Tag: Sports radio

Jokic paces Nuggets to victory over Warriors 114-104

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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) gets a reverse slam on Golden State Warrior center James Wiseman (33) during Thu Jan 14, 2021 game at Denver (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors’ three-game road trip started with a thud Thursday night as they fell to the Denver Nuggets 114-104. Eric Paschall rejoined the club after he tested negative for Covid-19. He missed Tuesday’s game due to a false-positive test. While the Warriors were happy to have him back, his presence didn’t affect the game’s outcome.

The Nuggets, although they didn’t know it at the time, won the game in the first quarter. The Nuggets finished the first 12 minutes of action with a 37-24 advantage. From that point on, the Warriors were playing catch up. No matter what they did, they could not get any closer. They trailed 65-54 at the end of the first half. 

The Warriors cut the deficit to five 79-74 when Kelly Oubre, Jr. hit a three. Denver finished the quarter with an 11-2 run to lead 90-76 at the end of three. Denver’s Nikola Jokic led the run for the Nuggets.

The Warriors won the fourth quarter 28-24, but it was not enough to win. Stephen Curry, James Wiseman, Kelly Oubre, and Andrew Wiggins tried, but Denver had an answer to thwart the Warriors offense. Denver holds on to win 114-104.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss, the Warriors are now 6-6 for the year. The Nuggets improved to 6-6.

 Curry had a big note for Golden State. Curry scored more than 30 points for the sixth time this year. The Warriors won the first five. Steph had a double-double with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists.

He was 14-for-23 from the floor and 5-for-11 from beyond the three-point arc. Rookie sensation James Wiseman knocked down 18, and he had five boards. Andrew Wiggins had 16, Kelly Oubre 14. Oubre had three threes. Eric Paschall had eight. The Nuggets’ bench outscored the Warriors bench 41-20.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic finished the night with a triple-double. Nokic tallied 23 points, 14 rebounds, and ten assists. Will Barton and Jamal Murray each had 17 for the Nuggets. 

The Warriors turned the ball over 19 times. Head coach Steve Kerr has to have the team improve in that department.

The Warriors’ game with  the Phoenix Suns Friday night was postponed as the Suns do not have enough players to perform due to contact tracing after a game with the Washington Wizards. The Warriors meet the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night at the Staples Center in LA.

Sharks Start Season with 4-3 Shootout Win Over Coyotes

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The San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl (48) jubilant after scoring against the Arizona Coyotes he is joined by Evander Kane (9), John Leonard (right of Kane), and Nilolai Knyzhov (71) in the first period (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks started the 2021 season with a 4-3 shoot-out win in Arizona against the Coyotes. Tomas Hertl scored twice, John Leonard got two assists in his first NHL game. Evander Kane scored the Sharks’ third goal and Logan Couture scored the game-winner in the shootout. Conor Garland, Clayton Keller and Phil Kessel scored for Arizona. Martin Jones made 34 saves for the win, while Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves in the loss.

After the game, Logan Couture said: “I thought we were sloppy at times but I thought we did a lot of things really well. We had some speed through the neutral zone and that one line, Tommy Hertl’s line, created some nice goals. And Joner made some big-time saves when we had those breakdowns.”

Martin Jones did a lot of work during the long layoff and looked good Thursday. After the game, he said: “I think I took full advantage of the time and I put in a lot of work. So, it was nice to be able to play well in the first game but, you know, it’s one game, we gotta keep working at it here. There’s a lot of things that we can clean up.”

Couture gave a post-game nod to the rookie Sharks, saying: “Some guys played their first NHL game tonight, I thought they were terrific tonight.” Those first-timers were John Leonard and Nicholas Meloche. Leonard had two assists in his 13:14 of ice time. Meloche was a +1 in his 5:43 on the blue line.

Tomas Hertl scored twice in the first period for the Sharks, the first a power play goal at 12:43. Logan Couture took a shot from the boards, which bounced arond in the crease before Hertl put it away. Assists went to Evander Kane and Couture.

The second goal came with just over three minutes left in the period. John Leonard had just thrown the puck to the net, creating a rebound for Hertl to put away. Assists went to Leonard and Kane.

The Coyotes rallied in the second, Conor Garland scored for the Coyotes on a power play at 16:51 of the second period. Joel Kellman was in the box for tripping Derick Brassard. It was the Sharks’ third penalty in a row. The Coyotes were able to move the puck cross-ice several ties before Christian Dvorak’s shot found Garland’s tick for a tip in front of the net. Assists went to Dvorak and Jakob Chychrun.

Going into the third period, Evander Kane had two assists. With an aggressive charge to the net, and a Coyote on one arm, he scored the Sharks’ third goal a little past the midway point of the third period. Assists went to John Leonard and Tomas Hertl.

The 3-1 lead held up well into the third period.

Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes’ with just 3:30 left in the third. Finding himself alone in the high slot, he caught the puck as it came out of a skirmish in front of the net and put it over Jones’ right shoulder before the goalie could get across. Assists went to Garland and Chychrun.

Phil Kessel tied the game up with just four seconds left in regulation. Under a lot of pressure with the Coyotes net empty, Martin Jones made a couple of good saves before it got by him. The Coyotes had three skaters in front of him and they all got a shot before Kessel’s went in. Assists went to Alex Goligoski and Clayton Keller.

The Sharks got a power play at 3:13 of overtime, when Clayton Keller was called for tripping Kevin Labanc. The Sharks OT power play started with Logan Couture, Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl. After a shot went over the glass, Kane came onto the ice with Timo Meier and Ryan Donato, with Karlsson staying on. Neither unit scored before time ran out, in the power play and the period.

Each team scored on their first shot in the shootout, first Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz and the San Jose’s Ryan Donato. After that, Martin Jones stopped Clayton Keller and Conor Garland missed. Logan Couture scored to close it out.

The modified season has the Sharks playing against the Coyotes again on Saturday before moving on to St. Louis.

Utes snap four game skid at Cardinal expense 79-65

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The Stanford Cardinal guard Daejon Davis (1) drives on the Utah Utes in Thu Jan 14, 2021’s game at Jon M. Huntsman Arena in Salt Lake City (gostanford.com photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Sports Radio Service

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Stanford’s Thursday matinee at Salt Lake City didn’t go well, as Utah snapped a four-game losing streak with a 79-65 Pac-12 men’s basketball win over the Cardinal.

Timmy Allen led the Utes with 22 points and eight rebounds. Alfonso Plummer was next with 16 points for Utah (5-5 overall, 2-4 Pac-12), which had two games postponed since mid-December. Brandon Carlson added 12 points and four blocks, and Mikael Jantunen had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Daejon Davis was back in the Cardinal lineup after missing five games with an injury and scored a season-high 19 points. In the process, Davis became the 49th for Stanford (8-4, 4-2) to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Ziaire Williams scored 17 points, and Oscar da Silva was held to 11 points and two boards.

Utah used a 14-2 run at the end of the first half to surge ahead and spent most of the second half with a double-digit lead. The closest Stanford got was within nine points with less than four minutes remaining.

A 7-0 run, including five straight points by Jantunen, solidified Utah’s lead with 3 ½ minutes to play. The Utes shot 49 percent from the field, including 4 of 17 behind the arc and 25 of 30 free throws. Utah also outrebounded the Cardinal 37-26 and outscored Stanford 34-16 in the paint.

The Cardinal were 9 of 18 on 3-pointers, but shot only 29 percent (8 of 30) on 2-pointers.

Stanford’s Rocky Mountain road trip continues Saturday, when it travels to Boulder to face Colorado. Tipoff is scheduled for noon Pacific Time.

 

 

Sacramento Kings game wrap: Lilliard is lights out with 40 pt game defeats Kings 132-126

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The Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox (5) goes up against the Portland Trailblazers Damian Lilliard (0) at Golden One Center in Sacramento on Wed Jan 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings are having an interesting season. Yes, I know the word “interesting” is about as descriptive as it sounds. However, I’m not sure how else to chalk it up. They have played great games, and they have played terrible games. They have looked like a group of all-stars, and they have looked like a group of misfits.

In the Kings last game, they faced the Indiana Pacers. It was a tough test for the Kings that they were able to pass. The Kings were able to beat the Pacers by a final of 127-122. Domantas Sabonis tried his best to keep his team in the game but was outpaced by Harrison Barnes of the Kings. This was one game the Kings looked like a team that could go places.

On Wednesday, the Kings were set to welcome the Portland Trailblazers. Portland has also had an up and down season. They entered the game on Wednesday with a record of 6-4. The Blazers would look to improve against the Kings getting a 132-126 victory on Wednesday night.

The Kings were looking to continue their upward trend after beating the Pacers two days prior. Then disappointment for Kings head coach Luke Walton and company would set in.

In the first half, the Kings played great! They had flashes of greatness and flashes of weakness. However, all in all, they were able to outscore the Trailblazers 68-65 in the first half. Damian Lillard had 23 points in the first half and De’Aaron Fox had 16 points. The Kings were looking to channel the good parts of the first half to put together a win against a formidable opponent.

In the second half, things started out strong for the Kings. They outscored the Blazers 37-35 in the third quarter to remain in control 105-100 heading into the final 12 minutes. In the fourth, the Kings weren’t able to keep the offensive pace up. The Kings were only able to score 21 points in the quarter compared to the Blazers 32 points.

It was an underwhelming final quarter in an otherwise solid game for the Kings. They had moments in the game to put the Blazers away but weren’t able to do it. Damian Lillard finished the game with 40 points to lead the Blazers in scoring. De’Aaron Fox led the Kings in defeat with 29 points. The Kings will look to Friday’s game to get their next win.

Up Next: The Kings stay home at Golden One Center and welcome in the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night at 7 PM PST.

 

Warriors-Suns game in Phoenix postponed due to Covid-19 issues on Friday

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Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix will remain empty for Fri Jan 15, 2021’s game between the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns due to Covid 19 issues (The Business Journal file photo)

Covid-19 effects reach the NBA´s West Coast as Warriors postpone Friday´s game

By Pearl Allison Lo

January 13, 2020

Welcome to the real world outside the bubble. So far, the San Jose Sharks and the San Francisco 49ers have played in Arizona, but that will not include former Phoenix Sun Kelly Oubre Jr. and Golden State, at least not yet. The Warriors are now the first California team in the NBA to have coronavirus concerns affect their schedule.

After protocols to protect the league´s players and teams were enhanced Tuesday, Wednesday saw the Warriors-Suns game on Friday, as one of two games added to the rescheduled slate. Instead of starting their three-game road trip with back-to-back games, Golden State will have three days in between Thursday’s match versus the Denver Nuggets and Monday´s contest back in California against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The coronavirus almost came even closer for the Warriors, when forward Eric Paschall, initially tested positive, missing Tuesday’s game. With another test though, it was deemed that the first result was a ´false positive´.

Friday will be the second postponed game for Phoenix, as they were scheduled to play the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday, before it was called off. In a bit of a domino effect, the Washington Wizards and Suns played each other Monday, with players testing positive on the Wizards’ side. Both teams are two of the three teams with multiple games sidelined amidst contact tracing, due to lack of the eight minimum personnel needed on each side to conduct a contest.

One NBA game was postponed in December and the count is currently at eight in the new year´s first month. These have been recent matches, spanning from the 10th to the 15th. According to the latest testing results, the positivity rate is at 3%. Of the 497 players tested for COVID-19 since Jan. 6, 16 new players have returned confirmed positive tests.

“This virus is nothing to play with whether it’s a false positive or an actual positive,” Golden State guard Damion Lee said. “I’m glad we took the right or proper protocols and handled everything the way we were supposed to.

Pacers’ defense shuts down Warriors attack in second half for win 104-95

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The Golden State Warriors Kelly Oubre Jr takes a shot against the Indiana Pacers defense in the first half at Chase Center in San Francisco on Tue Jan 12, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors faced the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night at the Chase Center. The Pacers, still smarting from a close loss to the Sacramento Kings Monday night, found a way to beat the Warriors 104-95.

The Pacers’ Victor Oladipo was not available to play. The Warriors’ Eric Paschall had to miss the game due to NBA protocol regarding the coronavirus. It is not known if Paschall has the virus or was in contact with someone that did.

The first half featured the teams playing outstanding defense. The Pacers wanted to stop Stephen Curry from beating them. The Warriors without Paschall, had to find a way to keep Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon to do the same to the Pacers.

Both strategies worked. The Pacers held Curry to just five points in the first half. The Warriors defense allowed Sabonis six and Brogdon seven. The Warriors finished the first 24 minutes of action leading 55-50.

Kelly Oubre, Jr. led the Warriors with 15. Oubre made three threes and had four boards. Oubre’s defense was stellar. Andrew Wiggins had 12 points, and he made two threes. The Pacers’ Myles Turner had 13. 

The second half belonged to the Pacers. They outscored the Warriors 23-18 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to two 77-73. Curry made three threes and recorded 11 of the Warriors 18 points. 

The Warriors and Pacers continued to play tough defense. Each team had to work hard to get points on the board. The Warriors led 90-88 when the Pacers went on a 13-0 run to lead 101-90 with about a minute left to play. The Pacers outscored the Warriors 31-20 in the fourth quarter to win 104-95.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss, the Warriors are 6-5 for the year. The Pacers improved to 7-4. 

Andrew Wiggins continued to play well on both ends of the court. Andrew finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists, four threes, and five blocked shots. Curry knocked down 20. He made three threes and had four boards and three assists. Oubre, who had 15 in the first half, tallied two in the second to finish with 17. He made three threes to go along with five rebounds and two assists. 

The Warriors made three turnovers in the first half. They made 12 in the second. The Pacers scored 24 points as a result of the turnovers to help them win.

The Warriors play the next three games on the road. They face the Denver Nuggets Thursday night at The Ball Center in Denver for a 7 pm tip. They play the Suns in Phoenix Friday night and the Lakers in Los Angeles Monday night.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Hendriks signs with White Sox 3 yrs $54M; Yankees LeMahieu looking for $110 million deal hasn’t heard from Yanks; plus more

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Former Oakland A’s reliever Liam Hendriks signed a three year deal for $54 million. Hendriks was the most sought reliever in free agency in baseball (CBS Sports file photo)

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 Liam Hendriks former A’s pitcher has signed with the Chicago White Sox three year deal $54 million. In a big deal completed on Monday. The A’s Vice President Billy Beane will have to do his magic and build again.

#2 The New York Yankees DJ LeMahieu has heard very little from the Yankees as he’s seeking free agency. He wants a deal better than what Josh Donaldson got for four years and $92 million and something in the range of what JD Martinez got $110 million and five years. LeMahieu has said he would like to stay at the Yankees but has not heard from them.

#3 Amaury, former Los Angeles Angels clubhouse attendant Bubba Harkins said that he was defamed by the Angels who said he was distributing illegal substances to visiting and Angels pitchers. Harkins who worked for the Angels for four decades said he has named close to a dozen pitchers who pitched for the Angels who have used a sticky substance to doctor the ball. Harkins is suing for defamation and that the Angels used him as a “scapegoat” for distributing foreign substances. Harkins is suing for $4 million and his lawyer is waiting for the judge in the case to make a ruling to move the case forward.

#4 The New York Mets who signed shortstop Francisco Lindor last Thursday are expecting him to be their future at shortstop for the next decade for the team. Linder came to the Mets in a six player deal from Cleveland. Lindor hit .258, 8 home runs, 27 RBIs last season.

#5 Former Chicago Cub Kyle Schwarber signed a one year $10 million deal with the Washington Nationals Monday. The Nats say they like Schwarber for his bat and he has the potential to hit 30 or more homers a season. Last season Schwarber hit .188, 11 homers and 24 RBIs for Chicago.

#6 Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer whose agent is working the phones for Bauer. Bauer is talking with the New York Yankees and New York Mets. Before he joins another club Bauer has said he wants to see how those teams train, he doesn’t want to be part of a rebuild, and wants to be part of a team that doesn’t mind is vlogging, face time and social media commentaries.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast Tue Jan 11, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Flyers Patrick back from migraine issues; Wild’s Rossi out indefinitely with upper body injury; plus more

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The Philadelphia Flyers Nolan Patrick in this Mon Mar 19, 2019 file photo has missed 21 months due to suffering a migraine disorder will return on opening night against the Pittsburgh Penguins this Wed Jan 13, 2021 (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Philadelphia Flyers Nolan Patrick who suffered migraine disorder says he’s ready to return and has waited 21 months to get back. Patrick says he’s feeling better and wants to get back in the line up against the Pittsburgh Penguins for this Wednesday’s opener.

#2 It was reported that the Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi will be out indefinitely due to an upper body injury. Wild head coach Dean Evason said the 19 year old Rossi will not be available. Rossi signed a three year contract with the Wild on Oct 23, Rossi scored 100 points (39 goals and 81 assists) he did it in an impressive amount of time in just 56 games.

#3 At the San Jose Sharks training camp: John Leonard who played for the University of Massachusetts at forward. Leonard was drafted sixth in the NHL entry draft and is expected to make his NHL debut against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night. At Amherst Leonard in Division I Leonard led the division with 27 goals, 10 assists. That all ended when Coronavirus shut down the league back in March.

#4 Former Chicago Blackhawks goalie 36 year old Corey Crawford has announced his retirement from hockey and the New Jersey Devils this weekend. Crawford had not practiced with New Jersey since Jan 1st and in a statement said that he’s given everything he could to the game but it was time to retire.

#5 The New York Islanders have signed Matthew Barzal for a three year contract. The agreement was made on Saturday. In 68 games last season Barzal led the Islanders with 60 points, 19 goals and 41 assists. Barzal has led the Islanders in scoring in each of the last three seasons with the team and has played in the NHL All Star game in the last two seasons.

Join Mary Lisa for the NHL and San Jose Sharks podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Mary Lisa Tue Jan 12, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips: Bears finally get their first Pac 12 win; Face Colorado on Thursday night

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The Cal Bears offense was able to hold off the Washington Huskies eclipsing them with a six point win at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Sat Jan 9, 2021 (calbears.com photo)

On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris how relieving is it that Cal (6-7) finally got in the win column with defeat over the Washington Huskies (1-9) on Saturday?

#2 The Bears got a six point win over the Huskies 84-78 did the game appear to look a lot closer and was there any point in the game that the Bears had to be concerned about holding onto the lead.

#3 Matt Bradley is still out of the line up with an injury but Cal forward Andre Kelly has helped picking up the slack with leading the Bears in scoring on Saturday with 22.

#4 Grant Anticevich has made a return with four points and five assists. Talk about how he’s looked in his return and how those assists helped out.

#5 Can the Bears keep it going they head to Colorado (8-3) the Buffaloes are 3-0 at home and have won their last game beating a very tough Oregon Ducks  (9-2) team 79-72 last Thursday. The Buffaloes have a game tonight in Utah (4-4) before hosting Cal on Thu Jan 14th.

Join Morris for the Cal Bears podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips Mon Jan 11, 2021 by Sports Radio Service | Free Listening on SoundCloud

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: XXXII Olympic Summer Games – Japan $12.6 Billion

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2021 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo (image from NBC Sports)

XXXII Olympic Summer Games – Japan $12.6 Billion

By Amaury Pi-González

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

The government of Japan has invested the equivalent of $12.6 billion dollars to host this Summer Olympic Games. Although it will be held between July 23 and August 8, 2021 the Tokyo Olympics will still be called the 2020 Olympics, that could not take place because of the Pandemic.

This is the first time this world sporting event will be held in an odd-numbered year, since the modern era began in 1896. Total of 11,091 athletes from 206 nations are scheduled to participate at the Japan National Stadium, in Tokyo.

Japan is the third most industrialized and third largest economy in the world, however beginning this 2021 newly reported cases of Coronavirus are an all-time high in Tokyo and a second state of emergency for the capital Tokyo with a population of 9.5 million people has been declared. Despite the current circumstances, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has remained steadfast in his plan to host the 2020 Olympic Games this summer.

The budget for this Olympic Games in Tokyo is a US equivalent of $12.6 billion dollars, by far the most expensive in history. And late last year it was reported it could even be twice as much. Even for a rich country as Japan, money is no match for the Coronavirus.

World Wars, politics, terrorism and pandemics have infringed the Olympics during history. If the Olympics do not take place, Japan looses a huge investment, but its only money and a rich country like Japan definitely could survive it.

For the thousands of athletes around the world, that have trained for years this moment in their lives that could definitely be devastating. After all they take place every four years. A 16-year old female gymnast, if the games are cancelled would be 20 years old when their next opportunity comes around.

That, most likely would kill the chances of that gymnast. A Gymnast has a window of opportunity when they are at the “top of their game”, during their young teen years. It would also affect mentally as well as physically most participants, regardless of age.

Many American Olympic hopefuls keep training and praying that the games take place as scheduled. The last Summer Olympic Games took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The USA delegation was the largest among all 206 nations, with 554 athletes. This year is expected to be very similar in size. There are a handful of new sports added this time.

Baseball and softball are back on the Olympics after being absent since the Beijing 2008 games. Major League Baseball players are not allowed to participate in the Olympics.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com