Warriors overcome slow start and finish with 109-95 win; Snaps 10 game losing streak

eastbaytimes.com photo: Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole (3) shoots and makes a three-point basket against the Orlando Magic in the first quarter of their NBA game at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020

By Jerry Feitelberg

San Francisco- The Warriors, after losing a heart-breaker Thursday night to the Denver Nuggets, appeared to be suffering the ill-effects of that overtime loss. Golden State may have started slowly, but they were able to overcome the slow start and went on the beat the Orlando Magic 109-95.

The visiting Orlando Magic started well and grabbed an early 13-0 lead. The Warriors went a litte over four minutes before scoring. Rookies Jordan Poole and Eric Paschall connected on a three to cut the deficit to 13-6. In fact, the Warriors went on a 13-2 run to make in 15-13.The teams played a very competitive firs quarter and the Warriors finished leading 28-25.

The Warriors continued to play well in the second quarter. The Magic kept pace and neither team could get any separtion. Both teams played well on defense and the first half ended with the Warriors in the lead with a one-point advantage 53-52.

Jordan Poole was the only Warrior in double figures. Poole has played well since his return from the G-League team in Santa Cruz. He knocked down three threes and finished with 14. Eric Paschall had nine, and Omari Spellman eight.

The Magic’s leading scorer in the first half Markell Fultz with 14. Fultz, a number one draft pick by the Philadelphia Sixers, has found a new life for himself in Orlando. No other Magic player had more than seven.

The Warriors, who used to own the third quarter during the dynasty days, have had the tables turned on them so far this season. The Warriors, on Saturday, played like the Warriors of old. They outscored the Magic 29-19.

D’Angelo Russell sparked the team to the 11-point lead 82-71 to end the period. They played well on both ends of the court. They also wanted to rebound from the Denver loss. In that game, they had a substantial lead heading into the fourth quarter.

They did not want to have that happen again. However, Orlando, a team that is in contention for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, came to life and went on a 14-4 run to trail 86-85. The young Warriors have learned that they cannot let down in the fourth quarter.

Eric Paschall and D’Angelo each made a bucket to go up 90-87. The Magic bounced back and regained the lead 91-90. Orlando were leading 93-32 when Damion Lee made a layup and was fouled on the play. He made the foul throw. Lee’s basket and free throw started the Warriors on a 17-2 run that propelled them to the win 109-95.

Game Notes and Stats- With the win, the W’s improved to 10-34. The last time the Warriors had a 10-game losing streak took place March 9-24, 2002. D’Angelo Russell led the team with 26 points and 12 assists.

Jordan Poole had 21, Eric Paschall 20, Willie Cauley-Stein 10, Alec Burks 11, Damion Lee 9, and Omari Spellman 8. Markell Fultz led the Magic with 23. The Warrior defense held Nikola Vucevic to 13, and Evan Fournier o 12. Both of these players average about 19 points per game. Aaron Gordon had 11, and Terrence Ross 10.

The Warriors’s Draymond Green did not play due to a finger injury. Glenn Robinson was banged up and Steve Kerr gave him the night off. The Warriors, down to nine players, recalled Ky Bowman from Santa Cruz.

The Warriors travel to Portland to face the Trailblazers Monday night. The game will start at 7pm. The Warriors return home to face Utah Jazz at the Chase Center on Wednesday.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings can’t force overtime lose by a bucket 114-112 to Orlando

nbcsports.com photo: The Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox (35) defends against the Orlando Magic’s center Nikola Vucevic (9) Monday night at Golden One Center in Sacramento

 On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings were focused and concentrated but in the end they lost by a bucket in a see saw fourth quarter loss to the visiting Orlando Magic 114-112 on Monday night at Golden One Center.

#2 The Magic wanted this one just as badly as the Kings did and both team played to death and maybe forcing sudden death but the Magic were able to survive and win in regulation.

#3 Four players in double figures for the Magic with Nikola Vucevic finished on top for the Magic with 26 points it was hard to defend the Magic.

#4 Talk about the kind of night that Nemanja Bjelica who led the Kings in double figures with 34 points the highest scorers for both team

#5 Wednesday night at Golden One the Kings will try again to get in the win column as they tip off against the Dallas Mavericks at 7:00pm

Charlie O does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Headline Sports with Barbara Mason: Warriors drop their third straight 104-79; Raiders at their lowest point; plus more

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

On Headline Sports with Barbara:

#1 The Atlanta Hawks handled the Golden State Warriors 104-79 loss Eric Paschall lead all Warriors scorers with 24 points on Monday night. The Warriors’ Draymond Green didn’t play.

#2 Have the Oakland Raiders sank to their lowest point of the season losing huge to the Kansas Chiefs 40-9 on Sunday for their second straight loss?

#3 The San Francisco 49ers saw Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker kick a winning field goal to end the game Sunday in 20-17 loss for San Francisco.

#4 Last Saturday, the Sacramento Kings came back from a long four city road trip going 1-3. On Saturday they defeated the Denver Nuggets 100-97. The Kings lost to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night 113-106.

#5 The Cal Bears insured themselves a bowl spot after their victory over the UCLA Bruins 28-18. Cal quarterback Chase Garbers went 17-29 for 230 yards.

Headline Sports can be heard with Barbara each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors come close, but still lose to the Magic 100-96

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors met the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center in Orlando Sunday evening. The Warriors, with nine healthy players, gave the Magic a tussle, but still lost 100-96. The game was not decided until the final 10 seconds. The Magic’s Evan Fournier made a layup to clinch the win for Orlando.

The teams played a very competitive first half. The Magic won the first quarter 26-22. The Warriors won the second 29-25. The first half ended with the score tied at 51. Eric Paschall tallied 14, and Glenn Robinson kicked in with 13 to lead the Warriors. Evan Fournier had 15, and Terrence Ross, coming off the bench, had 12 for Orlando.

The teams continued to play nip and tuck basketball. Neither team could gain any separation from the other. The Magic finished the third quarter with a one-point advantage 72-71. It was more of the same in the fourth quarter. The game was in doubt until Fournier put it away with a layup with 9.3 seconds left in the game. The Magic led by four, and that was curtains for Golden State. Orlando won 100-96.

Game Notes and Stats: All five Warrior starters were in double-figures. Draymond had 11, Eric Paschall 17, Glenn Robinson 19, Will Cauley-Stein had 11 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double, and Alec Burks pitched in with 12. Backup point guard Ky Bowman finished with 12. The team shot 39.6% from the floor and connected on six threes in 23 attempts.

Evan Fournier tied a career-high with 32 points. He made six threes in 10 attempts. Terrence Ross had 19, Markell Fultz 14, and Jonathan Isaac added 14. The Magic shot 42.5% from the floor and made 11 threes in 33 attempts.

The Warriors lost for the fifth time in the last six games and are now 4-17 for the year. The Magic improved to 8-11.

Up Next: The Warriors play a back-to-back game Monday night in Atlanta against the Hawks. The game will start at 5 pm PST.

Warriors run out of gas in the fourth quarter, fall to the Magic 103-86 for fourth loss in last six games

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, playing their fifth game in the last eight days, and the second in the last two nights, blew an 11-point advantage to lose for the 19th time this year. The Warriors also fell out of first place in the Western Conference.

The Warriors gave Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala the night off. The Warriors were hoping to bounce back from the shocking loss to the Miami Heat Wednesday night. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr selected Alfonzo McKinnie to take Durant’s spot, and he inserted Demarcus Cousins back in the lineup at center. The Warriors wanted Cousins, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson to carry the offensive load Thursday night. The Warriors also wanted to get off to a good start in the first quarter. The Warriors played poorly against the Miami Heat Wednesday night, and they did not play well in the first quarter against the Magic on Thursday. In fact. The Warriors never had the lead at all in the first half.

The Magic, who had lost 11 straight games to the Warriors, went right after Cousins as they drove the lane and were making layups. The Warriors were attempting threes and had little success. The Warriors shot just 34% from the floor and ended the first period trailing 28-22.  The Magic increased the lead to 41-31 before Thompson, McKinnie, and Curry made shots and the Warriors cut the deficit to four 43-39. The Magic regrouped and finished the first half leading by eight 59-51. The Magic shot 51% from the floor, and the best the Warriors could do was 39%. The Warriors were 4-for-21 from three-point range. The Warrior bench contributed just two points. Curry had 19, Thompson had 15, and Cousins had 11.  The Magic’s Aaron Gordon had 10, Nikola Vucevic had 7, and D.J. Augustin had 10.

The Warriors woke up and played Warrior basketball in the third quarter. They started the quarter on a 25-7 run and won the period 30-11 to lead 81-71 after three periods of action. The 11 points scored by the Magic was the lowest point total of any opponent in any quarter this season.

The fourth quarter, however, was a reversal of fortune. With the score 85-72. The Magic went on an 8-0 run to trail by five. The Magic tied the score at 89, and it looked as if the Warriors had run out of gas. Shots were clanging off the front of the rim. The W’s continued to miss three-pointers. The Magic took the lead for good 95-94 when they hit a three. They increased the lead to five 101-96 late in the game. The Warriors did not score again. The Magic added two points and won 103-96.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors, with the loss, dropped to 43-19 and are now in second place in the Western Conference. The Magic improved to 29-34, and they are tied for the eighth seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

Curry led the Warriors with 33 points. Thompson had 21, Cousins had 21 and 11 rebounds. Draymond Green had five, and McKinnie four. The Warrior bench added just 12 points. Four of the Magic starters were in double figures. Aaron Gordon led the team with 22. Jonathan Isaac and Nikola Vecevic had 12 each. Augustin finished with 14. The Magic bench put 41 points on the board.

Up Next: The Warriors travel to Philadelphia to face the 76ers Saturday night at 5:30 pm. The Sixers with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, JJ Redick, and Jimmy Butler easily handled the Warriors when they played in Oakland. Hopefully, the Warrior defense, with Cousins in the middle, will be able to stop the Sixer offense. The Warriors then return to Oracle to face the Boston Celtics on March 5th and the Denver Nuggets on March 8th.

The Warriors will have work to do if they want to repeat as NBA champions. They have to play better in the first half. They have to contain the opposing offenses and not play as if they are running uphill. They have to get better play from the bench. They do not have anyone right now that is giving them instant offense. They do not have a Goran Dragic or a Lou Williams. Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell have to be able to play defense and put some points on the board so that the Warriors can rest Cousins. Cousins has shown that he can play, but he has been beaten as teams have been scoring inside on the pick and roll. The Warriors next three opponents know they can beat the Warriors. The Warriors will need to play a better brand of basketball if they hope to make it all the way through the playoffs.

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Pacers handle Clips 119-92; Magic’s Ross get 32 points in win; Raptors’ Siakam gets career-high point total

Photo credit: @NBA

On the NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Indiana Pacers (36-19) got a 119-92 win past the LA Clippers (30-26). Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 29 points.

#2 The Orlando Magic (23-32) got a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (25-29) 122-112. The Magic’s Terrence Ross got 32 points.

#3 The Toronto Raptors (40-16) over the Atlanta Hawks (18-36). The Raptors Pascal Siakam got 33 points to lead all scorers.

#4 The LA Lakers (28-27) got a 129-128 win over the Boston Celtics (35-20). It was just like an old rivalry between these two NBA teams. The Lakers’ LeBron James led with 28 points and the Celtics’ Kyrie Irving had 24.

Jerry does the NBA podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Pistons’ Griffin and Drummond lead the way in win; Magic get seven-point win over Pacers; plus more

Photo credit: @ESPNStatsInfo

On the NBA podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Detroit Pistons beat Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night 93-89. The Pistons’ Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond both scored 24 points in the win.

#2 The Orlando Magic got a seven-point win past the Indiana Pacers 107-100 in Orlando on Thursday night. The Magic’s Terrence Ross led the way with 30 points.

#3 The Milwaukee Bucks got by a tough Toronto Raptors team. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks in scoring with 19 points in the 105-92 win in Toronto on Thursday night.

#4 The Philadelphia 76ers got past the Golden State Warriors 113-104 in Oakland on Thursday night. The Sixers Joel Emiid led with 26 points. The win for the Sixers snapped Golden State’s 11 game win streak.

#5 The Lakers and Clippers went down to the wire in LA and into overtime on Thursday night. The Lakers outlasted the Clippers 123-120 in OT. LeBron James had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in his return to action.

Jerry Feitelberg does the NBA podcast each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors come from behind to win another thriller, 116-110, over the Magic

By Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Warriors won another thriller Monday night against the rapidly, improving Orlando Magic Monday night at Oracle Arena by a score of 116-110. The Magic beat the Lakers in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon and had to play Monday night again. The Magic have turned their program around this season under head coach Steve Clifford. Orlando had struggled the last few years, but they have beaten some pretty good teams so far this year. They have knocked off Boston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and the Lakers twice so far. They entered the game with a record of 10-10. The Warriors were without Steph Curry for the 10th straight game. Draymond Green was thought to be available, but he did not play. Alfonzo McKinnie also did not play.

The Warriors’ Klay Thompson started the game with a three-pointer. The Magic countered with a bucket to make it 3-2 early in the first quarter. The Magic opened up a 9-point lead 16-7 before the Warriors went on a 9-2 run to close the gap to 18-16. Orlando led 25-18, but the Warriors finished the quarter with an 8-0 run to lead 26-25 after 12 minutes of play.

The second period was another story. Orlando outplayed the Warriors the entire second period. They made 3-point shots. They played defense and won the second quarter 33-14 to finish the first half leading by 17 64-47. Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 20, and Klay Thompson had 10. Damion Lee was the only Warrior with more than two points. Six players, Kevon Looney, Jordan Bell, Damian Jones, Quinn Cook, Shaun Livingston, and Andre Iguodala each had two points in the first half. The Magic’s big center Nikola Vukcevic knocked down 17 and Terrence Ross, coming off the bench, had 16. Evan Fournier had 9, and D.J.Augustin pitched in with 8.

The Warriors had to go back to the drawing board during the halftime intermission. Head coach Steve Kerr had to figure out a way to get his players to start scoring and be able to stop the hot Orlando team on offense. It was not going to be easy as Orlando, having won a close game in Los Angeles on Sunday, did not wilt. They answered everything the Warriors threw at them. The Warriors increased the intensity on defense, and they started to chip away at the 18-point deficit. Kevin Durant was on fire as he scored 16 points in the third quarter. He also showed the Magic how good he could play defense as he blocked a shot with about five minutes left in the quarter and the momentum started to shift to the Warriors. They outscored the Magic 32-19 and finished the quarter trailing by just four points 83-79. The fans at Oracle Arena were on their feet as the Warriors clawed their way back into the contest.

With Durant resting on the bench, Klay Thompson took over the offense. Klay made two three-pointers in a row to get within three 88-85. The Magic fought back and increased the lead to seven. They could not get closer than three as the Magic led 100-97. Kevon Looney came through with a big bucket, and Klay hit another three to give the Warriors the advantage 102-100. The Magic fought back and tied the game at 107 with one minute and forty-four seconds left to play. Durant made a layup and Orlando fouled him on the play. He converted the free throw, and The Warriors led again 110-107. Orland countered with a bucket. Durant made a three-pointer to make 113- 109. The Warriors fouled Nikola Vucevic but he missed a free throw and all the Warriors needed to win was one-point. Shaun Livingston made the free throw to put the game out of reach, and the Warriors added two more points to win 116-110. The Warriors won the second half 69-46 to win by six. What a game. The fans went home very happy and many of them had to have sore throats as they were cheering very loudly.

Game notes and stats- Kevin Durant finished the night with a season-high 49 points. Klay Thompson finished with 29. Klay made five 3-point shots in the fourth quarter and six total for the night. No other Warrior scored in double-figures. Quinn Cook was third in scoring with eight and that included two treys. While they didn’t score a lot, Kevon Looney, Jordan Bell, Andre Iguodala, Jonas Jerebko, and Damian Jones all performed well on defense as they held the Magic to just 46 points in the second half.

Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 30 points and 12 rebounds. Terrence Ross finished with 28, and he made four threes. Jonathan Simmons, Jonathan Isaac, and Mo Bomba, not known for shooting threes, knocked down 7 in 8 attempts.

The Warriors improve to 15-7, and the MAgic falls to 10-11. The Warriors begin the most extended road trip of the season starting Thursday night in Toronto. Game time will be at 5 pm. They then go to Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland, and finish the trip in Milwaukee.

Kings Press Row Podcast NBA Week 3: The blistering pace continues

Photo: @SacramentoKings

Hosts: Jordan “Chape” Chapin and Charlie O

• This four-game road trip could have been a killer

• The Magic game could have been a “trap”

• Sacramento will win more than 25 games this season

• The Fox-Hield backcourt connection is near perfection

• Free throw opportunities and conversions are up

• The Kings are becoming an assist machine

• Tough schedule ahead with Milwaukee, Toronto, Minnesota and the Lakers on the schedule over the next seven days

Kings fly high with fourth win in a row, 107-99, over the Magic

Photo credit: @NBA

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings are flying high for the first time since February 2017. The Kings were looking for a four-game win streak in Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic. They would have to do so with a less than 100% De’Aaron Fox. The Kings are calling it a minor back strain. Nonetheless, Fox was in the starting lineup against the Magic.

The Kings were hoping that Fox and his troublesome back would not be a problem. However, Fox showed a little discomfort a few minutes into the game. He played about half of the first leaving with roughly six minutes left. As for the game, it was a sloppy start for the Kings. Bad passes and miscues would be the story of the first. That led to the Kings trailing 31-26.

The Kings would prove to put things together though in the second quarter. The Kings, who were led by Nemanja Bejelica and Buddy Hield, pushed the Kings back into the lead. After scoring 26 in the 1st the Kings were able to up that to 33 in the second carrying a three-point lead into intermission. The score was 59-56.

In the third quarter, the Kings would continue to push the pace and score points. While both the first and second quarters were relatively stagnant, the third would be decidedly more paced and in the Kings favor. The Kings outscored the Magic 26-16 in the third to begin to pull away. Both teams entered the last quarter with the Kings leading the Magic 85-72.

The Kings could have coasted to victory, but missed opportunities and good shots from the Magic made it close. The Magic had cut the deficit to 91-94 with roughly five minutes to go. From there, the Kings were able to reel it in and push the lead to 107-99 to win the game.

When asked after the game, on how this type of up and down game could be a teachable moment for the young Kings, head coach Dave Joerger said, “We battled the whole game and stayed fast.”

The Kings (5-3) head to Atlanta to face Trey Young and the Atlanta Hawks (2-5) on Thursday at 4:30 PM PST.