the road.”

The Warriors move on to Miami to face the Heat Monday night. Game time is at 4:30 pm. The Warriors beat the Heat 107-95 on January 10th at Oracle Arena.

 

 

Kings sign guard Jordan Farmar

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Free Agent Point Guard Returns to Kings

The Sacramento Kings announced today that they have signed free agent guard Jordan Farmar. The announcement was made by Kings vice president of basketball operations and general manager Vlade Divac.

Farmar was with the Kings in the  preseason looking to fill one of the open spots on the roster. He averaged 6.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest in the 4 games he played in for Sacramento. Farmar scored 14 points and had five assists against the Lakers in a preseason game on October 13th.

The Kings waived Farmar along with rookie point guard Isaiah Cousins on October 24th.

Farmar was in Memphis with Joerger Last Season

Farmar joined Dave Joerger’s squad in Memphis late in the regular season in 2016. He started 10 regular season games and then started four playoff games for the Grizzlies.

Farmar is a nine-year veteran of the NBA. He has played for the Lakers, Net, Clippers, Grizzlies and now the Kings. Farmar played his college basketball at UCLA.

No Roster Move Required

Darren Collison – who is serving his eight-game suspension for a domestic incident – has been moved to a suspended list. That leaves an opening on the roster that Kings are filling with Farmar.

Collison Due Back Next Tuesday

Darren Collison will be eligible to play beginning next Tuesday, November 8th when the Kings host the New Orleans Pelicans at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The Kings will have to make a roster move prior to the start of that game in order to meet the 15-man maximum roster limit.

Kings Play Thursday Night

The Kings play game three of their five game road trip Thursday night in Orlando. With Farmar signing today, it is reasonable to expect he will be in uniform tomorrow night to face the Magic.

Without Cousins, Kings drop fourth straight

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit Rocky Widner/Getty Images

SACRAMENTO- For most teams in the NBA, playing without your only All Star is a difficult task. Tonight, the Kings were without their All Star center DeMarcus Cousins who was suspended by the team for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

This season, Sacramento is 2-7 without Boogie and 13-40 since Cousins first joined the team back in 2010. But, the team did put themselves in a position to win.

At the half the Kings were only down by one, 50-49.

Rajon Rondo came out of the half and had a great third quarter. Rondo hit a three pointer at 6:38 to give the Kings their first lead of the game, 64-61. The Kings struggled to shoot the ball efficiently and Orlando took the lead right back in the quarter. Rondo’s 10 points and four assists in the third alone kept the Kings alive. The Magic led, 80-75, through three quarters.

The Kings fell off defensively in the fourth quarter. While the Kings defense was pretty solid through three quarters, they allowed Orlando to shoot 52.6% in the fourth. The Magic were able to go up by 14 a little less than half through the final quarter, there Kings were never able to get back into after.

The Kings cut the lead to six but with only 18 seconds in the game and no hope of a victory.

The Kings dropped their fourth straight game, 107-100, as their offense struggled, turnovers were in bunches and the team was out rebounded.

Without DeMarcus Cousins the Kings struggled to find offense.

Orlando’s fast start to the game put the Kings at an early disadvantage. The Magic came out with confidence going on a 12-0 run to start the game. The Magic out hustled the Kings throughout. 

The Kings had little ball movement, dribbled way too much and had little presence inside when they struggled. This was true for most of the game with the Kings turning the ball over 17 times leading to 24 points for Orlando.

Aaron Gordon made his return to Northern California with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Victor Oladipo totaled 18 points while Evan Fournier and Jason Smith both added 16.

Marco Belinelli had a solid game as he’s been shooting much better, 4-7 from behind the arc, scoring 17 points. Kosta Koufous also played well in Boogie’s absence with 19 points. Rondo had a good game as well with 16 points, 7-14 from the field, and 14 assists.

Minus Cousins, the Kings were dominated inside. Out rebounded 51-37 and letting the Magic score 50 points in the paint. Unfortunately, the Kings missed shots that typically fall for this team. Sacramento shot at a poor 39.8% from the field.

Right now, the Kings will look to try and finish the season off strong, but some might hope to pile up a few more losses for a better pick.

The Kings will take on Utah on Sunday at 3 p.m. at home. We’ll see how the team fares with their big man back on the court.

 

 

Kings win on the road downing the Magic 97-91

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Sacramento Kings at Orlando Magic
Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings won their first road game of the season defeating the Orlando Magic 97-91 on Saturday night. The victory was also the Kings first win on this five-game road trip.

The Kings had to pick up the win without the help of Rudy Gay. Gay strained his shoulder on Thursday in the Miami game. Gay’s status is listed as day to day.

Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings to the win but had some solid help from the bench. Omri Casspi, Kosta Koufos and Marco Belinelli all played key roles in the victory.

Sacramento took a 53-47 lead to the locker room at halftime. When the Kings returned to the court to start the third quarter, it was like a different team was wearing their uniforms.

In the first half, the Kings (5-9) played team basketball looking for the extra pass, hitting the cutter going to the basket and drawing fouls. During the opening minutes of the third period, Sacramento reverted to playing one-on-one basketball and abandoning the team game that had given them the lead.

After the Magic went on a 7-0 run to begin the third quarter, Kings head coach George Karl called a timeout. The Kings returned to the floor and starting playing team basketball again. They closed out the third with a 22-2 run over the Magic.

Orlando (6-7) made several attempts to create runs in the fourth quarter but they were not able to overcome the Kings lead.

Kings

Rajon Rondo had another outstanding game for Sacramento. He dished out nine assists to go with 13 points and seven rebounds. Rondo was 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point line.

DeMarcus Cousins recorded another double-double game. The Kings center scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as he dominated the paint. Cousins went to the free throw line 15 times and converted 13 of those tries into points.

Marco Belinelli played 26-plus minutes off the bench scoring 13 points. He also was very efficient from the charity stripe going 5-for-6 after being fouled.

Kosta Koufos had a productive game that included some floor time with DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins fed Koufos two beautiful assists that went for scores. Koufos posted 12 points.

Omri Casspi was called upon to fill many of the minutes left open with the absence of Rudy Gay. Casspi played 31-plus minutes posting a double-double of his own with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Sacramento shot just 38.3-percent (31-for-81) from the floor. The Kings compensated for their poor shooting percentage by converting 28 of 31 free throw attempts (90.3-percent).

The Kings distributed 23 assists while turning the ball over just 14 times.

Magic

Tobias Harris led the Magic in scoring with 24 points. He shot 10-for-16 from the field but was 0-for-4 from 3-point range.

Evan Fournier finished the game with 17 points after putting just two points in the first half. He shot 7-for-20 overall and was 3-for-11 from behind the 3-point arc.

Nikola Vucevic and Victor Oladipo scored 11 points each. Point guard Elfrid Payton scored seven points and had nine assists.

The glaring team team statistic for Orlando was their lack of trips to the free throw line. The Magic went to the line just eight times in game. When your opponent goes to the free throw line 23 more times than you and hits 90-percent of those shots, it becomes almost impossible to beat that team.

What they said after the game

“I think Rondo and DC (Cousins) did a great job of putting ball pressure (on them) which we have not done in many games,” Kings head coach George Karl said after the game. “Our big guys have been pretty good all year long protecting the basket. We made them miss a lot of shots which created pace on our side so we were running until the end when we ran out of gas a little bit.”

“I am – especially Cuz (Cousins). He likes to get the rebound and push it, but he’s been giving the ball up to me a lot more and he knows he’s going to get it back as a reward,” said Rajon Rondo when asked if he felt his teammates were learning to trust him to distribute the ball.

“All my teammates … I’ve got to give them all the credit. We rebounded well tonight – especially our bigs. They got it to me on the break and we were able to make plays in transition,” said Rondo when asked to analyze the win over the Magic.

Shorthanded Warriors make it look easy, beat Orlando 103-89

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By Gabe Schapiro

No Andrew Bogut or Andre Iguodala? No problem. The Golden State Warriors (43-26) didn’t skip a beat despite two of their starters being out with injuries, easily beating the Orlando Magic (19-49) 103-89, Tuesday night, at Oracle Arena. Orlando has struggled mightily this season, but when Bogut and Iguodala were ruled out, the defensive backbones of the team, there is no doubt that it had some nervous for this one. Those concerns were fairly quickly put to rest, however, as all three of Golden State’s other starters picked up the slack. After the first quarter, this contest was rarely ever in any doubt.

The game started as a bit of a dogfight, in a tightly played opening frame that saw 13 lead changes. After 12 minutes the Warriors exited from the fray with a slim three-point advantage. There wouldn’t be another lead change the rest of the way.

Golden State slowly started pulling away from the Magic, and really slammed the door shut in a big third quarter, which saw them outscore Orlando 30-19.  The end of the bench saw some action late, as they eased to the victory.

It was nearly all good signs from the Dubs on this night. It was 14 minutes into the contest before they committed their first turnover. It was the third quarter before they missed their first free throw.

The three normal Warriors starters who did play in this one all had very strong games. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and David Lee finished with 23, 20, and 20 points respectively. Lee finished with a double-double, adding 10 rebounds to his line. Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes got the starting nod in the place of their injured stars, and while both struggled offensively, they chipped in in other ways. Green hauled in nine boards, dished out three assists, and had two steals. Barnes had five rebounds and three assists.

Golden State’s bench, which saw a little extra play tonight, had a strong game as well, particularly Mareese Speights and Steve Blake. Speights hasn’t played much recently, but clearly came in ready to go. He contributed 13 points, eight rebounds, and a block in 23 minutes. Blake also put up double-digit points, finishing with 12 to go along with four assists.

In the loss five Orlando players finished in double figures. Nikola Vucevic led the way with a team-high 15 points. Tobias Harris performed admirably off the bench, adding 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Their backcourt really struggled, combining for just eight points.

The Warriors have now won two straight, and will look to make it three this Thursday, when they will be taking on the Milwaukee Bucks. The game starts at 7:30 PM, at Oracle Arena.

Kings stop the Magic 103-83

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Image

Photo credit: Rocky Widner NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

There are games on the NBA schedule that are must win games. On Friday night, the Kings had one of those games as they hosted the 10 and 25 Orlando Magic. The Magic came into the game tired from a long road trip and with a terrible record against the Western Conference. The Kings did what they needed to do and won the game 103-83 for their second consecutive win at home.

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins with another double-double. Cousins put up 24 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, had six assists, three steals and one blocked shot. Rudy Gay scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his own double-double. Jason Thompson had a very productive night recording 14 points. Derrick Williams added 14 points off the bench while Jimmer Fredette scored 11 in a reserve role for Sacramento.

The Magic’s leading scorer was Tobias Harris with 16 points. Arron Afflalo had 15 points. Victor Oladipo added 13 while Glen Davis scored 12 and posted 12 rebounds.

The story was really in the numbers for this game. The Kings shot 51.3% (41-80) from the field and 94.7% (18-19) from the free throw line. Orlando’s field goal percentage was 33.3 while they shot 29.6% from beyond the 3-point line. The Kings out rebounded the Magic 54-37.

The game did not start off looking like a Kings victory. Orlando outscored the Kings 24-18 in the first quarter. The Magic shot 50.0% (5-10) from behind the 3-point arc. The Kings did not go to the free throw line one time. It was not a great beginning for Sacramento.

The Kings came alive in the second quarter scoring 28 points to just 16 for the Magic. Sacramento shot 47.6% for field goals while finally getting to the free throw line four times and hitting on all four opportunities. Orlando came back down to earth shooting just 33.3%, but the Magic still hit six of 15 tries from 3-point land. The teams went to halftime with the Kings leading 46-40.

The Kings needed to come out after halftime putting together some point runs, getting physical under basket and creating opportunities from the free throw line. That is exactly what Sacramento did.

The Kings started the third quarter by getting physical. Sacramento had 14 attempts from the charity stripe and made good on 13 of those tries. They also established a solid lead. The Kings led by 17 with 1:37 to go in the period. The Magic put on a five point mini-run to end the quarter but still trailed the Kings 76-64.

The Magic kept trying to comeback in the fourth quarter and cut the Sacramento lead to 10 with 7:22 to go in the game. The Kings then bore down and went on a 12-0 run to open a 22 point lead. Both coaches emptied their benches and Sacramento cruised to a 103-83 victory.

After the game Coach Michael Malone said, “It was unchartered territory for us. It felt good, obviously, to come out here and have the most complete defensive effort that we’ve had. We held them to 83 points and 33% from the field. To get out and score 21 fastbreak points, to play defense, to dominate the glass and the paint was great. I thought our starting lineup was terrific tonight. The 60 points and 30 something rebounds between Rudy Gay, Jason Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins really set the tone for us. I was very impressed with Derrick Williams. That’s two games in a row where he has played very aggressively and with great confidence. I need him to continue doing that.”

Per DeMarcus Cousins the win validated the win over Portland, “We did take steps forward. I still think we kind of started out slow; we could’ve had a better start. The second unit came in and did a great job, really got the game going and we finished the game off strong I believe. We did have a little stretch where we let them make a run but overall I think we did a pretty good job defensively. Offensively we came along during the game but I think we did a great job tonight defensively.”

The Kings record improves to 12-22 overall and 8-13 at home.

Sacramento returns to action on Sunday afternoon when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers at Sleep Train Arena.