Tag: Oracle Arena

Warriors fall to the Raptors 105-92, now on the brink of elimination

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors were hoping to even the series against the Toronto Raptors Friday night at Oracle Arena. The Warriors had two things going for them. Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney, who were both injured in Game 2 of the series, were cleared to play. The second factor was the crowd at Oracle. The fans were behind the team for the entire game, and the noise level was unbelievable.

The Raptors’ game plan was to double team Curry every time he touched the ball and not let him make three-point shots. The Warriors needed Draymond Green, DeMarcus Cousins, and Andre Iguodala to help out putting points on the board. The Warriors knew that if they were going to win, they would have to shut down the Toronto offense.

The Warriors won the first half 46-42. It was a defensive struggle for the entire 24 minutes of action. Both teams didn’t shoot well at the start of the game. The Warriors defense was terrific. Toronto’s three-point shooter, Danny Green, was held to zero points for the first 24 minutes. They held Pascal Siakam to six. Kawhi Leonard scored 14 to keep Toronto close. Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 14 points. The Raptors held Curry to just 8. Kevon Looney was terrific. Everyone thought he was out for the rest of the series. He implored the doctors to check him, and they cleared him to play. Kevon responded with 8 big points. Toronto knew if they could stay within 5 points of the lead at halftime, they had a chance to win.

The Raptors took it to the Warriors in the third quarter. They made five threes, and Leonard knocked 17 points to propel Toronto to a 79-67 advantage at the end of three quarters.

The Warriors knew that it would be difficult to overcome a twelve -point lead in the final 12 minutes of play. They tried, but Toronto answered every Warrior bucket with a bucket of their own. They continued to pressure Curry, and as much as he wished, he could not bring the Warriors back. The Warriors fell to Toronto 105-92 and now trail the series 3-1. The next game will be played in Toronto Monday night.

Game Notes: The Raptors won the game on the strength of their third-period outburst. They connected on eight three in the second half. The Warriors made six. The Raptors had 24 shots from the free throw line and made 23. The Warriors made 14 in 21 tries. On defense, the Raptors had 12 steals and four blocked shots. The Warriors did a poor job of handling the ball. They turned the ball over 17 times. The Raptors committed nine.

Klay led the Warriors with 28. Steph had 27. Draymond Green and Kevon Looney were the only other Warriors in double figures. They each scored 10. Cousins had six, and Iguodala had three. The Warrior bench, other than Looney, added eight.

Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard led his team with 36 points and 12 rebounds. Leonard knocked down five threes. Serge Ibaka had 20, and Pascal Siakam added 19. Kyle Lowry scored 10, and Fred VanVleet had eight. VanVleet, who hounded Curry all night long, left the game with a cut under his right eye. He went to the locker room, and the wound was closed with seven stitches.

The Warriors’ Kevin Durant was not cleared to play again. The doctors would not let him practice, and it is becoming apparent that Durant may not play at all in the series.

If the Warriors lose Monday night, they will no longer play another game at Oracle Arena. The team moves to the Chase Center in San Francisco for the 2019-2020 season.

The last team to come back from a 3-1 deficit and to win on the home team’s court was the Cleveland Cavaliers. They did it to win the 2016 NBA Championship over the Warriors.

Short-handed Warriors’ effort not good enough, fall to Raptors 123-109

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Raptors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, without Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Kevon Looney, fought a brave, but losing battle against the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.  The Warriors held the lead just once in the entire contest. They led 5-4 early in the first quarter. Toronto took the lead 6-5 and never trailed the rest of the way.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to juggle his lineup. He had the veteran, Shaun Livingston, start in place of the injured Klay Thompson. DeMarcus Cousins started for the second game in a row. The Warriors needed Cousins to put a lot of points on the board. Cousins tallied just four points as the Raptors’ Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Pascal Siakam manhandled Cousins.

Steph Curry did everything he could to keep his team in the game. Curry ended the night with 47 points. He connected on six threes to keep his team close. Draymond Green with 17 and Andre Iguodala with 11 were the only other Warriors in double figures.

The Raptors had six players in double figures. They also were connecting on three-point shots. Kawhi Leonard led Toronto with 30 points. Danny Green, Kyle Lowry, and Fred VanVleet killed the Warriors as they made 6, 5, and 3, respectively.

The Raptors led 36-29 after the first quarter. They finished the first half leading 60-52. Curry led the Warriors with 25. No other Warrior player was in double figures. The Raptors scored the first six points in the third quarter and the Warriors, as hard as they tried, could not catch up. Late in the third quarter, the Raptors went on an 8-0 run, and they finished the period leading 96-83. It was more of the same in the fourth quarter. They could not get buckets when they needed them. They had shots blocked by Serge Ibaka and Toronto’s defense. The Warriors, without the firepower of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, could not catch up. The Raptors double-teamed Curry every time he handled the ball. The Warriors were forced to take bad shots. The Raptors won 123-109 to take a 2-3 series lead.

Game Notes: The Raptors shot 52.4% from the floor and held the Warriors to 39.6%. The Raptors were 17 for 39 from 3-point range. The Warriors were 12 for 36. The Raptors made five more threes than the W’s, and that was the difference in the game.

Up Next: Game 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played Friday night at Oracle Arena. The Warriors are hoping the Durant and Thompson will be able to play. Game time will be at 6 pm.

Warriors down Rockets 104-99, lead series 3-2

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets continued their epic struggle in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series.

The series has been extraordinarily close, and neither team has been able to blow out their opponent. The first four games were extremely close as exemplified by the fact that the Warriors had outscored the Rockets by just one point in four games played.

Wednesday’s contest was another heat pounding nail-biter. The Warriors won 104-99, but it was not easy. They had a 14-point lead at the end of the first 24 minutes of play. The Rockets wiped out the lead in the third quarter. The teams entered the final period of the game 72-72.

The Warriors lost Kevin Durant to a calf strain late in the third quarter. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to figure out a way to stop the hard-charging Rockets. The Rockets took the lead just once in the period, and the Warriors summoned up the will to not let the guys from Houston beat them at Oracle Arena. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala showed everyone that they have the hearts of champions as they prevailed to take a 3-2 advantage. If they beat the Rockets Friday night, they will advance to the Western Conference Finals.

The first half of Game 5 between the Rockets and Warriors belonged to Golden State. The Warrior defense was outstanding as they held the Rockets to 43 points in the first half. Steph Curry did not score in the first 12 minutes of play. He connected on a three and a deuce in the second quarter to give the Warriors a 52-37 advantage. Kevin Durant paced the Warriors with 20 points, and Klay Thompson was second with 17. James Harden led the Rockets with 14. The Warriors held Eric Gordon to 4 points, and he was) for 5 from the 3-point range. None of the other Rocket starters were in double figures.

The third quarter belonged to the Rockets as they outscored the Warriors by 14 points to finish the period 72-72. The Rockets put the clamps on the Warrior offense, and they caused the Warriors to turn the ball over six times. Kevin Durant left the game late in the quarter with a leg injury. He went to the locker room and was diagnosed with a right calf strain and did not return to the game.

Curry hit a three to put the Warriors ahead 82-79. The Rockets kept coming back, but the Warriors refused to relinquish the lead. The Warriors took a five-point lead after a technical foul was called on Draymond Green. Green’s answer was a three to give Golden State the lead 94-89. The Rockets kept clawing back, but Klay Thompson came up big with another three to extend the lead to eight 97-89. Curry made two free throws and Klay hit a three with 4.1 seconds left to ice the win. The Warriors prevailed 104-99.

Game Notes and Stats: Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 27 points. He made five threes in 10 tries. Curry, after a slow first half, pumped in 20 in the second half to finish with 25. He made three threes in 11 attempts. Kevin Durant had 22. Andre Iguodala finished the night with 11. Draymond Green had another double-double with eight points, 11 assists and 12 boards.

To no one’s surprise, James Harden led the Rockets with 31. Eric Gordon, who was bottled up in the first half, finished the night with 19. He connected on three threes to keep Houston in the game. Defensive whiz, P.J.Tucker also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Paul and Imam Shumpert each had 11.

The Warriors shot 45.3% from the floor. Their defense held the Rockets to 41,8%.

The Warriors made 13 threes, and the Rockets connected 12 times.

The Warriors outrebounded the Rockets 42-39 and had 12 offensive rebounds. The Rockets had eight.

Game 6 will be played in Houston on Friday. Game time will be at 6 pm.

Warriors defeat the Rockets 115-109 to lead the series 2-0

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, using the Hampton’s Five lineup for the second game in a row, held on to beat the Houston Rockets 115-109.

The Warriors led from start to finish. They caused the Rockets to commit 13 turnovers in the first half, and they put 20 points on the board as a result. The Rockets, to their credit, stayed close as they made 10 three-pointers in the first half. The Warriors made just four.

Steph Curry had to leave the game in the second quarter when he injured his left hand trying to swat a shot attempt by Clint Capela. Curry went to the locker room for an x-ray and treatment. Nothing was broken, but he dislocated his middle finger on his left hand. Curry returned to action but appeared to be having trouble shooting the basketball as two fingers on his left hand were taped. James Harden also went to the locker room for treatment. Harden was struck in his left eye by Draymond Green. There was no foul on the play, and Draymond talked to Harden telling him that it was not intentional. Harden returned later after having some difficulty with his vision.

The Warriors won the first quarter 29-20. They were playing defense, and the offense was percolating. The Rockets played the Warriors even in the second quarter. Austin Rivers, filling in for Harden, kept the Rockets in the game as he knocked down three threes and finished the first half with 11. Clint Capela played much better Tuesday night. He ended the first half with seven points and seven rebounds.

The Warriors led by nine 58-49 at the end of the first half. The Rockets made 10 threes good for 30 points and kept themselves in the game.

Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 13 points. Kevin Durant had 12 points, Draymond Green had seven points and seven boards, Steph Curry had 10 points, and Andre Iguodala had 10 points.

James Harden led the Rockets with 12 points. Chris Paul had eight points, P.J. Tucker had six points, and Eric Gordon, who scored 27 on Sunday, was held to two points.

In the third quarter, the Rockets outscored the Warriorss 26-24 to finish the quarter trailing by seven 82-75. The Rockets trailed by 15 until they went on an 8-0 run at the end of the period. The Rockets cut the lead to four 84-80, but Shaun Livingston came through with two clutch baskets and the Warriors led 88-80.

The Rockets kept coming back. They trailed 93-90, but Steph Curry hit a three and Andre Iguodala followed with a bucket. Klay Thompson also hit a deuce, and the Warriors led 100-90 with 4:45 left to play. The Warriorss increased the lead to 12 104-92 as they went on an 11-2 run. James Harden refused to quit. Harden’s eye was bothering him all night long, but he kept attacking. He continued to drive the lane, and when he was bottled up, he tried to make a three-point shot. The Warriors were able to hang on to beat the Rockets by a final of 115-109.

Game Notes: All five Warrior starters were in double figures. Draymond Green had a double-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists. Kevin Durant led the team with 29. Durant made three threes in seven tries. Klay Thompson had 21. Thompson also made three threes. Thompson made two threes in a row in the third quarter that helped the Warriors maintain their lead. Steph Curry finished with 20. Curry also made three threes and was 3 for 13 in that department. Andre Iguodala tallied 16 and helped out with two threes.

James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points. Chris Paul had 18 points, Eric Gordon had 15 points, Clint Capela had 14 points and P.J.Tucker had 13 points. The Rockets committed four turnovers in the second half.

The team stats looked like this: The Rockets were 36 for 77 from the floor. The Warriors took 14 more shots and were 42 for 91. The Rockets made 17 threes. The Warriors made 11. The Warriors outrebounded the Rockets 46-41 and had 18 offensive boards while Houston’s total was 10. The Warriors had 10 steals and five blocked shots.

The referees did an outstanding job Tuesday night, and neither team appeared to criticize the crew that worked Game 2 of the series.

Up Next: Game 3 of the best of seven series will be played in Houston on Saturday. Game time will be at 5:30 pm. The three-day layoff will give the players a chance to get some rest after the grueling first two games of the series.

Warriors lose to Clippers 129-121 in Game 5

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors held a 3-1 series lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs. It was clear the Warriors didn’t want to blow a 3-1 lead like they did to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid recently joked about the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead in a postgame press conference. Warriors big man Andrew Bogut, who was part of the Warrior squad who lost to the Cavs in 2016, responded to Embiid’s joke in his column for Yahoo Sports Australia.

“Joel Embiid saying the 76ers don’t want to do what we did in the 2016 Finals is just Joel being Joel — he’s a bit of a larrikin,” Bogut wrote. “But they have to get to a Finals series first before they can even think about doing that.”

“It’s been a funny talking point for a lot of people in the league. But we haven’t taken any notice of it and it’s not something that’s been mentioned in the locker room.”

Sure, Philadelphia eliminated the Brooklyn Nets 3-1, but the Sixers are a long ways away from the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship trophy. We’ll see how things go in the City of Brotherly Love.

In the meantime, Golden State was more than ready to go for Game 5 at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night. Before the game, Draymond Green said: “We just got to come out with the mindset that it’s 48 minutes. Stay the course, no matter what.”

The Warriors’ starting five featured Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Bogut is open to another Australia-NBA season. Bogut has a verbal agreement to play for the 2019-20 Sydney Kings, and if given the opportunity to return to the NBA, he’d do so after honoring his commitment.

The first quarter remained in close scores, but the Warriors had something to smile about. Kevin Durant poured in the points, recorded his 3,776th career playoff point and passed John Havlicek for 12th on the NBA Playoffs’ all-time career scoring list.

Kevin Durant had back-to-back buckets along with 12 points in the first quarter. But Durant’s performance wasn’t the only highlight in the first quarter. Steph Curry found Andre Iguodala, who passed the ball to Alfonzo McKinnie, who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer beater to extend the Warriors’ lead to 41-37 to wrap up the first quarter.

Patrick Beverley led the Clippers in points, rebounds and assists in the first. Beverley, Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell kept things up in the second quarter to give the Warriors fits. The Warriors trailed 71-63 at the end of the first half.

Kevin Durant continued to hammer it home in the third quarter. Also, Steph Curry hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 87-78 with 6:25 left in the third quarter. But the Clippers built up a 10-point lead and wrapped up the third quarter with a 104-94 lead, so the Warriors had some work to do in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors were off to a good start to open the fourth quarter.

Check out the Warriors’ 4-point play:

The Warriors were down by 6 with 5:58 left in the fourth quarter. However, Steph Curry helped the Warriors out of the flop with a 2-point bucket to cut the deficit to 114-110 with 5:55 left in the fourth quarter.

Kevin Durant knocked down a few jumpers. The Warriors tied the game 116-116 with 3:03 left in the fourth quarter. But the Clippers weren’t ready to back down just yet. Golden State got their first lead of the game since the first half, but LA regained the lead 125-118 with 1:29 left in the fourth quarter.

Steph Curry hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 125-121 with 20.6 seconds, but Danilo Gallinari made a pair of free throws to cap off the scoring. The Warriors (3-2) lost to the Clippers (2-3) by a final score of 129-121.

Despite the Warriors’ loss, Steph Curry became the only player in NBA history knock down 400 career playoff 3s.

Check out the Warriors’ final stats:

Game 6 will be played at the Staples Center on Friday, April 26. The time has yet to be determined. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, NSBA and FSPT.

Clippers tie series 1-1 with 135-131 win over Warriors

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors returned to Oracle Arena with a 1-0 series lead and had hoped to make it 2-0 against the Los Angeles Clippers in a nationally televised game Monday night. The Warriors didn’t do that.

It was a cold, rainy day in the Bay Area, but the Warriors announced their starting five of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins nonetheless.

Game 2 was presented by realtor.com, who provided gold and royal blue playoff t-shirts. The lights and flames went up and the game was underway in Oakland. Los Angeles scored first for a 2-0 lead, but Curry tied the game with a 2-point field goal to tie the game 2-2 at the 10:34 mark of the first quarter. The game remained close throughout the first, and at one point, Golden State was 9-10 from the free throw line compared to LA’s 0-0. Yet, Golden State continued to amaze Dub Nation with some sweet plays, including a reverse layup from Klay Thompson. The Warriors led 33-25 at the end of the first.

DeMarcus Cousins suffered a left quad injury in the first and didn’t return to Monday’s game. Cousins will get an MRI in the next 24 hours.

Despite Cousins’ injury, Golden State continued to prevail. The Warriors expanded their lead to the double-digits from the start of the second quarter. Shaun Livingston dribbled the ball and tried to knock down a jumper, but it was unsuccessful. However, Andre Iguodala came to the rescue and knocked down a shot.

Green and Durant got the job done late in the second. The two made eye contact, Durant caught Green’s pass and then threw down a wide-open slam dunk that could’ve destroyed the rim. Oh, and there was a lot of yelling, but thankfully, no scuffles like the scuffle between Durant and Patrick Beverley in Game 1 at Oracle Saturday.

Curry added to the Warriors’ lead with a 3-pointer at the 2-minute mark. The Warriors went up 64-48 with two minutes left in the second. But the Warriors weren’t done yet. Kevon Looney scored his 10th point of the second and 14th point overall to make it 70-50 in favor of the Warriors. With that point, Looney recorded a new playoff career-high with 14 points (5-of-5 FG), one off of his regular season career-high of 15 points (January, 28, 2019, at the Indiana Pacers). Curry quickly stepped back from a Clipper defender and hit a 3 to give the Warriors a 73-50 lead to close out the first half.

The Warriors kept the points and assists coming in the third quarter. The Warriors were outscored by the Clippers 44-35, but they held a 108-94 lead at the end of the third.

The Warriors were outscored by the Clippers 41-23 and ended up losing by a final score of 135-131. Their series is now tied 1-1.

Check out the Warriors’ final stats below.

The series shifts to LA for Game 3 at Staples Center Thursday night at 7:30 pm PT.

Warriors cruise past Clippers 121-104 in Game 1; Curry passes Allen for most career threes

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers kicked off their first-round series. Game 1 was at Oracle Arena on Saturday night.

The Warriors’ starters were Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins.

The Oracle was Roaracle due to the loud cheers and chants from Dub Nation. The game went underway and Cousins scored the first bucket of the NBA playoffs at the 10:45 mark of the first quarter after trailing 3-0 at first. Durant dropped back-to-back dimes with 8:45 left in the first. Cousins continued shooting his shots and then Green contributed his shots. Green was a perfect 5-5 in field goals. The Warriors led 36-27 at the end of the first.

The Warriors turned offense into art in the second quarter. Curry played beautiful basketball. Durant scored a bucket, and with that bucket, Durant (3,665) passed Dirk Nowitzki (3,663) for 15th place on the NBA all-time career playoffs points scored list. Check out the bucket below.

Andre Iguodala threw it down late in the second, and the Warriors took a 69-56 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The Warriors gave a shoutout to Kaiser Permamente for providing Dub Nation with customized Gold and Royal Blue playoff shirts.

The Warriors returned to action in the third quarter. Curry got the crowd pumping with his three-pointers, some of which were long distance threes. Aside from Curry, who passed Ray Allen for most career threes, the Warriors turned defense into offense as Iguodala forced a turnover and threw down a dunk that could’ve broke the rim.

Curry proceeded to shoot threes in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors blew out the Clippers 121-104 for a 1-0 series lead. The Clippers are down 0-1.

Curry led the Warriors with 38 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and one block. Durant had 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, three blocks and one steal. Draymond Green had 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, one block and one steal. Klay Thompson had 12 points, two assists, two blocks, one rebound and one steal. DeMarcus Cousins had nine points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal. Andre Iguodala had eight points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals. Kevon Looney had six points, five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block. Andrew Bogut had three points, one rebound, one assist and one block. Alfonzo McKinnie had three points and one block. Quinn Cook had two points, one rebounds and one steal.

The Warriors and Clippers face off in Game 2 on Monday night at 7:30 pm PT. The game will be broadcast on NSBA, TNT and FSPT.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors sow up the top seed throughout playoffs; Also, a virtual audio review of Dave’s Oracle experiences

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On the Warriors podcast with David:

#1 With the win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, the Golden State Warriors assured themselves the number one seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.

#2 Dave talks about his own personal experience attending games at the Oracle Arena. Oracle was the site of the Warriors home from 1967-2019. The Warriors open up at their new arena Chase Center next season, where the cheapest ticket for a walk up is said to be $300.

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

Warriors seal No. 1 seed with 131-104 rout of Clippers in Oracle finale

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

Sunday night marked the 1,936th and final regular season home game for the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors, who played their first game in the building on October 24, 1967 versus the Cincinnati Royals, own a record of 1,165-770 (.602) all-time in regular season games at Oracle.

Sunday night also marked the Warriors’ game versus the Los Angeles Clippers, who lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 122-117 Friday evening.

The Warriors’ starting five featured Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and DeMarcus Cousins. Moreover, the Warriors were unable to celebrate 47 seasons at Oracle without bringing back the “We Believe” throwback jerseys.

The Warriors got on the board first, thanks to Durant’s two-point bucket at the 11:16 mark of the first quarter. The Warriors continued to play what they called beautiful basketball, which was a good thing as they led 32-28 at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams played a wire-to-wire second quarter, but the Warriors came out on top 30-27. The Warriors took a 62-55 lead to the locker room at the end of the first half.

Cousins wowed the crowd in the third quarter as he handed a pass to Green, who threw down a two-point jumper from just inside the arc at the 11-minute mark. Green also turned defense into offense, which definitely gave the Warriors the advantage. The Warriors outshot the Clippers 42-18 and it wasn’t even close as they had a 104-73 lead at the end of three quarters.

The Warriors still poured in the points in the fourth quarter. Despite the fact the Lakers outscored the Warriors 31-27 in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late. The Warriors won 131-104.

Curry led the Warriors with 27 points, six rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block. Durant had 16 points, seven assists, three rebounds, one steal, and one block. Kevon Looney had 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Cousins had 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Thompson had 12 points and one steal. Green had 10 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, five steals, and three blocks. Quinn Cook had 10 points and three assists. Shaun Livingston had eight points. Damion Lee had seven points, three rebounds, and three assists. Jonas Jerebko had five points, two rebounds, and two steals. Andrew Bogut had two points and three rebounds. Jordan Bell added two points.

After that, the Warriors thanked Oracle and announced they were locked in the No. 1 seed in the NBA’s Western Conference. The Denver Nuggets are two games back of the Warriors, so they’ll be the No. 2 seed.

The Warriors head to the Smoothie King Center to take on the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday at 5:00 pm PT.

Warriors hold off Cavs for 120-114 win

Published on by Sports Radio Service1 Comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors led wire-to-wire with the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night and returned to Oracle Arena for a Friday night showdown versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost to the Sacramento Kings 117-104 Thursday.

The Warriors, my friends, held off the Cavs for their second wire-to-wire win 120-114 at Oracle Friday night.

The Warriors’ starting five featured Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Bogut. The game went underway, and former Warrior Nick Young received his NBA championship ring. The Warriors started off the game with a couple of three-pointers for an early lead. The Warriors led 36-26 at the end of the first quarter.

The Warriors stayed in transition mode in the second quarter. The Warriors outshot the Cavs 32-23 to take a 68-49 lead into the locker room at the end of the first half.

Curry hit a three with 9:12 left in the third quarter for his 16,269th point. With his 40 points Friday, Curry passed Paul Arizin (16,266 points) for third on the Warriors’ all-time scoring list. Just Wilt Chamberlain (17,783) and Rick Barry (16,447) are ahead of Curry.

Aside from Curry’s feat, Green also achieved a feat of his own. Green had a new season-high with 20 points. That’s eight-of-13 from the field goal line. The Warriors led 99-84 at the end of the third quarter.

Curry hit his ninth three of the game at the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Warriors held off the Cavs’ late 30-point push for the win by a final score of 120-114.

Curry led the Warriors with 40 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and one block. Green had 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block. Durant had 15 points, five rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and one block. Thompson had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one block. Quinn Cook had 14 points, one rebound, and two assists. Bogut had six points, seven rebounds, and one block. Jonas Jerebko had six points and one rebound. Jordan Bell had four points, two rebounds, two assists, and one block. Kevon Looney added four points and one rebound.

The Warriors remain at Oracle to host the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday at 5:30 pm PT. You can watch the game on NSBA and FSPT.