Category: Basketball

Butler astounded by Steph's lack of foul calls: ‘It really angers me' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – All it took was two months playing alongside Steph Curry for Jimmy Butler to speak his mind on how his superstar Warriors teammate is guarded, overcoming a physical beating each and every game, yet rarely getting a favorable whistle that somebody bound to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer with a résumé as good anybody usually gets.

Curry totaled 125 points, scoring 52, 37 and 36 in three consecutive games as the Warriors took down the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets in that order. He also shot 25 free throws in that three-game span for an average of over eight attempts at the line. That’s not how things went for Curry in the Warriors’ 106-96 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Chase Center, snapping Golden State’s five-game win streak. 

After averaging nearly 42 points in his previous three games, Curry scored three against the Rockets. He took 10 shots, including eight 3-pointers, and only made one. His lone time seeing the ball tickle the twine was a 36-foot heave in the final seconds of the first half. 

But despite being held, hugged, grabbed and in some instances borderline mauled, Curry didn’t get to the free-throw line once. 

Speaking in the Warriors’ locker room after the loss, Butler vehemently defended Curry while trying to wrap his head around the lack of foul calls he receives. 

“Did a good job of whatever you want to call it,” Butler said about the Rockets’ defense on Curry, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. 

When asked to clarify what he meant by “whatever you want to call it,” Butler made his message crystal clear. 

“I don’t even know,” he continued. “I’ve never seen an individual get fouled more than he gets fouled. To me, I think that’s astounding. But, you know, it’s crazy to say but he’s used to it. It’s been happening to him his whole career, and he’s found a way through it, around it, under it, whatever you want to call it – that’s tough.” 

Since making his Warriors debut on Feb. 8, Butler has played 23 games with Curry. Sunday’s loss dropped their record together to 20-3. What has been evident to Curry’s longest teammates was obvious to Butler right away. 

The same thing can be said when Butler and Curry were opponents.

“I’m pretty sure it’s been happening for 16 straight years,” Butler said. “I get to see it, and it really angers me that he’s on my team and he gets hacked like that.” 

Curry’s play style is as unique as it comes. He’s the greatest 3-point shooter of all time, but he doesn’t simply camp out beyond the arc. Curry turns the hardwood into his personal track-turned-obstacle course, running all around the court and through defenders. Butler says referees miss calls when Curry is both on and off the ball, making an emphasis on how much is missed when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. 

Finally, Butler put an end to the conversation while protecting himself from the league and making sure his wallet doesn’t become lighter. 

“That’s not my job, leave me alone,” Butler said in response to being asked why more off-ball fouls aren’t called for Curry. 

For his career, Curry has only averaged 4.3 free-throw attempts per game, which is the exact number he now is at this season. Butler, being someone whose style lends more to shooting free throws in bunches, has averaged 6.7 free-throw attempts per game in his 14-year career.

He went 4 of 4 on free throws Sunday night, and in 26 games now is averaging 7.2 shots at the line in a Warriors jersey. 

This conversation is something Curry has dealt with for years, hearing the outcries of frustration from Dub Nation. Behind closed doors, he has had the same amount of annoyance in certain instances that fans and Butler showed. Complaining and crying wolf also isn’t his style. Never has been, never will be.

It surely wasn’t following his sixth game this season alone without a single shot at the free-throw line. 

“I don’t know how to answer that question,” Curry said. “When you’ve been around 16 years, you’ve seen it all. I don’t ever expect to get calls. I don’t ever go in looking for it. Just trying to play basketball, play the way I do every night – battle through physicality, whatever. If I need to say something, say something. 

“But I don’t have any expectations.” 

As his teammate for 13 seasons, neither does Draymond Green.

“You know my view on fouls and referees,” Green said, garnering a laugh from Curry as they shared the podium. “You know my view.” 

How Curry is guarded, and in return how he’s officiated, isn’t a new topic of discussion. The reaction from his newest star teammate is. 

Every team will continue to try and out-physical Curry, whose added strength, muscle and facial hair should have his Baby-Faced Assassin nickname long retired. Teammates and coaches alike will vouch for him until he makes the decision his playing days are done. 

Putting him down for more than three points Tuesday night in the Warriors’ game against the Phoenix Suns is as near of a guarantee as one can make. When he was held to two points against the Grizzlies earlier this season, Curry scored 31 two nights later in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Trying to predict favorable – or even fair – foul calls is similar to the same shrug of the shoulders Butler displayed. Good luck guessing. Just know Curry is going to keep his real feelings to himself.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie Jonathan Mogbo tied his career highs with 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors beat the Brookyn Nets 120-109 on Sunday.

Mogbo also had a season-high seven assists for the Raptors. Ochai Agbaji added 15 points as Toronto snapped a three-game skid. RJ Barrett and AJ Lawson each had 13, Cole Swider and Jamison Battle each had 12 and Jared Rhoden 10. Jamal Shead finished with a career-high 12 assists to go with nine points.

Toronto used its 40th different starting lineup this season.

Reece Beekman led eight Nets in double figures with 14 points and also had five assists and three steals. Keon Johnson added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Dariq Whitehead, Trendon Watford, Drew Timme and Maxwell Lewis also had 13 points apiece. Tosan Evbuomwan had 12 and Ziaire Williams 11.

Battle had all of his points in the first half, while Mogbo scored 11 in the second half for Toronto.

Takeaways

Raptors: They took the season series 3-1 for their first against Brooklyn since 2020-21. Even with the Raptors eliminated from postseason contention, they at least head toward season’s end taking three straight from the Nets with this their second win since March 26 also at Brooklyn.

Nets: The Nets lost their second straight to start a four-game home stand. The Nets also have lost eight of 10 limping to season’s end.

Key moment

After the Nets tied it at 35 on Lewis’ bucket, Battle’s 3 put the Raptors ahead to stay. They finished the second quarter on a 26-11 run. Up 61-46 at halftime, the Raptors took their biggest lead opening the third scoring 12 of the first 14.

Key stat

The Raptors had a season-high 16 steals and forced 23 Brooklyn turnovers, which Toronto turned into 22 points.

Up next

The Raptors host Charlotte on Wednesday night in their home finale. The Nets continue that home stand Tuesday night hosting New Orleans.

Warriors' loss to Rockets opens eyes to potential playoff problem originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – The NBA is a “young man’s league” is one of the most inarguable truisms in team sports, and 79 years of his history tells us it’s particularly accurate when the youth is long, athletic, frisky – and, of course, talented.

That combination is high on the list of issues the Warriors, who have the league’s oldest core trio, must overcome during a grueling, two-month postseason to realize their dream.

They encountered that dynamic Sunday at Chase Center and now have a very real idea of what they’re up against.

The Warriors’ 106-96 loss to the Houston Rockets can be traced to two directly connected failures. The first was the inability to take care of the ball, committing 20 turnovers, and the second being the launchpad those giveaways provided for the Rockets.

“If we keep them in their half-court sets and make them run their s—t, we’re fine,” Gary Payton II said. “But when they leak out and get athletic and get easy buckets, that’s when they’re a problem.

“If we take care of the ball, we win that game.”

Failure to take care of the ball allowed the Rockets to do what they do best, use their young legs to turn the game into a transition war the Warriors can’t win. Golden State in too many instances was a step slow and unable to keep up with an opponent built to sprint.

“They have great size and athleticism at pretty much every position,” coach Steve Kerr said of the Rockets. “[Coach Ime Udoka] has done a great job. They really established an identity, and they kind of know who they are. They have a great defensive team, and they played a really good defensive game.”

Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski each committed four turnovers. Jonathan Kuminga committed three in 19 minutes off the bench. And many those turnovers were not a product of Houston’s defense. They simply were unforced.

It was enough to put the Rockets in their comfort zone. They scored 18 points off turnovers and posted a 26-12 advantage in fast-break points. Their length/athleticism blend allowed them to dominate inside, with a 56-40 win in paint points and a 17-15 edge in second-chance points.

Curry, battling through hyperactively physical defenders, never found rhythm and finished with three points on 1-of-10 shooting, including 1 of 8 from deep. If not for Buddy Hield’s team-high 20 points, the Warriors might have been blown off their own floor.

And they would have greatly aided in their demise.

“Just got to take better care of the ball,” Green said. “They struggle to score in the half court a bit, so when you give them run-out layups, that makes anybody tough to guard. Just take better care of the ball, get to our spots, so you can see the pressure. They pressure a lot, you get bunched up, it works to their advantage.”

Houston’s nine-man rotation features a core – Jalen Green, Alperen Sengün and Amen Thompson – that averages 22.7 years of age. But it is surrounded by the likes of Fred VanVleet, a 31-year-old NBA champion; Dillon Brooks, 29, with three trips to the NBA playoffs; and 31-year-old Steven Adams, who has 66 playoff games on his resumé.

The Warriors failed to match the Rockets’ energy and ended up straying from their game plan.

“We talked about not committing turnovers and did the exact opposite,” Jimmy Butler said.

There are ways to deal with the Rockets, whose youth can sometimes be problematic. They can get reckless, commit turnovers. Their aggression leaves them prone to fouling.

But their activity and size were a problem on this night and could be in the playoffs. Houston has five players with wingspans of 7 feet or more, from Sengun and Thompson, at 7-foot each, to Adams at 7-foot-5. The Rockets blocked seven shots and bagged seven steals. They soar in for offensive rebounds, turn passing lanes into road closures and hang “Keep Out” signs in the paint.

Yet there is an undercurrent of confidence within Warriors that suggests they have ways to handle Houston’s length, athleticism and youthful exuberance.

“Anything we did tonight wasn’t really reflective of their lineups,” Curry said. “It more self-inflicted. We turned the ball over, gave up offensive rebounds, didn’t execute on the offensive end. Everything was bad.

“They have different looks. They play zone. They have two bigs. We can adjust to all of that. We just didn’t do it tonight.”

Curry, Green and Butler – the oldest core in the league, average age 35.7 years – know the way to the top. They practically own the map.

The question they’ll try to answer when the postseason begins next week is whether that knowledge is enough for them to hold off the young lions in the West.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Draymond shares blunt response to Flagrant 1 foul in Warriors' loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green is no stranger to foul trouble, but even the Warriors forward was confused by the Flagrant 1 foul he received in Golden State’s 106-96 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Chase Center.

“I mean, the Flagrant call, I don’t know what to do,” Green told reporters after the game. “Go duck? Don’t go up for the layup?”

Green received his third Flagrant foul of the 2024-25 NBA season in the third quarter of Sunday’s game after he went up for a layup and made contact with Rockets center Alperen Şengün’s face. While it appeared the contact was justified and unintentional as part of Green’s shot process, officials ruled otherwise after a short review of the play.

Draymond received a flagrant 1 for this controversial play pic.twitter.com/6r8SG0URbF

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 7, 2025

Green also received a technical foul with one minute remaining in the second quarter for an incident once again involving Şengün. Green pushed up on Şengün and nudged him near the throat for his 13th tech of the season, but he defended that one as well after the game.

“The tech — I’m not going to stop because the referee says stop and give up position,” Green said. “I already gave up six inches and 50 pounds. So, it is what it is.”

Draymond received a tech for this sequence 😬 pic.twitter.com/PT1ytcTv80

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 7, 2025

Şengün credited the fiery interaction and Green’s subsequent tech as the catalyst for Houston’s win after the game.

“I think that was the moment we won the game,” Şengün told reporters (h/t The San Francisco Standard’s Danny Emerman). “Because [Green] got T’d up and we responded well. I think they were trying to scare us to play softer.”

Green didn’t divulge his motivation for the tech, but it could be assumed he was attempting to light a fire under the Warriors in a tie ballgame with huge NBA playoff implications.

It’s clear the Golden State veteran wouldn’t change anything about how he played Sunday, and Dub Nation certainly agreed the Flagrant 1 foul was unwarranted.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

The postseason road the Lakers want to take probably will roll through Oklahoma City at some point, the unquestioned best team in the Western Conference having played its way to the top with a level of all-around excellence rarely seen.

And the Lakers, heading into the final week of the regular season, have either the good fortune or the curse of having to test themselves against the team with the NBA's best record.

At the worst, the games against the Thunder could expose the Lakers' weaknesses. Oklahoma City is younger and hungrier with more size at the rim, capitalizing on advantages the Lakers will struggle to overcome.

But when the Lakers are at their best — and whoa, they were certainly at their best Sunday — they can prove to everyone, especially themselves, that their combination of otherworldly individual offensive talent and versatile, scrambling defense can hold down even the most talented of teams.

From early red-hot shooting to full-game focus, the Lakers stamped themselves as full-fledged contenders in the West by dominating the Thunder 126-99 in an all-caps, bold-lettered statement win.

Read more:Plaschke: I was wrong. Drafting Bronny James was a win for the Lakers

“We know it's the final stretch into the full season, so we're just trying to rack up great habits,” LeBron James said.

That, plus great players, is a proven combination.

Luka Doncic, who knocked the Thunder out of the postseason last season on the way to the NBA Finals, went deep into his bag of skills, spinning around defenders, firing passes over his head and stepping back and splashing over the Thunder’s league-best defense.

He scored 30 points and had six assists, but more importantly, he helped puncture Oklahoma City’s smothering perimeter defense.

“Luka was spectacular,” James said.

Austin Reaves, who has cemented himself as one of the Lakers’ most important players alongside Doncic and LeBron James, opened another game scorching from three-point range while doing admirable work on MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Reaves scored 20 and Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points, but rarely were any of his buckets easy.

And James, who has regained some of his defensive form coming off a groin injury, scored 19 points but more importantly helped organize the Lakers against the Thunder’s stellar supporting cast, including 7-foot-1 Chet Holmgren, who scored only 10 points.

The Lakers (48-30) answered the biggest questions in negating one of the Thunder’s biggest strengths. The Lakers fought for loose balls, they extended possessions on the offensive glass and they limited their mistakes.

And when the Thunder (64-14) pushed, and they did, Dorian Finney-Smith or Gabe Vincent helped extinguish the spark quickly.

Like they did in a blowout win in Denver earlier this season, the Lakers showed that when they play their best, other teams will need to be at the top of their game to stop them. Against the Thunder, the Lakers took control by scoring 42 points in the first quarter and led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.

“Very committed to what we were trying to do defensively and very committed to where we felt like we could generate good shots offensively against a terrific defense,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And there wasn't any letup to that. There weren’t any overreactions.”

Since the Doncic trade, the Lakers have earned wins against the Nuggets, Rockets and Thunder, turning in strong defensive performances in each. And the Lakers shot the ball incredibly well Sunday — they made a season-high 22 three-pointers — as other parts of their game plan also fell into place.

Read more:Luka Doncic rediscovers his scoring touch, leading Lakers to win over Pelicans

“We know that they're very good when it comes to one, getting into the paint, attracting a lot,” James said. “They do a great job of getting [to] the free-throw line. They do a great job of getting offensive rebounds at second-chance points and those are some of the controllables that you control.”

The Lakers kept the Thunder off the glass, outrebounding them by nine. The Lakers scored 10 more second-chance points, and when they grabbed control of the game, they didn’t relinquish it. And Oklahoma City only shot 12 free throws, with Gilgeous-Alexander attempting none for the first time since Dec. 18, 2021.

The Lakers now have the opportunity to try and do it again Tuesday, though they’ve been a little cagey about their plans for handling the game considering they’ll play again Wednesday in Doncic’s first game back in Dallas.

“Nothing set in stone,” Redick said for the Lakers’ plans Tuesday. “Again, this is all day to day.”

And Sunday, it was a good one.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Steph makes hilarious joke to explain heated exchange with Udoka originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

There’s no such thing as a heated, physical game without the banter. 

Rockets coach Ime Udoka and Warriors guard Steph Curry’s intense exchange in Golden State’s 106-96 streak-snapping loss to Houston on Sunday at Chase Center was proof of that. 

As both teams made their way to their respective locker rooms at halftime, Udoka and the four-time NBA champion shared a few words. 

In a joking manner, according to Curry, the motive behind the verbal exchange was a canceled reservation at his wife Ayesha Curry’s International Smoke restaurant.

“He made a reservation at International Smoke, and he canceled it,” Curry quipped to reporters after the game. “And so I was kind of upset with him. We went back and forth on that.” 

Jokes aside, for Udoka, it was just in-game banter.

“He said something,” Udoka told reporters after Houston’s win. “I said something. A little friendly banter.”

The verbal exchange came after a fierce second quarter that saw Warriors forward Draymond Green and Rockets center Alperen Şengün clash. The physical altercation resulted in a technical foul for Green.

Draymond received a tech for this sequence 😬 pic.twitter.com/PT1ytcTv80

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 7, 2025

“I was talking to my team about the physicality,” Udoka added. “This is the type of game we like. This is who we are.”

In the third quarter, Green and Şengün picked up where they left off. 

Green was given a Flagrant 1 foul for making contact with Şengün as he drove in for a layup, making the foul the forward’s third Flagrant of the 2024-25 NBA season.

Draymond received a flagrant 1 for this controversial play pic.twitter.com/6r8SG0URbF

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 7, 2025

Even if the canceled reservation at International Smoke happens to be true, there was plenty to get feisty about at Chase Center on Sunday night.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Sam Hauser wants C's fans to join in on this Luke Kornet celebration originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Luke Kornet showed again Sunday night why he is a fan favorite at TD Garden.

The Boston Celtics big man enjoyed another strong performance, logging 13 points and 14 rebounds (nine offensive) in a 124-90 rout of the Washington Wizards. After bringing down an offensive board and making a hustle play to give Boston possession, Kornet celebrated by barking like a dog:

The TD Garden crowd chanted “Luke!” after the sequence, but teammate Sam Hauser wants to hear more barking from Celtics fans next time Kornet makes a big play.

“If we can get the fans to join in with it and bark with him, I think it’s going to be something,” Hauser told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after the victory.

Kornet led a C’s team that recorded a season-high 62 rebounds (25 offensive) in the lopsided win. Hauser accounted for eight of them to go along with his 18 points off the bench.

“It reminded me of a good charcuterie board back home in Wisconsin,” Hauser said of the Celtics’ rebounding. “Like, everything you need. Cheese, crackers, grapes, fig dip, a little bit of honey. It was good.”

Hauser accounted for four of the Celtics’ 24 makes (24-52) from 3-point range. Threes and rebounds were the difference as Washington shot just 12-45 (26.7 percent) from deep with only 32 boards.

We’ll have to wait a few days to hear more barking at TD Garden. The Celtics will hit the road for matchups against the New York Knicks on Tuesday and Orlando Magic on Wednesday. They will return home to wrap up their regular season with back-to-back games against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday and Sunday.