Category: Basketball

Steph driven by desire over wisdom amid Warriors' final playoff push originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – It would have been wise of Stephen Curry to spend Friday on the bench in designer sweats, giving his sore pelvis a couple days to heal, watching the Warriors try to shed three years of despair.

But with nine days remaining in the 2024-25 NBA season and the Warriors caught in the maelstrom of the Western Conference playoff chase, Curry is driven more by desire than wisdom. He is following what his heart wants, not what his body needs.

Spectating was out of the question. He ignored the “questionable” tag on the injury report because that designation might have influence in November but not in April. This is when Savage Steph is on the prowl.

Curry announced his plans to Golden State coach Steve Kerr and team health and performance honcho Dr. Rick Celebrini, strapped a pad to his backside, dashed onto the court, scored 36 points in 32 minutes and led a 118-104 throttling of the Nuggets that snapped a nine-game losing streak to Denver.

Some risks are worth a little agony. Jimmy Butler III, nursing a strained left forearm, also was listed as questionable. He also played. The third and relatively healthiest member of the team’s veteran core, Draymond Green, also answered the call.

Never was there a doubt, though, that Curry not only would put himself through an evening of discomfort but also invite even more if that’s what it would take to get the W.

“The conversation is just context of where we are in the season,” Curry said. “But if any of us felt physically like we weren’t ready to go or could put ourselves in jeopardy of taking a couple steps back physically, then you have a different decision.
“But we all felt good. We got in at a decent hour. Rick and Steve are pretty proactive on some of those conversations. When we all talked about it this morning, it was a full green light.”

Curry’s redoubtable will was on display in the final five minutes of the second quarter. Playing their third game in four nights and second in two, the fatigued Warriors sagged through the first quarter and fell behind by 10 points. When Curry reentered in the second quarter, he flooded the Nuggets with a torrent of buckets, scoring 12 points in less than four minutes.

That drove the first stake into the heart of Golden State’s longest losing streak against any team in the NBA.

Curry had teammates to inspire. A Chase Center sellout crowd to thrill. And there he was – in moments of temporary insanity – landing on the sorest part of his body after intentionally drawing charge calls from bigger opponents.

The two-time MVP and four-time NBA champ is all-in on his team’s drive for another triumphant season. His mission is visible on his face. The faraway stares. The brief curling of his upper lip. The glee with which he is dissecting defenses and terrorizing individual defenders.

“There is a completely different focus, and you see the focus everywhere,” Green said of his longtime teammate. “It’s not just once he steps on the court. It’s in his practices, in his workouts. He’s on the phone he’s talking . . . he’s suggesting substitution patterns. He’s just all the way in.

“He gets into the weeds around this time. We try to keep him out of the weeds all year because it can be a bit exhausting. But he kind of knows when it’s time for him to get in the weeds, and he is right now.”

Curry’s 36-point game on Friday followed a 37-point outburst Thursday against the Lakers in Los Angeles, which followed a 52-point performance Tuesday in Memphis. Three games, four days, 125 points, three Golden State victories.

“In three different cities, at (age) 37,” Kerr said, marveling. “He looked so fast out there tonight. Maybe it’s his most underrated part of his game is his conditioning. Just incredible what he does out there, especially considering how much attention he draws defensively, how much pressure people put on him. He handles it night after night and flourishes, incredible athlete.”

The Warriors were 10th in the Western Conference standings on Feb. 1. Butler made his debut on Feb. 8 and they’d moved to seventh by March 1. The win over the Grizzlies on Tuesday lifted them to fifth place. They went to bed Friday night one-half game behind fourth-place Denver and one full game behind the third-place Los Angeles Lakers.

Golden State is 20-2 when Curry, Green and Butler are in the lineup. Their last two losses, at Atlanta and at Miami, came in games Curry was sidelined due to the initial pelvic injury.

A chance to beat a longtime tormentor? An opportunity to push Golden State’s win streak to five? A night to give his team what only he can provide?

Tender tailbone and all, Curry was going to play. Never should have been a doubt.

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Luka Doncic and LeBron James helped the Los Angeles Lakers to a comfortable victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Doncic put on a game-high 35 points with team-mate Austin Reaves adding 30, while James scored 27 points with eight assists in a 124-108 win.

The Lakers bounced back from defeat against the Golden State Warriors to further boost their hopes of a top-four finish in the Western Conference.

It is the sixth successive win for the Lakers over the Pelicans, including three victories this season.

Elsewhere, Western Conference leaders the Oklahoma City Thunder, who host the Lakers in back-to-back games on Sunday and Tuesday, saw an 11-game winning streak ended against the Houston Rockets.

Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 65 points to triumph 125-111 in Houston.

The Boston Celtics set a new record for the number of three-pointers scored in a single season during their 123-103 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Boston, the defending NBA champions, scored 14 at TD Garden to take their overall tally to 1,370, eclipsing the previous record of 1,363 set by the Golden State Warriors in 2022-23.

Simply put, the Clippers' goal is to “make the playoffs,” coach Tyronn Lue said, and not be a play-in team.

The Clippers moved closer to that goal Friday in a 114-91 rout of the Dallas Mavericks at the Intuit Dome.

Having won 10 of their last 12 games, the Clippers are putting themselves in position to potentially avoid the play-in the tight Western Conference playoff race.

At 45-32, the Clippers are tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies, one game behind the fifth–seeded Golden State Warriors. The Clippers are seventh in the West with five games left in the regular season, three against teams jockeying to secure a playoff berth at sixth or higher.

Read more:Kawhi Leonard leads Clippers to a dominant win over the Pelicans amid playoff push

“Everyone is in a playoff mode already,” said Clippers center Ivica Zubac, who was strong again with 14 points and 13 rebounds. “Everyone is trying to stay out of the play-in. You don’t want to depend on one game or two games for your seed, for your chances to get into the playoffs. You want to get out of it. You want to make that top six so everyone is fighting for the playoff spots.

“Everyone is treating every game like the playoffs. Honestly, it’s fun. I think what the NBA did with that play-in, I think it’s a really good thing. It’s very competitive and it’s been good. The last few weeks have been fun. You just kind of lock in, treat it as a playoff game, a must-win, and I’m sure other teams are like that too.”

Against a depleted Dallas team, the Clippers built a 35-point lead and basically coasted. Six Clippers scored in double figures and none played more than 32 minutes.

Kawhi Leonard led the way with 20 points on eight-for-17 shooting with six rebounds and two assists.

Norman Powell was solid, finishing with 14 points and shooting two for five from three-point range to give him a career-high 172 threes this season.

James Harden had 13 points and five assists.

“Going into the playoffs playing well, that’s our main goal,” Lue said. “We know a lot of teams are jumbled up right now. So, we just got to take care of business, a game at a time and try to separate ourselves the best we can.”

In Lue’s eyes, the Clippers are meeting the moment at a critical time.

“I see them responding,” Lue said. “I think the last 10 games we played so far have been playoff games. Like, we have to win pretty much every game. Like, to solidify that sixth spot, we understand that and our guys understand that. So, going into the playoffs, we’ve had these games for like our last 15.

"So, it should be good for us, just having that intensity, having that understanding and awareness that tonight, every night is an important game to try to make the playoffs.”

Read more:Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell lead Clippers to win over Magic

The Clippers host the Mavericks again Saturday. Leonard, who played 24 minutes Friday, hasn’t played in back-to-back games since returning from a right knee injury. He told reporters he wasn’t talking after the game but would “double up” on his media obligations Saturday night.

That seemed to suggest Leonard might play Saturday.

“He’ll be evaluated tomorrow,” Lue said.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Jaxson Hayes tapped Luka Doncic on the leg. Maxi Kleber walked by and quietly did the same. And Markieff Morris plopped down next to his teammate and put his arm on the back of Doncic’s chair.

The entire time the Lakers' star guard just stared blankly ahead. The joy he brought since getting comfortable in Los Angeles disappeared, a miserable 0 for 7 first shift compounding upon a performance he called “unacceptable” the night before in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

With the Lakers playing one of the worst teams in the league in the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, Doncic was getting scorched by pesky guard Jose Alvarado and was plainly frustrated.

Read more:Lakers show fight, but Luka Doncic's 'unacceptable' struggles prove costly in loss to Warriors

But when he checked back in during the second quarter, the Lakers had found a little footing and traces of rhythm, and he cut backdoor to score his first basket on an easy layup.

The Lakers weren’t perfect the rest of the way in a 124-108 win in their penultimate home game of the regular season, but they certainly weren’t smothered in the dark cloud that covered Doncic for much of the previous two games.

And as they worked their way through his slump, the Lakers did the kind of things they’ll certainly need in bulk as they prepare for back-to-back games against the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.

The game came amid discussion surrounding a worrisome stat for the Lakers (47-30) — the team actually had been outscored by 24 points in the 320 minutes Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves had shared the court.

“I don't make a ton of it,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said before the game. “I don't think the expectation, at least internally for us, was we're going to be the 2016-2017 Warriors or this year's Oklahoma City Thunder. We didn't expect that. So the disjointedness of an in-season trade is there.

“Those guys, I think, are committed to making it work with each other when they're on the court. ... They're committed to making it work when there are two of them on the court or one of them is on the court. It's a work in progress. We all knew that was gonna be the case."

In the best moments Friday, the trio looked almost unstoppable. James found Reaves in the corner on a no-look pass for a three-pointer. Doncic hit James underneath the basket for an easy bucket. And in the game’s biggest highlight, Reaves led a fast break in the middle of the court with Doncic running to the right and James to the left, flipping the ball behind his back before connecting with James on a lob for a dunk.

The three have been pretty dominant when playing together in recent games. Against the Warriors, despite Doncic’s struggles, the Lakers were plus-13.9 points per 100 possessions with James, Reaves and Doncic on the court. Against Houston earlier in the week, the Lakers were plus-20.8 when they played.

They all had their moments of dominance against the Pelicans (21-56). Doncic finished with 35 points, looking like a player who recaptured his mojo. Reaves continued his play as one of the league’s top complementary scorers, finishing with 30 points on only 13 attempts. And James, who said he’s feeling his best since injuring his groin, scored 27 and had eight assists.

The win, combined with Denver’s loss to the Warriors, has the Lakers third in the West.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

How Steph, Warriors exorcised Nuggets demons in statement win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – For the first six and half minutes of the second quarter, the two biggest superstars of Friday night’s Warriors game against the Denver Nuggets, Steph Curry and Nikola Jokić, were either sitting on the bench or waiting their turn at the scorer’s table. 

It was up to their teammates to either carry the load or crumble without them. The Warriors hadn’t beat the Nuggets since the 2022 NBA playoffs. These two teams had played nine games since then, including six on Golden State’s home court at Chase Center, and all nine ended in the Nuggets’ favor. 

Behind Curry’s 36 points, the Warriors finally overcame their Denver demons to the roaring tune of a 118-104 win. First, it all began without Curry. 

Having to rally back from a 10-point deficit after the first quarter, the second quarter began without Curry and Jokić on the floor. If the Nuggets took advantage of Curry’s absence, the Warriors could have found themselves in an impossible hole to climb out of on the second night of a back-to-back in which they came home from a six-game road trip that spanned two weeks.

Instead, the Warriors opened with a 7-0 run through the first three-plus minutes of the second quarter, bringing them within three points of the Nuggets, prompting a timeout from Denver coach Michael Malone. 

The Nuggets didn’t score until more than four minutes had passed in the second quarter. Upping the intensity and finding their second wind, the Warriors’ defense held the Nuggets to only 16 second-quarter points. All season long, opponents have crossed their fingers in hopes of slowing down Denver’s offense just enough, knowing fully stopping them almost never was going to happen. 

They shot 35 percent from the field in the second quarter (7 of 20) and went 2 of 10 from 3-point range. What changed?

“Just our physicality,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought we got into the ball, were more physical. The first quarter they were just doing anything they wanted. Jokić was incredible. They were hitting everything. Started forcing turnovers. 

“We forced 26 for the game, and it felt like the second quarter is when it changed.” 

Through the first 12 minutes, aside from a short stretch, the Warriors and Nuggets traded buckets. The Warriors scored a respectable 34 points in the opening frame on 54.5-percent shooting (12 of 22) and made half of their threes (4 of 8). But the Nuggets were even better, dropping 44 points on an absurd 70.8-percent clip and also shot 50 percent on 3-pointers (3 of 6). 

Denver’s size advantage saw them score 26 of its 44 first-quarter points in the paint. The Nuggets then only scored eight points in the paint during the second quarter. 

“They started to feel us,” Draymond Green said. “That first quarter was kind of a track meet. You shoot, I shoot. Whoever made the most shots won the quarter. They did, and we gave them 44 points. But we got our defense settled in to start the second quarter, and then when the group came back they continued it for the rest of the quarter. Sixteen-point quarter was huge. 

“Once we got the 44 under control I think we pretty much took care of them the rest of the game.” 

While Curry watched from the sidelines, a group of Green, Brandin Podziemski, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Quinten Post shined. By the time Curry came back, as well as Jokic, the Warriors only trailed by one point with five minutes and 33 seconds left in the first half. 

Everybody was part of the action during that span. No one player went on a major scoring run.

Butler scored four points, Moody had three, Post had three, and both Green and Podziemski each contributed two points. The Warriors had a 14-5 advantage to begin the second quarter once Curry was back. 

“That’s been a really good lineup for us since we got Jimmy,” Kerr said. “That top of the second, top of the fourth lineup. It’s been very effective against everybody.” 

Defense fuels the five-man unit. The spacing Post provides as a 7-footer gives Butler the necessary room to work with. And when Podziemski shoots like he has the last two games, making 12 threes and scoring 54 points, it’s going to be a tough group to beat for any team. 

They played a tad under 10 minutes together overall and were a plus-10, outscoring the Nuggets 22-12.

Green, however, has an even simpler answer than Kerr.

“Jimmy Butler,” Green said. “Got another one in that group. That group has struggled at times because we just – no No. 1 out there. We got a one now. … Yeah, we added Jimmy Butler to that group and he changes everything.” 

But who are we kidding? This team still jumps on the back of Curry and rides him to the finish line. 

Curry in the final five and a half minutes of the second quarter scored 12 points. Jokic scored two. The Warriors as a whole scored 32, putting them ahead by six points going into halftime.

Jokic then exploded for 14 points in the third quarter, five more than Curry’s nine points, only for Steph to outscore him 8-2 in the fourth quarter. 

The Warriors know the back and forth nature of the Western Conference standings. They understand what they must do to avoid the dreaded play-in tournament. And Curry, he was well aware of the Warriors’ losing streak to the Nuggets and what a win over them would mean spiritually for a team to take down three of the conference’s best in a grueling gauntlet of the schedule. 

“We knew about the streak for sure,” he said. “It is a little extra motivation of needing a win to stand pat in the standings. And just the idea that it’s a back-to-back and everybody talks a little about schedule losses and all that type of stuff. We wanted to rise to the level of the challenge of coming off a six-game, 13-day road trip and getting a good night sleep in your bed. 

“But you got to go back to work and perform, and we did that. It’s nice to beat those guys, because it’s been rough.”

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How Steph, Warriors excorcised Nuggets demons in statement win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – For the first six and half minutes of the second quarter, the two biggest superstars of Friday night’s Warriors game against the Denver Nuggets, Steph Curry and Nikola Jokić, were either sitting on the bench or waiting their turn at the scorer’s table. 

It was up to their teammates to either carry the load or crumble without them. The Warriors hadn’t beat the Nuggets since the 2022 NBA playoffs. These two teams had played nine games since then, including six on Golden State’s home court at Chase Center, and all nine ended in the Nuggets’ favor. 

Behind Curry’s 36 points, the Warriors finally overcame their Denver demons to the roaring tune of a 118-104 win. First, it all began without Curry. 

Having to rally back from a 10-point deficit after the first quarter, the second quarter began without Curry and Jokić on the floor. If the Nuggets took advantage of Curry’s absence, the Warriors could have found themselves in an impossible hole to climb out of on the second night of a back-to-back in which they came home from a six-game road trip that spanned two weeks.

Instead, the Warriors opened with a 7-0 run through the first three-plus minutes of the second quarter, bringing them within three points of the Nuggets, prompting a timeout from Denver coach Michael Malone. 

The Nuggets didn’t score until more than four minutes had passed in the second quarter. Upping the intensity and finding their second wind, the Warriors’ defense held the Nuggets to only 16 second-quarter points. All season long, opponents have crossed their fingers in hopes of slowing down Denver’s offense just enough, knowing fully stopping them almost never was going to happen. 

They shot 35 percent from the field in the second quarter (7 of 20) and went 2 of 10 from 3-point range. What changed?

“Just our physicality,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought we got into the ball, were more physical. The first quarter they were just doing anything they wanted. Jokić was incredible. They were hitting everything. Started forcing turnovers. 

“We forced 26 for the game, and it felt like the second quarter is when it changed.” 

Through the first 12 minutes, aside from a short stretch, the Warriors and Nuggets traded buckets. The Warriors scored a respectable 34 points in the opening frame on 54.5-percent shooting (12 of 22) and made half of their threes (4 of 8). But the Nuggets were even better, dropping 44 points on an absurd 70.8-percent clip and also shot 50 percent on 3-pointers (3 of 6). 

Denver’s size advantage saw them score 26 of its 44 first-quarter points in the paint. The Nuggets then only scored eight points in the paint during the second quarter. 

“They started to feel us,” Draymond Green said. “That first quarter was kind of a track meet. You shoot, I shoot. Whoever made the most shots won the quarter. They did, and we gave them 44 points. But we got our defense settled in to start the second quarter, and then when the group came back they continued it for the rest of the quarter. Sixteen-point quarter was huge. 

“Once we got the 44 under control I think we pretty much took care of them the rest of the game.” 

While Curry watched from the sidelines, a group of Green, Brandin Podziemski, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Quinten Post shined. By the time Curry came back, as well as Jokic, the Warriors only trailed by one point with five minutes and 33 seconds left in the first half. 

Everybody was part of the action during that span. No one player went on a major scoring run.

Butler scored four points, Moody had three, Post had three, and both Green and Podziemski each contributed two points. The Warriors had a 14-5 advantage to begin the second quarter once Curry was back. 

“That’s been a really good lineup for us since we got Jimmy,” Kerr said. “That top of the second, top of the fourth lineup. It’s been very effective against everybody.” 

Defense fuels the five-man unit. The spacing Post provides as a 7-footer gives Butler the necessary room to work with. And when Podziemski shoots like he has the last two games, making 12 threes and scoring 54 points, it’s going to be a tough group to beat for any team. 

They played a tad under 10 minutes together overall and were a plus-10, outscoring the Nuggets 22-12.

Green, however, has an even simpler answer than Kerr.

“Jimmy Butler,” Green said. “Got another one in that group. That group has struggled at times because we just – no No. 1 out there. We got a one now. … Yeah, we added Jimmy Butler to that group and he changes everything.” 

But who are we kidding? This team still jumps on the back of Curry and rides him to the finish line. 

Curry in the final five and a half minutes of the second quarter scored 12 points. Jokic scored two. The Warriors as a whole scored 32, putting them ahead by six points going into halftime.

Jokic then exploded for 14 points in the third quarter, five more than Curry’s nine points, only for Steph to outscore him 8-2 in the fourth quarter. 

The Warriors know the back and forth nature of the Western Conference standings. They understand what they must do to avoid the dreaded play-in tournament. And Curry, he was well aware of the Warriors’ losing streak to the Nuggets and what a win over them would mean spiritually for a team to take down three of the conference’s best in a grueling gauntlet of the schedule. 

“We knew about the streak for sure,” he said. “It is a little extra motivation of needing a win to stand pat in the standings. And just the idea that it’s a back-to-back and everybody talks a little about schedule losses and all that type of stuff. We wanted to rise to the level of the challenge of coming off a six-game, 13-day road trip and getting a good night sleep in your bed. 

“But you got to go back to work and perform, and we did that. It’s nice to beat those guys, because it’s been rough.”

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