Nets pummel Warriors 129-88; Burks and Robinson traded to 76ers

image from nbabite.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors finished their five-game 10-day road trip with a visit to the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. The Warriors had won their last two games against Cleveland and Washington and a win over Brooklyn would allow them to return home with a 3-2 record. The Nets, playoff contenders, are the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 22-27.

The Nets’ star Kyrie Irving was not available to play Wednesday night. The Warriors dressed nine players as they kept Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson out of the lineup. Rumors have been swirling that the Warriors are looking to trade D’Angelo Russell, Alec Burks, and Robinson.

All three players have been able to put points on the board. The Warriors are up against a hard salary cap that prevents them from going after players that command a higher paycheck. The trade deadline is at 12 noon Pacific Time on Thursday.

As for the game, the Warriors, probably out of gas at the end of a long road trip, could not make baskets. The Warriors couldn’t handle the Nets onslaught. The Nets led 40-25

The Warriors lost the second period by six points. The Nets outscored the W’s 28-22, and the Warriors were just about finished. The score at the end of the first half was 68-47 in favor of Brooklyn. The Warriors were 2 for 22 from behind the three-point arc.

D’Angelo Russell paced the team with 15. Eric Paschall was second with nine. The W’s shot 34% from the floor. The Nets, on the other hand, were 49%from the floor and they made nine threes.

The Nets poured it on in the third quarter. The Warriors managed to score just 17 points while Brooklyn tallied 27. The Nets had the game in pocket leading 95-64 after the first 36 minutes of play.

Brooklyn used most of the reserves for the fourth quarter. It didn’t matter. The Warriors did not have the firepower to catch the Nets. The Warriors lost the game by a staggering 41 points 129-88.

Game Notes and Stats- With the loss, the W’s drop to 12-40. The Nets improved to 23-27.

The leading scorers for Golden State were D’Angelo Russell with 17. He knocked down just 2 points in the second half. Russell attempted 8 threes and did not make a single one. Eric Paschall had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and he made two threes in five tries.

Jordan Poole had 16, Kevon Looney 11 in just 17 minutes of playing time. Marquese Chriss added 8. The Warriors shot 36.5% from the floor. They made 5 threes in 39 tries. The Nets controlled the boards on both ends of the court as they outrebounded the W’s 65-34.

After the game, many of the Warriors were seen giving hugs to their former teammate Kevin Durant. KD and Steph Curry gave each other a big hug and were all smiles after the game.

Another former Warrior was in the news Wednesday night. Andre Iguodala, whom the W’s traded to Memphis, was traded to the Miami Heat. Iguodala refused to join the Grizzlies as they are a young team, and he wanted to go to a contender. The Heat filled the bill, and Iguodala signed a two-year extension for $30 million.

The W’s return home to face the Los Angeles Lakers Saturday evening at the Chase Center. The Warriors are planning a ceremony to honor the life of Kobe Bryant and the eight other people that died in the helicopter crash last month. The game will start at 5:30 pm.

 

Robinson and Burks pulled from game sets a sad tone in Warriors 129-88 loss

photo from sfgate.com: The Golden State Warriors Damion Lee (1) tries to put the brakes on the Brooklyn Nets Caris Lavert (22) at Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Wednesday night

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN–The Golden State Warriors were dismayed to find out just before facing the Brooklyn Nets that veterans Glen Robinson III and Alec Burks would likely be traded, and that news set the tone for their 129-88 loss at Barclays Center on Wednesday night.

“It was a tough night to go out and play,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Two of our leaders, elder statesmen, guys who are really beloved in the locker room–for the guys to find out that those two guys are most likely going to be traded was pretty tough.”

D’Angelo Russell, who received a warm welcome back from fans of his former team, scored the first points for Golden State with a floating shot. But the Nets went on a 13-0 run and took a 15-2 lead just four minutes into the first quarter, forcing Kerr to call a timeout.

“There’s not a really good way to prepare for a game when something like that happens, and I think it showed,” Kerr said, referring to Robinson and Burks.

The timeout did not help the Warriors, who were without stars Stephen Curry (left hand fracture) and Klay Thompson (left ACL rehabilitation). At the half, the Nets lead 68-47. Golden State never lead, but trailed by as many as 44 points, at the end of the game.

Two Golden State rookies admitted that Robinson and Burks sitting out impacted their game, but that it was not an excuse for the blowout.

“Today was a rough one just because everyone was mentally out of it, but it’s our job,” Warriors forward Eric Parschall said. “We know it’s a business.”

Warriors guard Jordan Poole said the team “didn’t come out how we wanted to.”

“The Nets are a really good team, but I don’t think I could blame anything for the performance,” Poole said. “Obviously, it was tough news that nobody wanted to hear, but you still have to go out there and you still have to play.”

Golden State was 5 for 39 (13%) from the three-point line, and their record has worsened to 12-40. Meanwhile, the Nets’ 41-point win was their biggest margin of victory since defeating the Denver Nuggets by 44 points in 2009.

For many Warriors fans, the highlight was probably after the game, when Curry hugged former teammate Kevin Durant, who also sat out for rehabilitation of his right Achilles.

While the Warriors can look forward to heading back to the Bay after their five-game road trip, it isn’t going to get any easier for them at home. They are facing LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m.

Warriors improved play still lose to Pacers 129-118

The Utah Jazz’ Rudy Gobert (27) and the Golden State Warriors Willie Cauley-Stein (2) scramble under the basket for the loose ball at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Fri Jan 24th

By Jerry Feitelberg

San Francisco- The Golden State Warriors hosted the Indiana Pacers at the Chase Center Friday night. The Warriors were hoping to rebound after being blown out by the Utah Jazz Wednesday night.

The Warriors played with a lot of energy. They moved the ball well as they recorded 31 assists. They shot 49% from the floor, and they made 19 threes. It was not enough as they turned the ball over 20 times, and Indiana put 33 points on the board as a result of the Warriors sloppy play.

The Pacers, who average about 27 three-point attempts per game. Knocked down 17 in 28 tries Friday night. The Pacers like to make a lot of two-point buckets, and Friday night’s game was no exception. They shot 57% from the floor to beat the Warriors 129-118.

The Warriors got off to a good start early in the first quarter. They led 22-16 about halfway through the first period. The Pacers got their offense going, and they went on a 13-0 run to lead 29-22. The Pacers finished the first quarter leading 35-30.

The Pacers played well as they increased the lead to 50-38. The Pacers defense held the Warriors scoreless for over three minutes in the period. The Warriors continued to turn the ball over, and the Pacers capitalized on the Warriors miscues.

The Pacers finished the first half with a 16-point advantage 67-51. D’Angelo Russell led the W’s with 16. Marquese Chriss was the only other Warrior in double figures with 10. The Pacers’ T.J.Warren led his team with 21. Doug McDermott coming off the bench knocked down 15, and he helped propel the Pacers to the 16-point advantage.

The Warriors turned things around in the third period. D’Angelo Russell made several threes, and the Warriors went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to six points as they trailed 80-74. The Pacers regrouped and were able to finish the third period leading by 98-86.

In the fourth quarter, The Warriors continued to make threes. Jordan Poole made two consecutive threes to make it 110-103. The Pacers refused to fold. They went up by thirteen 121-108. The Warriors went on a 7-0 run to trail 121-115. The Pacers were not fazed, and they went on to win 129-118.

Game Notes and Stats- The Warriors announced that they have traded center Willie Cauley-Stein to the Dallas Mavericks for a second-round draft choice. The Mavs needed to replace former Stanford star, Dwight Powell. Powell suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon injury. He will miss the rest of the season and part of the 2020-21 season, too.

With the loss, the Warriors drop to 10-37. Indiana won its eighth game out of the last ten played. They are 30-16 and are within two games of being in second place in the Eastern Conference. They will be in the playoffs. Malcolm Brogdon did not play due to an injury, and the Pacers’ Victor Oladipo is close to returning to action.

The W’s were led by D’Angelo Russell’s 37 points. Russell was nine for 13 from behind the three-point arc. Glenn Robinson had 18. Chriss finished with 13. Alec Burks had 11 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. Draymond Green recorded a double-double with ten points, six boards, and 11 assists. Jordan Poole, Omari Spellman, And Eric Paschall each added nine.

T.J.Warren had 33 for Indiana, Doug McDermott finished with 24, Jeremy Lamb and Damontas Sabonis each had 16. Sabonis pulled down ten rebounds to record a double-double. Aaron Holiday had 12. His brother Justin, a former Warrior, contributed eight to help the Pacers win.

The Warriors go on the road for the next two weeks. They meet the Philadelphia Sixers Tuesday night. Thursday they are in Boston, Saturday they play the Cavaliers. They go to Washington and Brooklyn before returning home to face the Lakers on February 8th.

Short-handed Kings fall to the Nets 116-97

Photo credit: nba.com/nets

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN — The Sacramento Kings had a “tough night” and beginning to their four-game road trip on Friday night as they played short-handed and lost 116-97 to the Brooklyn Nets.

Both teams struggled with offense to start at Barclays Center, but Garrett Temple hit a triple to give the Nets a lead—that lasted the entire game except for one tie with a few minutes remaining in the first quarter. Brooklyn lead by as many as 22 points. Sacramento was only 4-26 from the three-point line.

“Tough night for us,” Kings head coach Luke Walton said. “If you’re a 3-point shooting team and you shoot 15 percent, you’re not going to win a lot of games. Where we have to be better at are things that we can control.” The Kings could not control the number of injuries that have plagued the team. They played without Bogdan Bogdanovic due to left hamstring tightness, in addition to Marvin Bagley and De’Aaron Fox who have been out with injuries.

Buddy Hield, who tried to step up in his teammates’ absence, had similar words to Walton about their performance: “It was a tough night.”

“When we have extra guys that can make shots it’s a little easier, but missing Bogie didn’t help us for sure,” Hield said. “It’s always ‘next man up’ mentality and we had to come out here and play. They did a good job. they made some shots and made some good plays.” The Kings trailed 26-23 after the first quarter and stayed in the game in the second, trailing 56-49 at the half. Rookie Justin James scored 4 points in 13 minutes played in the first half.

“I felt good out there—I was playing my game. I had a lot of mishaps defensively that I’m not too happy about but coach called on my number and I was ready to play,” James said. “Bogie was down tonight so I tried to come up and play the best that I can.” The game ran away from them in the Kings in third. The Nets began 4-4 and a 10-2 run led Walton to call a timeout. The Kings finished the quarter down 86-70. Sacramento’s bench players came out in the fourth quarter and the Kings fell to a 6-8 record.

The Nets won on rebounds 48-33, while the Kings beat them on assists 26-22 and had 16 turnovers, two fewer than the Nets. The Nets dominated on three’s, scoring 12.

“Brooklyn executed it well tonight and for whatever reason we didn’t do a good enough job of creating looks,” Walton said. “When we did get good looks, we just didn’t knock them down.” Brooklyn was without injured stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

The Kings continue their east coast road trip on Sunday facing the Washington Wizards. Tipoff is at 3 p.m.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Russell’s value for Golden State; How Cousins fits at the Lakers; plus more

Photo credit: twitter.com

On Headline Sports with Tony Renteria:

#1. How much will the acquisition of DeAngelo Russell & Willie Cauley-Stein mean for Golden State?

#2 The Lakers are happy in picking up DeMarcus Cousins how much of a big piece of the puzzle and how much does he look forward to working with LeBron?

#3 The Miami Heat are rumored to picking up Russell Westbrook from the OKC Thunder. How badly does Westbrook want to go to Miami?

#4 Tony talks about the Oakland Raiders picking up running back Josh Jacobs and linebacker Te’Von Coney.

#5 How serious will the San Francisco Giants be about dealing pitcher Madison Bumgarner and reliever Will Smith  before the trade deadline?

#6 Kahwi Leonard signed a three-year, $103 million deal with the Clippers and the contract calls for a player option in his third year.

Tony Renteria does Headline Sports podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Skaggs’ death a tragedy, waiting for autopsy results; Nets aren’t just banking on KD when he gets back

Photo credit: @KleinschmidtJD

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died on Monday at a Texas hotel. Amaury had a chance to work with and interview Skaggs when Amaury was doing Spanish play-by-play on Angels TV. He was a good kid and his mother, although her last name wasn’t Spanish, she was Mexican American.

He spoke Spanish. His dad’s last name was Skaggs. He was 27 years old. Amaury had a chance to speak with him during his time broadcasting Angels baseball. He was a nice young man always available to speak to with the media.

The Southland Police said they do not suspect foul play and it has not been determined if Skaggs passed away due to natural causes. Officers found Skaggs unresponsive at the hotel and was deceased at the scene.

Amaury also talks about how the moves at the Golden State Warriors and how the Kevin Durant move will impact the team as he moves to the Brooklyn Nets and Andre Iguodala was rumored to go to the Memphis Grizzlies so Golden State can shed that salary. Iguodala could end up at the Lakers. DeAngelo Russell comes to the Warriors from the Nets and will probably be the point guard on the second unit.

Amaury is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play radio talent on KIQI 1010 San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kevin Durant signs four-year $164 million deal to play with the Brooklyn Nets

file photo from sfgate.com: Former Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant #35 gets help off the floor in his last hurrah for Golden State with the injured Achilles tendon in the first half of game 5 against the Toronto Raptors.

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors lost a key player to free agency on Sunday. Superstar forward Kevin Durant decided to leave the Warriors, a team that he won two championships with, to play for the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets were active Sunday signing point guard Kyrie Irving and center DeAndre Jordan. They will have to wait a year for Durant to play for them as he will be recovering from an Achilles tendon injury that will sideline him for the entire 2019-2020 season.

The big question is, why did Durant decide to leave the Warriors. Golden State offered him a five-year deal worth $ 221 Million. The answer has to be that he was unhappy here with the Warriors. He had a massive dustup with Draymond Green early in the season. The two players didn’t speak for a while, and that may have been a factor even though Green apologized to Durant. Another factor may have been the injury that he sustained in Game Five of the NBA Finals with Toronto. Durant had suffered a calf injury in the series with the Houston Rockets. The team may have asked him to return to action before that injury was healed. No one knows what the Warriors’ doctors told him about the possibility that he might make it worse if he played.

The Warriors did agree to terms with a five -year $190 million contract with Klay Thompson. Klay will be out for at least nine months as he recovers from surgery to fix a torn ACL in his left knee. The Warriors want to re-sign Kevon Looney.  Looney is being courted by the Houston Rockets. Looney proved his worth as he played inspired basketball in the Finals after suffering an injury to his collarbone. The Warriors may try to get DeMarcus Cousins back. The most the can offer Cousins is about 6.3 million. Cousins could help fill the gap left by Durant’s departure. Cousins may stay to get a better deal a year from now. Shaun Livingston may retire, and that is another hole that the W’s will have to fill.

The Warriors should be competitive next year with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala still on the roster. Players such as Damian Jones, Jordan Bell, Alonzo McKinnie, and Quinn Cook will have to step up if the Warriors are to be successful next season. The fans are hoping the GM Bob Myers might have something rolled up in his sleeves to help make the team better. It will be a very different season for the Warriors as they start to play next year at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Durant and Leonard could be signed with a new team by next week; Baseball epidemic, nets needed to protect fans; plus more

Photo credit: @NBCSBoston

On Headline Sports with Tony Renteria:

#1 The Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant and the Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard are going free agency to see if they can get the maximum for their buck.

#2 Some of the teams that most likely will show interest in Durant and Leonard are the LA Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. It’s very likely everyone should learn either by Sunday night or Monday morning where they’ll be going.

#3 The Houston Rockets are shopping center Clint Capela, guard Eric Gordon, and forward PJ Tucker in their bid to get Philadelphia 76ers star Jimmy Butler. The Rockets are to trying to solidify themselves after failing to make the NBA Finals in the last two seasons.

#4 In the game of baseball, fans come many sit as close to the action as they can. After some serious injuries to fans last season, the MLB thought they got it covered with all the netting they possibly muster up to protect the fans. Last Sunday, a young girl was hit in the eye with a bullet hit by the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger, and on May 29th, a two-year-old girl was hit by a foul ball hit by the Chicago Cubs’ Albert Almora Jr. that fractured her skull at Houston’s Minute Maid Park leaving her with injuries that she will have to battle with for years to come. The Dodgers, Nationals, and White Sox have said during the All-Star Break, they’ll be netting their entire stadiums from foul pole to foul pole.

#5 The San Francisco Giants’ lineup has been noted for having the worst offense in baseball and possibly the worst in their franchise history. The Giants do not have a batter hitting over .300 in their lineup and have lost nine of their last 12 games.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: Will Irving reunite with LeBron in L.A.?; Leonard’s 4-bouncer rim shot gets Raptors in the semi Finals; plus more

Photo credit: @AFordTaurus

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury on That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 What about all the talk from ESPN radio that they can see a LeBron James and Kyrie Irving reunion at the Los Angeles Lakers especially if Jason Kidd had come on board as head coach but Frank Vogel got the job as Lakers head coach? Stephen A Smith says that not going to happen that his sources tell him that Irving is going to the Knicks and Brooklyn is trying to weigh in on Irving, but Irving is focused on going to the Knicks and Madison Square Garden.

#2 The Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard sunk a four-bouncer on the rim and got the Raptors into the next round defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 92-90 on a buzzer beater. Leonard had himself a game finishing with 41 points in a Game 7 elimination contest to advance to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

#3 The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lilliard will be all the rage as the Blazers are coming off a narrow 4-3 win past the Denver Nuggets. It took seven games for the Blazers to advance. Do the Blazers have enough to go deep with Golden State? In game one the Warriors rolled past Portland 116-94.

#4 In hockey, the San Jose Sharks and St Louis Blues played Game 2 Monday night in the best of seven in this third round of the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Final. The Sharks have been getting help from all around, but the Sharks’ Timo Meier has been on fire with two goals scored in Game 1. The Sharks had home ice in game for the first two games.

#5 The Oakland A’s opened up a two-game series in Seattle on Monday night the A’s got five homers but couldn’t win it in the end. The A’s and M’s are battling for that third place spot in the American League West and are two games out of second place but eight games behind Houston. The A’s and M’s have almost identical records in a short series that could prove to test the A’s on the road and the M’s against an A’s team who’s capable to break out the bats and get good pitching.

Barbara does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary every Tuesday night and is a freelance writer for Area Grande Spanish papers at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The term “ugly loss” was redefined as Nets come back to beat Kings 123-121

Bogi goes to the hoop Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento — At the end of three quarters on Wednesday night, the Sacramento Kings held a 25 point lead over the visiting Brooklyn Nets, 103-78. The Kings largest lead of the night had been 28 points. All of the fans in the Golden 1 Center were settling in and getting ready for some “Showtime” basketball in the final period. Things did not go as planned.

The Nets – behind an incredible 27-point scoring barrage by D’Angelo Russell – outscored the Kings 45-18 the fourth quarter to end a three-game losing streak and defeat Sacramento 123-121. The stunned sellout crowd left the arena trying to figure out how the Kings allowed what appeared to be a sure victory to become such agonizing defeat.

This was just the fourth time in the NBA shot clock era that a team has come back to win after trailing by 25 points through three quarters. That is not the kind of stain you want to have on your season if you are the Kings.

Why Did the Kings Lose?

1. The took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter. The looked at the scoreboard, saw a 25 point lead and relaxed. After all, there was no chance the Nets were going to mount a comeback down by that many points.
2. Sacramento did not hustle back on defense. D’Angelo Russell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made them pay for that as the two Nets combined for 39 points in the final quarter. Russell hit 10-of-15 shots including four 3-point baskets. Hollis-Jefferson was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the fourth quarter.
3. The Kings also shot horribly in the final stanza. They connected on just 5-of-22 attempts (22.7%) and went 0-for-8 from behind the 3-point line. They also turned the ball over seven times which resulted in six Brooklyn points.

Fox takes the shot from the key Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

KINGS

Top Performers

• Marvin Bagley III was the Kings top scorer with 28 points. He shot 12-for-15 in the game and went 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Bagley has been working on adding the 3-point shot to allow him to become a true “stretch four”. Bagley also played just over 29 minutes. That is the most playing time he has seen since returning from his knee sprain.
• De’Aaron Fox added 27 points as he hit 10-of-20 shots from the field. Fox went 2-for-5 from downtown. The point guard dished out nine assists and made four rebounds in almost 35 minutes of playing time.
• Harrison Barnes put up 17 points, added seven rebounds and played just over 38 minutes in the loss.
• Buddy Hield did not have a “Buddy Buckets” type game. He scored just eight points shooting 4-for-13 overall while going 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. His off night was not the cause of the Kings loss.

Team Stats

• SAC shot 51.6-percent (49/95) for the contest. They sank 9-of-25 (36.0%) of their 3-point attempts.
• The Kings went 14-for-20 (70%) from the free throw line. Both the percentage and number of attempts are a little low.
• The turnover to assists ratio was awful. The Kings made 25 assists but they turned the ball over 21 times. That missed the desired 2:1 ratio by a “country mile”.
• Sacramento was outscored in the paint 68-64. The Kings usually own the paint when they win.
• The Kings are now 34-36 for the season. They are 7.0 games out of the eighth-place and the final playoff slot in the Western Conference with 12 games to play.

BROOKLYN

Spotlight Players

• D’Angelo Russell was the games leading scorer with 44 points. He shot 17-for-33 from the floor and connected on 6-of-15 from downtown. Russell made it a double-double by distributing 12 “dimes”. He made four steals. Hey Lakers, Mr. Russell is a Restricted Free Agent in the off-season. Maybe you should make a play for the one you traded away.
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson came off the bench when it looked like it was going to be “mop-up” time and wound up scoring the winning bucket. He scored 14 points in just under 17 minutes on the floor. Hollis-Jefferson went 6-for-7 shooting from the field.
• Jared Dudley scored six points in the contest. Why is that significant? All six points came in the fourth quarter when all the points were scored by three players – Russell, Hollis-Jefferson, and Dudley.

Team Stats

• The Nets shot 50.0-percent (47/94) from the floor and hit 12-of-35 (34.3%) attempts from 3-point land.
• Brooklyn hit 17-of-23 (73.9%) of their shots from the charity stripe.
• BKN recorded 28 assists and committed 18 turnovers. The TOV’s were too high but they made it work.
• They made 16 steals versus 13 for SAC.
• The Nets blocked four Kings shots. The Kings recorded only one blocked shot.
• The Nets are now 37-36 on the season and one-half game back of sixth-place Detroit in the Eastern Conference.

Up Next

The Kings will return to action on Thursday when the Dallas Mavericks come to Sacramento for a 7:00 PM tipoff. This will be a chance for Sacramento fans to see rookie Luka Doncic and possibly see Dirk Nowitzki for the final time.

Brooklyn will continue their seven-game road trip on Friday night in Los Angeles when they will take on the Lakers.