Curry’s return helps Warriors to 116-102 victory over Bulls

Photo credit: @WarriorsNBCS

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors’ all-world star, Steph Curry, returned to action for the first time since March 17th. The Warriors were 1-6 without Curry in the lineup. The Warriors had lost four in a row and were hoping to get back on the winning track Monday night. All Curry did was score 32 points to lead the Warriors to a 116-102 win over the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls, coached by Billy Donovan, acquired Nikola Vucevic at the Orlando Magic trade deadline. Vucevic helped the Magic defeat the Warriors back in February. The Warriors needed a total team effort if they hoped to snap the four-game losing streak. All five Warrior starters finished in double figures. The Bulls lost their fourth straight and sixth in the last seven games.

The teams played a fairly even first quarter. Steph Curry paced the attack as he knocked several threes. Curry landed on his backside late in the first quarter and spent most of the second quarter with an ice pack wrapped around his back. Each team scored 31 points in the second quarter, and the Warriors finished the first half leading by five 65-60.

The Warriors increased the lead to 11 after three quarters of action. Curry, Andrew Wiggins, and Kelly Oubre all made contributions to keep Chicago from gaining ground. Defense was the name of the game in the fourth quarter. The Warriors won the quarter 20-17 to win by a final score of 116-102.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improved to 23-24 for the year. Chicago dropped to 19-26.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 32 points, five rebounds, and six assists. He was 11-for-24 from the floor, and he made six threes in 14 tries. It was not a bad line for someone that had not played in the last two weeks. Steph scored 30 or more points in a game for the 18th time this season. Andrew Wiggins was second in scoring with 21 points. Wiggins made three threes. Kelly Oubre had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. James Wiseman had 12 points and five rebounds. Draymond Green finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and nine assists. Green, who did take a shot last Friday night, was 4-for-7 from the floor and knocked down three threes from downtown. Jordan Poole had seven, and Kent Bazemore added nine. The Warriors shot 50% from the floor and made 16 threes in 38 attempts.

The Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic led his team with 21 points and nine rebounds. Tomas Satoransky, Patrick Williams, and Lauri Markkanen each had 14 points. Zach LaVine had 12 points.

Up Next: The Warriors start a three-game road trip against the Heat in Miami Thursday night at 5 pm PST.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Raiders’ Crowell injured in team practice, out for season; Kentucky Derby coming up, will dying horses spell an end for industry?; plus more

photo bleacherreport.com: 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. The Kentucky Derby kicks off this Saturday.

On the Headlines Sports podcast with London Marq:

#1 The Oakland Raiders’ running back Isaiah Crowell, during a team workout, suffered a season-ending injury, tearing his Achilles. Crowell is a five-year NFL veteran and played with the New York Jets last season. He was signed on with the Raiders for this season for $2.5 million.

#2 With the Kentucky Derby coming up this Saturday, all the talk has been about horses dying at Santa Anita in just seven months. Looking at the year between 2017-18, a reported 37 deaths have been reported, and the New York Times reported since 2018 to the present, the deaths have not subsided. The questions raised were why? Was it that the horses are physically driven to exhaustion on race days, was it the medications the injury-masking painkillers? Is the sport due to die out because of these horse deaths?

#3 If it wasn’t for the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays, the New York Yankees could very well be the top team in the AL East. The Yankees are just 2.5 games behind first place Tampa have won eight of their last 10 and also swept the San Francisco Giants and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks behind CC Sabathia’s 3,000 career strikeout. The Yanks lost the game, but Sabathia went down in the record books.

#4 The Oakland A’s are really off track. The club has lost six straight games. They’re coming off getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox and have three more road games with the Pittsburgh Pirates starting on Friday night at PNC Park.

#5 Could the Golden State Warriors put the Houston Rockets away? It even looks a lot easier for Golden State than it did last postseason last year when they played the Rockets. Kevin Durant (29), Klay Thompson (20), and Stephen Curry (19) were the top three scorers for Golden State in Game 3. The Warriors lead the series 2-0.

London Marq does the Headlines Sports podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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

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.

With this bucket, KD passes Dirk for 15th most career points in #NBAPlayoffs history!

(3,665 points and counting…) pic.twitter.com/Rq8x8UPHo5

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 14, 2019

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.

💙💛 pic.twitter.com/0Q5wSsoX9B

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 14, 2019

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.

Splash Brothers lead the way to a Warriors win over the Timberwolves 117-106

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors finished the four-game road trip with a 3-1 record. They lost to the Spurs Monday night when Steph Curry and Klay Thompson could not buy a bucket. It was a different story at the Target Center Tuesday night as Curry and Thompson combined for 64 points and led the Warriors to their 48th win of the year. DeMarcus Cousins was out again with a sore ankle and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr gave Shaun Livingston the night off. Andre Iguodala, who did not play Monday, returned to action against the Timberwolves.

The Warriors wanted to get off to a good start. They did not want to be trailing at halftime by more than 10 points as they have done several times lately. They took an early 7-2 lead. The young Timberwolves, led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, went on a 20-2 run to put the Warriors in a 22-9 hole. The Warriors did not lose their composure as they regrouped and finished the first quarter on a 21-5 run to take a 30-27 lead after the first 12 minutes of play. Thompson, who did not score a point in the first half against the Spurs, tallied 15 in the first quarter.

The Warriors won the second quarter 29-20 to end the first half leading 59-47. The Warriors finally had someone come off the bench and put some points on the board. Jonas Jerebko was that player as he sparked the team with 14 points in eight minutes of playing time. Thompson led the team with 17, Curry 11, Jerebko 14, and Kevin Durant 5. For the Timberwolves, Towns put 16, Dario Saric and Wiggins had 7 each. The Warriors shot 45.7% from the floor, and the defense held the Timberwolves to just 37.8%. The Warriors were prolific from 3-point range as they connected 11 times. The Timberwolves mad four threes in 16 attempts.

The Timberwolves started the third quarter on a tear as they went on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 61. Curry and Thompson led the team on a 10-1 run, and the Timberwolves never came close. Curry was on fire as he scored the last 14 points of the third quarter and his total for the entire quarter was 22. The Warriors outscored Minnesota 32-28 and led 91-75.

With Curry on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter, the unit led by Thompson, Durant, Jerebko, Cook, and Draymond Green increased the lead to 20, 101-81. The Timberwolves went on a 19-9 run to cut the lead to nine 112-103. Curry came back into the game and knocked down a three. Each time he made a bucket before the final buzzer and the Warriors won 117-106

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors are now 47-22 for the year. They will be making their seventh consecutive playoff appearance, which is a franchise record.

The Timberwolves dropped to 32-39 and will not make the playoffs this season.

Curry led the Warriors with 36. He made eight three-pointers. Klay had 28, and he knocked down 4 threes. Jerebko had 18 and Durant finished with 17. Draymond Green recorded 5 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. He also blocked 4 shots. Alfonzo McKinnie did not score, but he recorded 9 rebounds. The Warriors had 39 assists on 44 baskets. They were moving the ball well. They shot 48.8% from the floor and held Minnesota to 40.4%. The only reason the game wasn’t a blowout was the fact that the Timberwolves had 18 more free throws and made 16 more than the Warriors.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the Indiana Pacers Thursday night at Oracle Arena. The Pacers have the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference, and the W’s will have to be at their best if they hope to send them down to defeat. Game time is at 7:30 pm.

Warriors crush the Cavs 129-105 in Cleveland on Wednesday night

Graphic: @Warriors

By Charlie O. Mallonee

In every sport, there are certain teams that every other team wants to play because they know the chances of coming away with a “W” is so great that they can taste victory before the game begins. When “King James” ruled the city by the lake, that was not the case. Going to play in the “Q” was something to be feared.

Now that LeBron has taken his “talents” to SoCal and the Lakers, playing in the “Q” has become a place for teams to get healthy. The Cavs best player Kevin Love is unavailable due to left foot surgery, and no one would be surprised if Love does not demand to be traded to a competitive team.

Things are so bad in Cleveland that the Cavaliers were the first team in the NBA to fire their head coach. Tyronn Lue who coached the Cavs to an NBA Championship in 2016 was fired after Cleveland started the season 0-6 with LeBron James in “Lakerland” and Kevin Love ailing.

The Warriors entered the game on Wednesday night with a record of 16-9 to do battle with a Cleveland squad that had recorded a record of 5-18.

Tough Road Trip
This was game four of a five-game road trip for the Warriors. They entered the contest 1-2 on the trip. The W’s had lost games in Toronto and Detroit but had bounced back into the win column in the ATL on Monday night. A victory in Cleveland was really mandatory if this was to be a successful road trip for Golden State.

Thompson to the basket Photo: @Warriors

First Half Battle
The Cavs served notice in the first half that they were not going to just roll over and die because they were facing the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. GSW held a six-point at the end of the first quarter, but Cleveland turned it up a notch in the second period.

Cleveland shot 68.2-percent from the floor (15/22) in the second quarter and hit seven 3-point baskets. The Cavs outscored the Warriors 39-27 for the period behind the scoring of Cedi Osman (8 pts), Jordan Clarkson (8 pts) and Larry Nance Jr. (7 pts). The Cavs also outscored the Warriors on 2nd Chance Points 8-0 in the quarter.

At the half, Cleveland held a 64-58 lead over the Golden State Warriors.

Time to go to school
The Warriors came out of the locker room after halftime fired up and ready to play. Kevin Durant led the charge for the “W’s” as he scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists in the period. Durant hit 6-of-9 shots – three of which were 3-point baskets.

GSW outscored the Cavs 12-2 on the Fast Break in the quarter.

At the end of three quarters, Golden State was leading Cleveland 95-86.

Turn Out the Lights
The Cavs’ final demise came in the fourth period when Stephen Curry came alive and scored 12-points shooting 2-for-4 from the floor (both 3-point baskets) and converted 6-for-6 in opportunities from the free throw line.

Klay Thompson and Quinn Cook also added eight points apiece in the final period as the Warriors outscored the Cavaliers 34-19 in last 12 minutes of the contest.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Golden State Warriors (17-9) had defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-19) 129-105. For the Warriors, it was their second consecutive win.

Top Performers

Golden State

• Leading scorer: Steph Curry 42 points (also game high) to go with nine rebounds
• Double-double: Kevin Durant 25 points and 10 rebounds (9 assists)
• FG% 52.9 (45/85)  3FG% 52.9 (18/34)  29 Assists 9 Turnovers (17 CLE pts)

Cleveland

• Leading scorer: Colin Sexton 21 points (7/14 shooting)
• Double-double: Tristan Thompson 14 points and 19 rebounds
• Wow: George Hill 25:13 on the floor 0 points and 3 assists

Steve Kerr on Curry
“It’s pretty rare, but Steph is rare in general in everything he does. We’ve seen it before where Steph was out with an injury and comes back and starts lighting it up right away,” said Kerr. “The guy keeps himself in amazing shape – which allows him to come back pretty quickly if there is an injury.”

Up Next
The Warriors wrap up this five-game road trip on Friday night in Milwaukee versus the very tough Bucks in a nationally televised game. The game tips off at 4:00 PM PST.

The Cavs will also be in action on Friday night when they will host the upstart Sacramento Kings at the “Q”.

Ellie Mae Classic: More movement atop the leaderboard

Photo credit: @WebDotComTour

By Jeremy Harness

Steph Curry may be gone, but there is plenty of good stuff to see, particularly from the guys who are fighting for the lead at the Ellie Mae Classic this weekend.

This tournament, which is held at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward and is part of the Web.com Tour–the minor-league affiliate of the PGA Tour–will conclude Sunday afternoon and currently features more than a handful of players who have a realistic chance to win.

On top of that leaderboard is Trevor Cone, who fired a four-under round of 66 in Saturday’s third round to take a one-stroke lead with an overall score of 17-under par.

One stroke behind him is Sebastian Cappelen, who had the second-lowest round of the day with a 64, as he recorded seven birdies against only one bogey, which he suffered on the par-four seventh, the hardest hole on the golf course.

Cappelen has immediate company as well. There are two guys that he is tied with at 16-under, and one of them has some PGA Tour experience. Josh Teater, who shot a 68 on Saturday, has been at the next level numerous times, and he is in position to get inside the top-25 on the money list at the end of the season, which would mean that he would a full year on the PGA Tour.

There is a little bit of local flavor, as Cal grad Max Homa is just four strokes behind the lead after he shot 64 in the third round. Just like Cappelen, he birdied seven times and had only one bogey, as he, too, was victimized by the seventh hole.

He also bogeyed the seventh hole on Thursday, whereas Cappelen bogeyed it in Friday’s second round.

Friday’s leader, Alex Purgh, took a backward step while everyone else appears to be moving forward. After an eye-popping round of 60 on Friday, he finished Saturday’s round with a two-over 72, thanks to six bogeys and four birdies.

There is another name that is known locally in Stanford grad Maverick McNealy, who shot a third-round 67 and is tied for 16th with an overall score of 10-under.

Ellie Mae Classic: New leaders come to the top; Steph Curry struggles

Photo credit: pgatour.com

By Jeremy Harness

Friday’s second round saw a ton of movement at the top of the leaderboard, and one player in particular had a chance to touch a bit of history.

Alex Purgh, who is from Spokane, Wash., grabbed a two-stroke lead at the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic after an eye-popping round, and his 10-under round of 60 was only two shots shy of the tour’s single-round scoring record of 58, which was set by Stephan Jaeger in this tournament two years ago.

Two behind him is Josh Teater, a Lexington, Ky. native who has had numerous stints on the PGA Tour. Teater followed up an opening round of 64 with a round of 62.

Despite being a stroke worse than he was on Thursday, Spaniard Samuel Del Valle didn’t lose too much ground, as his second-round score of 64 put him three shots behind the lead. He is currently tied with Trevor Cone, who also recorded rounds of 63 and 64 for the first two days.

Now here comes the bad news. Let’s all take a moment…

If you waited until the weekend to see Stephen Curry up close and personal at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, unfortunately you missed your shot.

That’s because unlike what Curry’s used to on the basketball court, the Warriors’ star guard was off target a lot on Friday, and his front nine alone took him out of any chance to make the cut, which was projected at four-under at press time.

After giving himself a fighting chance on Thursday with an opening round of 71, which is good for one-over par, Curry got off on the wrong foot almost immediately. After parring the first hole, Curry bogeyed the par-3 second before the par-5 third ate him alive.

By the time Curry walked off the third green, he was forced to write a nine–a quadruple bogey–on the scorecard. It didn’t get much better on the front nine, as Curry would go on to record a bogey, a double bogey and even a triple bogey to finish the front side 11-over par.

Curry started to piece things together on the back side with a birdie at the 10^th and also recorded a birdie at the par-four 14^th. However, Curry was plagued with a bogey and a triple in between those birdies, but the damage was already done by this point.

When it was all said and done on Friday, Curry signed a card that read a Friday score of 86, or 16-over par. But looking at this another way, Curry didn’t become a worldwide star and a cultural icon for his golf game.

Ellie Mae Classic: Curry opens with 71, still can make cut

Photo credit: @gswdubnation_

By Jeremy Harness

The first round of the Ellie Mae Classic is in the books, and there are some new faces on top of the leaderboard, and those guys hope to use this tournament to get–or stay–inside the top-25 of the Web.com Tour.

One of those names is Seth Reeves, who started Thursday’s play ranked 88th on the tour’s money list, and he could get inside the top-25 list with a win. He is tied for the lead after shooting an opening-round seven-under 63.

Among those also tied at the top are Adam Long, who is currently No. 23 on that list and could rise up to fourth with a win, and Spaniard Samuel Del Val, who could jump 82 spots from his current position at No. 117.

The main attraction, of course, has been Golden State Warriors’ star Stephen Curry, and he made an even bigger impression than he did in last year’s event. And, of course, he drew the much bigger crowds than the other group that took to the course on Thursday.

Starting on the 10th hole Thursday morning, Curry stumbled a bit out of the gate. He parred his first three holes but then bogeyed three of the next four holes.

However, Curry rallied very nicely on his second nine. After bogeying the second hole, he began turning things around with a birdie at the par-five third. He then got two birdies in a row at the seven and eighth to walk into the clubhouse with a first-round score of 71, which is three strokes better than his opening-round 74 from last year.

Technically, Curry can still make the cut, but he will have to have a dynamite round on Friday to do it. The cut line, which will be determined at some point Friday, figures to be at least two-under par. So, in other words, his showing has certainly improved over the past year, but he will need to do much more if the crowds that have flocked to TPC Stonebrae hope to see him through the weekend.

Curry finds his mojo as Warriors blast Rockets by 41 points to take a 2-1 series lead

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry, in particular, had it all going for them Sunday night at home as they beat the Houston Rockets 126-85 at Oracle Arena Sunday.

The 41-point margin of victory was the largest in NBA playoff history. The Warriors, who were routed by Houston last Wednesday, looked like an entirely different team as they played exceptionally well on defense. Curry and Kevin Durant paced them on offense. Curry did not look like himself in the first two games of the series. He had missed several weeks of action due to ankle and knee injuries and was slow to return to form. Curry showed the fans at Oracle and all those watching on television knew that he was back. He got off to a slow start in the first half of the game, but got it going in the third quarter. He scored 18 points and was 7-for-7 from the floor as the Warrior blew open the game.

The Rockets came into town having won the second game of the series by routing Golden State in Houston. They appeared to have found the recipe for beating the Warriors and were eager to pull an upset by winning Game 3. The Warriors could not stop James Harden. Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, and P.J.Tucker had it all working for them in Game 2.

The Warriors had to figure out a way to stop the vaunted Houston offense and their 3-point excellence. They did it. The Rockets and Warriors both got off to slow starts. The Rockets led 22-21 when the Warriors went on an 11-0 run at the end of the first quarter to complete the first 12 minutes of play with a nine-point lead 31-22.  The second quarter was also pretty even. The Warriors won the quarter 23-21 and finished the first half leading 54-43.

Curry and Durant each scored five points each to give the Warriors a 21-point advantage. The Warriors again owned the third quarter, and Curry was the ringleader with 18 points and three 3-pointers. The Warriors finished the quarter, leading 88-67.

The Warriors refused to let the Rockets get back in the game. The defense continued to force Houston turnovers as they continued to increase the lead. Steve Kerr rested the starters with less than five minutes to play and the bench, led by Quinn Cook’s 11 points, increased the lead to 41. The Warriors win 126-85.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors made NBA history as they won their 16th consecutive home playoff win to break the mark of 15 that was set by the Chicago Bulls.  The Rockets have played 295 playoff games and it was their worst loss ever. Steph Curry made 11-of-13 shots in the second half and ended the night with 35 points, six rebounds, and five 3-point shots. Kevin Durant added 25 points to go along with six rebounds, and six assists. Draymond Green knocked down 10 and was a monster on the boards as he pulled down 17 rebounds. Klay Thompson had 13, and Andre Iguodala added 10. All five starters were in double figures.

James Harden led the Rockets with 20. Chris Paul and Clint Capela had 13 each. Eric Gordon was the only other Rocket in double figures with 11.

The Warriors shot 52.25% from the floor and held the Rockets to 39.5%. The Rockets made 11 3-pointers. However, the Dubs made 13. On defense, the Warriors made 11 steals and blocked seven shots, and they forced Houston to commit 19 turnovers. The Warriors committed just eight.

The Warriors and the fans observed a moment of silence for the victims of the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. The Warriors introduced Run TMC to the crowd during a timeout in the first period. On hand were Chris Mullen, Mitch Richmond, and Tim Hardaway. The trio received a standing ovation from the fans. Hardaway is being installed in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame Monday night. Mullen and Richmond were inducted earlier.

Warriors lose to the Timberwolves in China 111-97

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, center, reacts during a break at the basketball match of the 2017 NBA Global Games against Minnesota Timberwolves in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Shenzhen, China – The Golden State Warriors started well against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first of two games in China, The Warriors, who have a fantastic following in China, started well and had the lead after three-quarters of play. Coach Steve Kerr removed his starters in the third quarter, and the T-Wolves bench beat the Warriors bench to win 111-97. Preseason games don’t count, but the players want to do well as some of them are fighting for spots on the roster. The Warriors starters did well. The ran, the moved the ball, and they recorded a lot of assists in the early going. However, they made a lot of mistakes. Steph Curry had five fouls in 24 minutes of play. They were called for traveling violations, and they turned the ball over 19 times.

Coach Steve Kerr had this to say about the team’s performance:” We played well for about a quarter and a half and then started getting careless with the ball.” We got lazy.”

Kevin Durant led the team with twenty points. Curry scored fourteen. Klay Thompson made some shots in the first quarter, too. Rookie Jordan Bell played well, and Omri Casspi looked ready to contribute. Nick Young and Patrick McCaw were on the floor in the fourth quarter when the T-Wolves made their run to win the game.

The Warriors look to be loaded again as they defend their championship beginning on October 17th. The will have to make decisions regarding Damian Jones and Kevon Looney. Jones may make the team, but the same cannot be said for Looney.

The T-Wolves added Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson from the Chicago Bulls where their coach Tom Thibodeau used to work. The Wolves have two terrific players in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins and will be looking to improve as they aim to make the playoffs.

The teams meet Sunday in Shanghai before returning home for the final preseason game. The Warriors’  season starts on October 17th at Oracle Arena against the Houston Rockets.