Tag: Stephen Curry

Warriors Keep Record Dreams Alive, Complete Comeback Against Memphis With 100-99 Victory

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By Shawn Whelchel

Draymond Green was candid about his desire to chase history this week when asked about breaking the Chicago Bulls’ record for most wins in a season.

On Saturday, he showed just how serious he was with big plays down the stretch on both ends of the court to secure a hard-fought 100-99 win against the Memphis Grizzlies on the road.

After being down by double digits at multiple points throughout the dwindling fourth quarter, Green would answer the call for the struggling Warriors with a pair of consecutive and-1’s to cut into Memphis’ lead. Green’s presence would be felt again with a tip in off a Steph Curry layup to give the Warriors a one point advantage with just a minute to go, which would ultimately be the difference in the game.

But perhaps just as important as his offensive contributions was Green’s defensive efforts in keeping big-man Zach Randolph from scoring on the Warriors late in the game. Green forced two clutch misses from Randolph late in the game while disallowing Memphis to rely on their biggest scoring threat with the game on the line.

The efforts by Green erased what was at times a 10-point deficit for a Warriors team struggling to find the long-ball that is crucial to their success. Golden State shot just 10-for-36 from the field from beyond the arc on the night, with Curry failing to connect on a three-pointer in the first half.

But with a chance at history on the line, Golden State rose to the occasion with three’s from Curry, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes- whose shot would give the Warriors their first lead of the fourth quarter with just over 90 seconds left in the game.

Lance Stephenson had a chance to win the game for Memphis on a wild drive to the hoop against Klay Thompson, but help from Curry caused an errant layup to be tipped out to the corner, where Stephenson would hoist up a final hail mary shot that would bounce off the side of the hoop to go out of bounds with .8 of a second left, securing the win for Golden State on an inbound pass.

The difference in the game was the play of Memphis’ bench, who would outscore the Golden State reserves by 32-17. The Warriors also found themselves on the other end of the free-throw differential, with Memphis getting to the line for 18 points compared to their 12.

But despite the balanced scoring attack throughout the Memphis lineup, strong nights from the Warriors’ starters in Green (23 points, 11 rebounds), Thompson(20 points), Curry (17 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) and Barnes (14 points) saved what was a lackluster effort through three quarters for Golden State.

Matt Barnes would lead the scoring for the Grizzlies with 24 points on 17 shots, followed by Vince Carter with 15 points Stephenson with 13 of his own.

The win, which gave them their 71st of the season, was a record in its own right, as the 33 road wins ties the Bulls record for road victories in a single season. Golden State has one chance to claim sole possession of that record with their final road game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Warriors’ winning ways continue, hold off Wizards

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND, Calif — Reigning league MVP Stephen Curry led all scorers with 26 points and Draymond Green fell one assist shy for his 13th triple double of the season helping the Golden State Warriors fend off a pesky Washington Wizards team, 102-94 Tuesday night in front of a sold out raucous Oracle Arena crowd.

Curry shot just 9 for 20 from the field, but drilled 6 of 8 threes to go along with seven assists, seven rebounds, five steals and emphatic dunk in the closing moments of the first quarter as Golden State (67-7), tied the franchise mark for wins in a season from last season and remain on pace to break the all-time wins mark in a season.

The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls finished the season 72-10 en route to the NBA title.

With eight games to go, Golden State must finish no worse than 6-2 to set a new single-season record for wins in a season.

Green finished with 15 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists, while Klay Thompson scored just 16 points after back-to-back games of 40+ points over the weekend for the Warriors, who picked up their 54th straight win at home dating back to last season.

Golden State is 36-0 at home this season and have a chance to break the 1985-86 Boston Celtics’ 40-1 home record, an NBA record.

Washington (36-38) played Golden State very tough for three quarters, scoring 25 points off of 16 Golden State turnovers and out-scoring the Warriors in the paint, 50-40.

Golden State did dominate on the glass, out-rebounding Washington 55-48 and held the edge on fast break points, 24-13.

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 17 points, Markieff Morris had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Otto Porter Jr. finished with 11 points for Washington, who allowed Golden State to close the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 49-46 lead after building a nine-point lead.

Both teams return to floor quickly Wednesday with Golden State flying to Salt Lake City to play a surging Utah Jazz team, while Washington looks to bounce back when they visit Sacramento.

 

 

 

 

Splash Brothers’ 71 points douses Blazers

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

photo credit: bleacherreport.com–Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson

OAKLAND, Calif — Note to the NBA: the Golden State Warriors are good.

Damn, good.

Klay Thompson scored 37 points and Stephen Curry finished with 34 points helping the reigning NBA Champions win their 47th consecutive at Oracle Arena with a 122-112 victory over the visiting Portland Trailblazers Friday night and avenge the 32-point drubbing the Warriors experienced in Portland three weeks ago.

The game was really decided in the first half by the Splash Brothers, as Thompson and Curry combined for 46 of Golden State’s 81 points in the first half. From the moment the referee blew his whistle, the Warriors were going to be in another gear all night as they would never trail in the game.

Thompson and Curry were deadly from behind the three-point line, combining to shoot 15 for 25 on 3s, and 26 for 55 overall from the floor.

Thompson went over the 200-mark for 3s for the fourth straight season. Earlier in the week, Curry became just the first person in NBA history to nail 300 3s in a season.

Draymond Green added 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, as Golden State (58-6) committed a season-low eight turnovers after committing 39 in the first two games of their current six-game home stand.

C.J. McCollum led Portland (34-32) with 18 points on 6 for 15 shooting

Damian Lilliard, who torched Golden State for 51 points in the previous meeting, scored just 17 points on 5 for 19 shooting. Golden State made Lillard’s night tough, forcing the Blazers’ point guard into missing 15 of his first 17 shots to open up the game as the Warriors played great defense virtually the entire night.

The Oakland native and Oakland High School product had his string of 20+ points against the Warriors snapped at four.

With 19 made 3s by Portland and 18 made 3s by Golden State, the two teams combined to shoot 37 for 76 on 3s, breaking the record for 3s made in an NBA game.

Both teams are in action Saturday with Golden State hosting the Phoenix Suns, and Portland heading home to host the Orlando Magic.

 

Warriors protect homecourt without Curry, Iguodala

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

photo credit: news.yahoo.com Golden State Warriors Steph Curry sat out with an ankle injury for Tuesday night’s game in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif — Without the reigning MVP in Stephen Curry (ankle) and valuable reserve Andre Iguodala (hamstring), the Golden State Warriors pulled out all of the stops in a 109-105 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night in Golden State’s first home game since Feb. 9 after completing a 6-1 road trip.

Draymond Green hit an off-balanced 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring with 40.2 seconds left in overtime to push Golden State’s lead to 107-103. Playing primarily as a point-forward, Green finished two assists shy of another triple-double scoring 15 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals.

Klay Thompson scored 26 points, but struggled for most of the night shooting just 8-of-27 from the floor including 6-of-16 from 3-point range. Thompson did knock down the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:54 left in the fourth quarter, and another key basket with 11.4 seconds remaining.

With the win, Golden State (54-5) picked up its 43rd straight win at Oracle, and improve to 25-0 at home. The Warriors’ last loss at Oracle Arena was to the Chicago Bulls 113-111 on Jan. 27, 2015.

After getting boat-raced 137-105 in Portland in the first game after the NBA All-Star break, Golden State have won six straight games overall, and have a chance at tying history Thursday night.

With a win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State would tie the Bulls’ 44-game unbeaten mark at home from March 30, 1995, to April 4, 1996. They are also chasing the `95-96 Chicago team’s record 72-win season.

Paul Milsap finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, Al Horford had 17 points and nine rebounds, and former Warriors’ guard Kent Bazemore recorded 15 points and nine rebounds for Atlanta (33-28), who had won two in a row before entering Oracle Arena Tuesday night.

Tonight’s game marked the beginning of a stretch for Golden State in which it will play 17 of their next 24 games at home.

 

 

Curry’s 12th three wins game in less than a second

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Photo credit: Sue Ogrocki AP Photo

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ As Oklahoma City Thunder’s Enes Kanter’s hands went down with 0.6 seconds left, it was a sign of the unbelievableness that is Golden State’s Stephen Curry, in a 121-118 win Saturday.

The left ankle that took Curry out in the third for five minutes was gone in the rearview mirror, as Curry broke his own NBA single season record for three’s, was the first with ten three’s back-to-back (tweet by Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle) and tied the NBA record for most three’s in a game. His double double stat included 46 points.

Another footnote was the Warriors’ guaranteed playoff spot during the fourth quarter after the San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets.

The Thunder’s Kevin Durant fouled out for the first time in three years with 4:13 left in overtime. He ended with a season-high seven three’s and a second straight double double, this one 37 points and 12 rebounds. Oklahoma City was +15 with Durant on the floor.

The Warriors trailed for most of the game, but perhaps the short times when they came close were a sign.

Oklahoma City got off to an 8-0 run to start, their biggest lead of the game reaching 14 points with 2:58 left in the first.

Golden State’s Andre Iguodala was their best player in the first. From the bench, he led with eight points, a perfect 4-of-4. Iguodala would also be the one to lead the game to overtime.

Three 3’s from Curry with teammate Marreese Speights in between, made it 41-42 with 4:25 left in the half.  That only lasted 19 seconds.

Curry left the game at 10:29 in the third after an assist to Harrison Barnes. The pass was followed by a consecutive fall with the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook. Westbrook landed on Curry’s left ankle. Curry came back with 5:10 left and his first play was a steal off Westbrook.

The Warriors got to within one again with 3:35 left and tied the game with 2:27 left.

Curry’s seventh 3 pointer with 1:22 left to make it 78-77, gave Golden State their first lead.

Durant doubled his first half three point total with three in the third to lead his team that quarter. His fifth and sixth three at the end of the third gave him 30 points.

Curry and teammate Klay Thompson scored in the double digits, as Golden State scored 32 points.

The Warriors stalled a bit in the fourth, not scoring until 8:56 left.

Another three by Curry made it 92-96 with 2:53 left. Teammate Draymond Green made it 93-96 with a free throw.

With 1:37 left, a Curry three pulled Golden State to within two points.

Thompson then joined the three party with his first, as the Splash Brothers continued the clutch shots, this one with 35 seconds left. Durant hit a three with 14 seconds left, Thompson hit a two, then defensively, stole the ball from Durant as Green saved the ball. Iguodala was then fouled and hit two clutch free throws with 0.7 seconds left. Green defended Durant as he missed Oklahoma City’s last attempt in regulation. Green and Iguodala finished a +10 for the game.

In overtime, a steal by Green precipitated Curry’s 10th three. Curry’s 11th tied the game at 110 with 2:29 left. Thompson hit another three with 1:29 left. He finished with 32 points.

Game notes: The Thunder outrebounded Golden State by 30 and had 20 more paint points. Other double doubles in the game were earned by Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka, a season-high 20 rebounds and 15 points and Westbrook, 26 points and 13 assists. Green’s, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, had a little more to it. He tied a season-low in points with two and had a season-high six steals. Both teams were 3-0 in overtime before it started. The Warriors will be back at it, kicking off March against the Atlanta Hawks at 7:30pm

Warriors rip through Wizards

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

WASHINGTON — Stephen Curry was red-hot in the Nation’s capital, knocking down 11 3-pointers en route to 51 points, leading Golden State to their eighth-straight victory with a 134-121 over the Wizards Wednesday night.

Curry, who shot a pathetic 5 of 17 from the floor against the Knicks in New York Sunday, rebounded by shooting 19 of 28 (11 of 16 on 3s). The reigning league MVP made his first six shots from the floor and was in the zone, finishing 13 of 14 from the floor for 36 points in the first half.

Draymond Green collected his 10th triple-double of the season, finishing with 12 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

Klay Thompson continued his hot shooting, finishing with 24 points on 8 of 19 shooting, including 6 of 13 from three.

Golden State (45-4), matched the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers for the best 49-game start in NBA history. The Warriors finished with 35 assists, giving them their league-leading eighth straight games with 30-plus assists.

Even in a loss, Washington’s point guard John Wall had a dominating night finishing with a season-best 41 points. Wall shot 17 of 25 from the floor and added 10 assists for Washington (21-26), who couldn’t keep up with Golden State after squandering an early lead in the first quarter.

Golden State will visit the White House on Thursday before heading back to Bay Area for the much anticipated match up with the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

 

Steph’s 31 points leads Warriors over Heat

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry scored 31 points to lead the  Golden State Warriors to their 36th consecutive home win at Oracle Arena with a 111-103 over the visiting Miami Heat on Monday night.

Draymond Green dropped 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Klay Thompson added 17 points for a Warriors team who improved to an NBA-best (36-2) on the season.

Golden State overcame a cold shooting night by Curry from 3-point range, who missed seven of his first nine 3-point but got plenty of help as the Warriors tied the Philadelphia 76ers (1966-67) for the fourth longest regular-season home win streak in NBA history. Chicago holds the record of 44 set in 1996-97.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points, while Chris Bosh and Gerald Green each scored 15 points for Miami (22-16), who entered Oakland winners of eight of their past 11 games at Oracle Arena.

Luol Deng finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Miami.

Andrew Bogut scored eight points to go along with nine rebounds for a Warriors team, that has won seven of their last eight games.

Golden State travels to Denver Wednesday to take on the Nuggets, while Miami heads to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Wednesday.

Golden State uses the 3-pointer to beat the Kings 128-116

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NBA: Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings
Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Golden State Warriors lived by the 3-point basket on Saturday night versus the Sacramento Kings and it led them to a 128-116 victory. The Warriors connected on 19 of 37 3-point attempts (51.4-percent) and broke the back of the Kings in doing so.

Kings head coach George Karl said after game that great shooting is contagious. No one who watched the game against Golden State would be able to mount a defense to counter that notion.

The other area the Warriors dominated in the was rebounding. Golden State out-rebounded the Kings 48-34 in the game. Even though the Warriors played “small ball” most of the night, their ability to rebound the ball was almost uncanny.

There were two key plays that defined the game for the Kings. The first happened in the first period with 5:43 left to play. Rajon Rondo picked up his second personal foul and had to go to the Kings bench. The loss of Rondo and his assists denied the Kings the opportunity to build a lead. He would not return until the 7:37 mark of the second quarter. Rondo was limited to just 13 minutes of playing time in the first half. Another seven to 10 minutes of time on the floor could have been a difference maker in this game.

The second incident happened with 9:44 to go in the third quarter. That is when DeMarcus Cousins was charged with his fourth personal foul. Cousins had to sit down and would not return until the final period. The Kings cannot hang with a team like the Warriors without Cousins working the paint on both ends of floor.

Would the Kings won the game if Rondo and Cousins were able to keep playing rather than sitting on the bench with foul trouble? That is really difficult to project. What can be said is the Kings would have had a better chance to compete with Golden State if Rondo and Cousins had not been lost for extended periods of time.

It was entertaining game that energized the sellout crowd that included a large contingent of Golden State fans. The crowd was loud and loving the basketball they were witnessing on the floor.

The Kings record fell to 15-22 (10-10 at home). Golden State improves to 35-2 on the season and 18-2 on the road.

Kings

DeMarcus Cousins was the Kings leading scorer with 33 points. He recorded another double-double by hauling in 10 rebounds. Cousins shot 12 of 27 from the floor.

Rudy Gay was the “blue collar” workhorse for the Kings in the game. He played 38 minutes scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Even when shots were not falling for Gay, he continued to work hard.

Darren Collison was a star off the bench for Sacramento. Collison logged 31 minutes scoring 16 points and dishing out six assists. He went 5-for-10 shooting and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

Marco Belinelli had an “agony and ecstasy” game versus the Warriors. Belinelli shot 0-for-6 from the floor in the first half. He finished the game shooting 5-for-14 and went 3-for-7 from long range. Belinelli just could not find his range in the first half.

Willie Cauley-Stein returned to the Kings lineup putting up 10 points in just nine minutes off the bench.

The Kings shot 46.7-percent (43-for-92) from the floor. They hit on 8 of 23 (34.8-percent) of their 3-point attempts. Sacramento went 22-for-29 from the free throw line.

Sacramento distributed 27 assists in the contest reaching the 20-assists mark for the 33rd straight game.

The Kings took good care of the ball turning it over just 10 times.

Warriors

The reigning MVP of the association – Stephen Curry – led the Warriors in scoring with 38 points. He scored 19 in each half. Curry made it a double-double night by adding 11 assists.

Draymond Green came up big for Golden State again on Saturday night. Green scored 25 points. He shot 5-for-6 from downtown.

The other half of the “splash brothers” – Klay Thompson – had an interesting night. Thompson scored 15 points but shot just 1-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line. He shot 7-for-17 for the game.

Andre Iguodala added 13 points, Brandon Rush 11 and Harrison Barnes 10.

Golden State shot 56.3-percent (49-for-87) from the floor including the 19 3-pointers. The Warriors recorded 35 assists. Their one blemish was turnovers. The Warriors turned it over 18 times.

What they said after the game

“This video is going to be good. This film is going to be good, too many good things (happened),” said Kings head coach George Karl. “I think you can learn from playing a team like this. It doesn’t feel good, but in the 3-minute mark (left to go) we were in a basketball game. I actually think we made a couple good defensive plays, and they made better offensive plays.”

“We played them pretty well for about 38 minutes, (Then) they turned it up in the end and made some tough shots (and) moved the ball around,” explained Rudy Gay. “They make you pay on everything. So, they’re a great team. They’re a championship team and they’ve been there before. That’s probably why they execute so well.”

“We did a better job engaging in the game (after the first quarter),” said Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton. “The first quarter we were turning the ball over. Just awful turnovers – like not even forced. Just throwing it away. This team – Sacramento – is a good team and they’re fighting for a playoff spot. We’ve beaten them three times already so there’s pride they have. Nobody wants to get swept by another team. They came out and they wanted it more than us. They were playing harder than us to start the game but out guys did a great job of getting reengaged and kind of slowly,slowly taking control of the game again.”

When asked about shooting 51-percent from the 3-point line Draymond Green said, “Yeah we were able to get something going. I think we really moved the ball and got good open shots. We got the shot. Guys knocked them down so we kind of took advantage of out ball movement.”

Up next

The Kings are off until Wednesday night when they will host the New Orleans Pelicans in the final game of this home-stand.

The Warriors will host the Miami Heat in Oakland on Monday night.

Warriors improve to 29-1 behind Curry’s triple double

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry overcame a slow start, but managed to pick up the pace by finishing with 23 points helping the Golden State Warriors improve to 29-1 with a 122-103 over the visiting Sacramento Kings Monday night in front of a sellout Oracle Arena crowd.

Curry finished with a career-high 14 rebounds and 10 assists, earning his sixth career triple double to help Golden State remain undefeated at home improving to 14-0, and extending their regular season home winning streak to 33 games dating back to last season.

Curry was held scoreless for 20:44 minutes to begin the game, but got red-hot in the second quarter scoring 17 points and nailing five 3-pointers.

Klay Thompson scored 29 points and Draymond Green finished with 25 points, helping Golden State to their 11th straight win over their Northern California rival, their longest losing streak since the Cincinnati Royals dropped 13 straight to the Philadelphia Warriors in 1959-60.

Omri Casspi scored a career-high 36 points (leading all scorers for the game), and tying a Kings’ record set by Mike Bibby with nine made 3-pointers.

Center DeMarcus Cousins, who was finally healthy in three games versus Golden State, was ejected in the third quarter by referee Monty McCutchen after arguing his fifth personal foul.

Once Cousins was ejected, the Warriors went on a 15-0 run that after being up by just two points to push their lead to 79-66. Another Curry 3-pointer just before the end of the third raised Golden State’s lead to 90-75.

Rudy Gay finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, Darren Collison had 13 points and 11 assists, while Rajon Rondo scored just four points and played just 17 minutes after picking up three fouls in the first quarter.

Sacramento (12-19), who lost 98-94 at home to the Portland Trailblazers on Sunday, have lost three of their last four games.

Warriors center Festus Ezeli left the game with a sore left foot and forward Harrison Barnes missed his 13th game with an ankle sprain.

Golden State travels to Texas for a two-game road trip, visiting Dallas on Wednesday and Houston on Thursday.

The Kings host Philadelphia on Wednesday.

 

 

 

Warriors hang tough, rally past Bucks to move to 26-1

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Klay Thompson scored a game-high 27 points and Stephen Curry added 26 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists to help the Golden State Warriors avenge their only loss of the season with a 121-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night in front of a sellout Oracle Arena crowd.

Thompson shot 8 of 16 from the floor (2 of 9) on 3s, while Curry shot 7 of 14 including 2 of 6 on 3s.

Curry extended his streak to 100 games with at least one 3-pointer made.

The Bucks ended the Warriors 28-game winning streak dating back to last season in Milwaukee last weekend. Milwaukee came within an eyelash of  joining the Chicago Bulls as the last team to beat the Warriors at Oracle Arena.

With the win,  Golden State has now won 30 straight games at home.

Golden State (26-1) yielded a season-high 70 points in the first half, but turned on the defense in the second half by limiting Milwaukee to just 42 points the rest of the way. The Warriors found themselves down by as much 15 points in the third, and trailing by 11 points with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Draymond Green nailed a huge 3-pointer from straight away to pull the Warriors within three at 100-97 and after being fouled on a 3-point attempt, Curry sunk three free throws to tie the game midway in the fourth quarter.

Green finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, but Andre Iguodala’s 3-pointer from the corner pushed Golden State’s lead to seven cementing the Warriors’ victory.

The made 3-pointer by Iguodala was his only points of the game.

Festus Ezeli who played the majority of the game in place of starting center Andrew Bogut, finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bogut left the game in the first quarter with a back injury and never returned.

Michael Carter-Williams led the Bucks with 24 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo chipped in 20 points for Milwaukee (10-18), who have dropped five of their last six games but have provided Golden State with its stiffest competition so far this season.

Greg Monroe had 10 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists for the Bucks, who were out-rebounded 46-41 but shot a blistering 62 percent from the floor in the first half.

Khris Middleton added 16 points and Jabari Parker scored 14 points.

So much trash talk was voiced between both squads leading up to their rematch tonight and even after the final whistle, the trash talk couldn’t be stopped.

Green and O.J. Mayo had some heated words when exiting the court, prompting security and fellow players having to come in between the two before heading into the locker room.

Mayo scored just 12 points off the bench after scoring 18 points as a starter in the previous meeting in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee head to Phoenix Sunday, while Golden State doesn’t play until Wednesday when the Utah Jazz visit Oracle Arena.