Tag: warriors hq

NEW ORLEANS – Tuesday night’s promotion at Smoothie King Center was “Y2K,” where Usher’s music blasted through the speakers and the half-empty crowd were given 2000s-style bird hats to wear. 

On the court, the Warriors and Pelicans decided to also pay homage to that low-scoring era of hoops by throwing up copious amounts of bricks in the Warriors’ 113-109 loss to New Orleans.

Golden State shot just 40% and 23% from behind the arc, while the Pelicans had a 43% accuracy rate from the field.

The Warriors got as close as 104-103 with 1:47 left in the game, but Saddiq Bey pushed the lead back to four with a scooping and-one reverse layup. Three De’Anthony Melton free throws got the deficit back to three after another Pelicans score, but the Pelicans held on for the win after a few empty Warriors possessions.

Melton scored a season-high 28 points and threw down a shocking poster dunk in the second half, while Moses Moody continued to shoot well and scored 24. Brandin Podziemski came off the bench to score 16 and grab 16 rebounds. Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 26 points.

The Warriors were without Steph Curry (runner’s knee) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) as neither man made the trip with the team. 

That lack of firepower was apparent in the first half, as the visitors shot just 31.3% from the field and made a ghastly 23% of their triples over the first 24 minutes. Melton’s off-the-bounce game and some timely shotmaking by Moody were the only things keeping the Warriors offense afloat. 

It was only through sheer effort – and ineptitude from the cellar-dwelling Pelicans – that the Warriors were down just 46-39 at halftime. 

The Warriors even took a 58-57 lead with six minutes left in the third, but a Derik Queen layup gave the Pelicans back the advantage with three minutes remaining. The Pelicans led 77-72 while Dejounte Murray played his first game of the season. 

The Warriors ran out of steam down the stretch, while the talented but raw Pelicans made enough shots to stretch out the advantage.

The Warriors (30-28) will play at Memphis on Wednesday, and then have two days off before facing LeBron James and the Lakers on Saturday.

Draymond Green returns

After missing Monday’s game with lower back soreness, Draymond Green made his return to the starting lineup against New Orleans. The results were uneven in the first half.

On one side of the floor, Green was his vintage self while matchup up against Williamson. He denied the Pelicans star advantageous position while also flying around as a weakside help defender. 

But on offense …. It was a night to forget for Green. Yes, he scored 11 points, but the Pelicans did not care. Green’s defender routinely sagged 5-to-10 feet off Green even when he had the ball, inviting harmless drives into the paint.  

That changed in the second half, when Green handled the ball far less but remained active as a screener and option for layups in the dunker’s spot.

Green ended the night a plus-5 while shooting 5-of-11 to go with seven rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots. 

SAN FRANCISCO – Steph Curry flew around the court and buried improbable, high arcing 3-pointers. Jimmy Butler used his smarts and muscle to carve out space for tricky shots and deft passes. And every other Warrior did …. not much else on Sunday evening at Chase Center. 

Curry scored 31 and Butler poured in 30, but De’Anthony Melton (10) was the only other Warrior in double-figures as the Hawks beat the home team 124-11.

The Warriors entered Sunday as one of the league’s hottest teams, having won 8 of their last 11, two of those losses being in overtime and by one point respectively. 

The Warriors winning run was defined by low turnover numbers, forcing giveaways of the and an offense that averaged over 120 points over its last five games. But against the Hawks, the Warriors relapsed into old habits.

The Warriors had 15 turnovers but forced only 8, thus wasting big nights from their two offensive stars. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 24 and Jalen Johnson put up a 22-point double-double as the Hawks debuted new additions CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. The Hawks traded for both in the trade deal that sent longtime star guard Trae Young to the Wizards.

That momentum was not felt early on, as neither the crowd – many wearing 49ers jerseys and celebrating the team’s playoff victory – nor the players had much verve to begin. 

The Warriors cut the Hawks 70-58 third quarter lead to just two points during a 10-0 run that spanned just 1:12 and was capped by a Curry triple from the wing. The Hawks, boosted by two Luke Kennard triples, responded with a 22-5 run of their own. 

Seeking a boost down 87-73, Steve Kerr inserted the seldom-used Buddy Hield into the game with two minutes remaining in the third. Nothing could spark a comeback though as the Hawks went up by as many as 25 in the fourth quarter and salted away the victory. 

Golden State (21-19) will play host to Portland — with a rare 8 p.m. tipoff time — on Tuesday.

DPoY Duel

Matchups between top scorers are often lauded as the game’s premier matchups, but for those who appreciate the other side of the ball, Sunday’s game provided just as much entertainment. 

Last season Dyson Daniels finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Draymond Green placed third. Daniels is a perimeter defender and Green guards frontcourt players, and both are arguably the best in their respective roles. 

Green and Daniels each had a block, but surprisingly, the Hawks wing did not have a single steal. Daniels led the league in takeaways with 3.0 per game last season, and is still averaging a healthy 2.0 this year. 

Al Horford faces first team

One benefit of the Warriors’ extended homestand and their lack of back-to-backs is that it allows Al Horford to play each game and establish a rhythm. Coming off the bench for his fourth consecutive game, Horford responded with five points, eight rebounds and two assists in just 16 minutes. 

To a newer generation of NBA fans, Horford is associated with the Celtics, the team he won the 2024 NBA title with. But he established himself as a bonafide playmaker with Atlanta, making the all star team four times in nine seasons. 

Horford was selected No. 3 overall in the 2007 Draft, and scored 8,288 points in Atlanta, the 14th-most in franchise history. 

SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors coach Steve Kerr tried just about everything. Pat Spencer-centric high screen and rolls. Post ups with Quinten Post. A pressing defensive scheme that looked to feature Will Richard. 

But in front of a national television audience that expected to see the Warriors’ aging cast of legends face the defending champion Thunder at Chase Center on Friday, the viewing public saw a skeleton crew Golden State squad — for all of their creativity — fall 131-94. 

Brandin Podziemski scored 12 points and had four assists, while Richard and Al Horford each scored 13. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced the Thunder with 30 points in just 28 minutes, while Chet Holmgren put up 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks as the Thunder improved to 3-0 against the Warriors and 30-5 on the season.

“Yeah I mean it was a tough night,” Kerr said. “Obviously we’re short-handed but I don’t think that is an excuse for the way we played.”

Coming off two consecutive road wins, the Warriors’ thee Hall of Famers – Steph Curry (ankle), Jimmy Butler (illness), Draymond Green (rest) – were ruled out before tipoff. 

On top of that, combo guard De’Anthony Melton had the night off as the team remained cautious with his workload as the guard worked his way back from a torn ACL. 

And Jonathan Kuminga, who has been benched for weeks as his trade date of Jan. 15 approaches but was in line to receive big minutes, was scratched with a lower back injury. 

Thus, the Warriors resorted to a ragtag starting five of Podziemski, Will Richard, Moody, Gui Santos and Quinten Post. 

Spurred by some inspired defense, the Warriors were able to hang around and even cut the Thunder lead to just 38-36 when Richard canned a 3-pointer with 7:19 left in the second quarter. 

“There’s definitely look at some stuff you can learn from, but you got to have a short memory when it comes to games like this,” Richard said.

The Thunder responded with a 19-0 run to take command of the game, and the visitors cruised from there, leading by as many as 41 in the fourth quarter that was played exclusively between deep reserves. The Thunder, though no longer on pace to win a record-breaking 74 games in the regular season, have now won four in a row. 

The Warriors (18-17) will take on the Jazz on Saturday.

CHARLOTTE – It is a scene witnessed in almost every NBA city the Warriors visit: fans arriving hours before tipoff and congregating in the lower bowl to gawk at Steph Curry’s legendary shooting routine before begging him for a signature or picture. 

Curry almost always obliges, but it may be difficult for him to accommodate all requests at the final stop of the Warriors’ last road trip of 2025, an early game that will tip off at 10 A.M PST. 

The Warriors will visit Curry’s hometown of Charlotte, also located a half-hour away from Davidson College. 

On the day before New Year, Curry’s admirers will likely outnumber supporters of the lowly Hornets by a considerable margin. Including, for at least one game, in the Hornets broadcast booth, where father Dell Curry will provide television commentary. 

It is one of the few road games the superstar considers a special occasion.

“I know when I go to Charlotte and see my family, and I know when I go to Toronto … so I circle those dates at the end of December,” Curry said this summer at his yearly golf tournament.

Adding to the New Year’s Eve festivities is that his younger brother, Seth – though inactive while dealing with sciatica – will now make the trip with the Warriors. 

But while this homecoming usually results in a Warriors victory (8-4 record in Charlotte), signature Curry flurries are usually replaced with excellent but unspectacular outings. 

Curry averages 27.3 points per game in 12 games in North Carolina’s largest city, a number that would be the envy of the vast majority of his NBA peers. But he has also not had a 40-point game in Spectrum Center since dropping exactly that amount during his MVP season in 2015-16.

But after almost a decade since that night, when he hit eight 3-pointers in a 116-99 victory, Curry is primed to have a huge game against the Hornets. 

Despite possessing multiple double-digit leads in the second half, the Warriors found themselves in a familiar spot: stuck in a close game, with turnovers to blame in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.

Immanuel Quickley’s 3-pointer for the Raptors with under a minute tied the game at 120. Brandin Podziemski gave the Warriors another lead by grabbing an offensive rebound off a rare Steph Curry miss and putting it in with 32.8 remaining. Scottie Barnes answered by putting back a Brandon Ingram miss to tie it at 122.

Overtime ensued after Curry turned the ball over and the Raptors missed a buzzer-beater.

The Raptors scored the first 10 points over overtime to doom Golden State to an 141-127 loss, snapping the Warriors’ three-game winning streak.

“They turned up the pressure, and we didn’t handle it well and they scored 35 points off our turnovers,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters in Toronto. “That was the game. It sucks. We’re on a little bit of a run, have a chance at some momentum and control the whole game, and we let it slip.”

Curry led the team with 39 points and made 13 of 30 shots, making the Raptors pay for top-locking him on defense and allowing Curry to cut to the basket for layups and foul shots until late, when he went cold. The Warriors fell to 2-6 when Curry scores at least 35.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler scored 19 and Draymond Green put in 21 while making a season-high four 3-pointers. Quickley led the Raptors with 27 points and Ingram put in 26 as seven different Raptors scored in double-figures. Barnes scored 23, grabbed 25 rebounds and had 10 assists.

“The times we did get stops, we just didn’t come up with the rebound,” Podziemski said.

After mixing and matching and shuffling for the first two-and-a-half months of the season, Kerr settled upon a first five of Curry, Moses Moody, Butler, Green and Quinten Post for the fifth consecutive game, and that continuity paid off early.

The Warriors embarked on an 11-0 run in the second quarter to take a 54-50 lead midway through the period. The Raptors, led by Ingram, fought back to lead 65-64 at halftime. The Warriors led by as many as 13 in the third thanks to, oddly enough, a flurry of 3-pointers by Green and strong inside work by Curry.

But the Raptors forced four consecutive turnovers to cut the deficit to just 100-96 going into the fourth quarter. The Warriors bounced back to start the fourth, being aided by Buddy Hield and Moody’s 3-pointers that helped push the lead back to a dozen before a flurry of turnovers helped the Raptors stick around. 

From there, the Warriors felt the impact of 21 their turnovers — 15 in the second half and overtime while they had trouble with the Raptors’ double-teams all game — and an additional three Raptors offensive rebounds in the first two minutes of overtime to send the Warriors (16-16) back to .500.

Golden State will play in Brooklyn on Monday (4:30 p.m., NBC Sports Bay Area). 

“We’ve got to learn from this, and see what we did wrong in this game,” Will Richard said.

Defensive effort for naught

Payton cannot soar with the same abandon he once did, but the 32-year-old still has some life in his legs when playing limited minutes. Now strictly relegated to being an energetic defensive specialist, Payton made the most of his spot minutes. 

He blocked two different Raptors dunks in the first half, on the heels of a spectacular two-handed smother of Cooper Flagg on Christmas. With De’Anthony Melton out of the lineup, his activity against an athletic Toronto squad was much-needed. 

The Raptors, similar to the super-sized Blazers, are replete with rangy wings who love to attack the paint. RJ Barrett returned to action after missing a month with a knee injury as Toronto scored 70 points in the paint. 

In the third quarter, the Warriors broke out a 2-3 zone, clogging the paint and attempting to close off driving lanes. The Warriors entered the game ranked third in defensive rating (112.2), and they were bolstered by Al Horford’s presence. For the second consecutive game after returning from sciatica, the center played well. He scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds while playing active defense in 17 minutes. 

But because of an avalanche of turnovers, the Raptors were able to score 35 off their takeaways, nullifying any halfcourt effort the Warriors showed.

Melton out, Hield in … sort of

Despite large swaths of San Francisco struggling with blackouts as heavy rainstorms moved through the Bay Area on Saturday night, the Warriors’ 119-116 over the Suns was not lacking for juice. 

Less than 48 hours after the Suns beat Golden State in a chippy one-point game, the teams squared off again, this time in the Bay Area. 

Like many of Golden State’s games this season, it was competitive late into the fourth quarter. 

With a minute showing on the clock, Curry brought the ball up with the Warriors leading by just two. Curry hit Gary Payton II, who found Jimmy Butler on the baseline for a contested layup that he turned into an and-1 score and a 115-112 lead.

Devin Booker responded by driving for an and-1 layup of his own five seconds later. Collin Gillespie had a chance to take the lead on an open corner three, but he missed, Brandin Podziemski grabbed a contested rebound, and Steph Curry made two free throws to push the lead back to four.

But Gillespie made it a 117-116 game when his one-legged 3-pointer in the corner went cleanly through the rim. The Suns elected not to foul, and let Steph Curry make a baseline layup with 5.7 seconds remaining. The Suns missed a desperation attempt from midcourt to end the wild game.

Curry scored a team-high 27 and Butler put up 25 points for Golden State, and Will Richard added 20. Booker led Phoenix with 38 points, and Dillon Brooks scored 22.

It was abundantly clear early on that neither side had much love for the other. 

There were three technical fouls handed out and one ejection. 

Draymond Green was ejected in the second quarter after shoving Gillespie from behind and arguing with the officials afterwards. 

Booker also got whacked with a tech for complaining to Pat Fraher’s crew over what he believed to be an uncalled foul on Curry. 

Brooks, the longtime Warriors nemesis, and Butler had a brief incident when Butler flung the ball at Brooks after a Warriors bucket, but no technical was called. 

The Suns jumped out to a 44-32 lead after one quarter, but the Warriors cut the deficit to 67-64 at halftime thanks to Richard and Butler’s aggression. The Warriors led 93-87 after three quarters.

The Warriors (14-15) will remain in the Bay Area and will welcome the Magic to Chase Center on Monday. 

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers

Steve Kerr has tried quite possibly every lineup combination possible, attempted a multitude of tactics this season, all in aims of finding a way of mitigating the Warriors’ turnover-happy ways. 

None of them are working, and nothing he did seemed to work on Saturday night. After giving up 30 points on 20 turnovers on Thursday, Golden State did not benefit from being back home. 

The Warriors turned the ball over 13 times in the first half alone, and 20 times overall. Those giveaways led to 15 points for Phoenix. 

Will Richard makes most of opportunity

One adjustment Kerr made in rainy San Francisco was giving an unheralded rookie another chance. After starting a dozen games in November and early December, the second-round rookie Richard was a healthy scratch for each of the past three losses.

But with the team in need of a spark, Kerr went back to the kid from Georgia. 

He made the most of his first action in almost two weeks when he checked in during the first half in lieu of Buddy Hield. The rookie out of Florida scored 20 points, shooting 6 of 7 in the process, including 4-of-4 on 3-pointers and 4-of-4 from the line.

Jonathan Kuminga out with illness

One game after rejoining the Warriors’ rotation, Jonathan Kuminga remained at home with an unspecified illness. Curry also previously missed time with an illness. 

Kuminga rejoined the rotation after three consecutive healthy scratches, and produced two points and four rebounds in 10 minutes of action. 

SAN FRANCISCO — The WNBA’s New York Liberty tabbed one of the Warriors’ top assistant coaches to be their next head coach.

Longtime Golden State assistant Chris DeMarco agreed to a midseason deal to become their head coach, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Friday morning. The New York Post’s Madeline Kenney first reported he was a leading candidate for the position on Tuesday.

DeMarco, 40, who is also the head coach of the Bahamas men’s national team that stars current Warrior Buddy Hield, has been an assistant coach for all four of the Warriors’ recent titles.

Following a Hall of Fame college playing career at Dominican University in San Rafael, he joined the organization as a video intern in 2012, becoming an advance scout in 2014 and advancing to becoming one of Kerr’s lead assistants this season.

“Yesssirrr CD,” Draymond Green wrote in a post on Instagram. “(New York) got a great one!”

He has handled skill development and has been lauded for his work as a defensive coach. He will now join a Liberty team with championship aspirations following a disappointing first-round exit this September.

The Liberty fired coach Sandy Brondello despite her leading the franchise to the 2024 title.

DeMarco will inherit a roster that expects to return perennial MVP candidates in Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Walnut Creek native Sabrina Ionescu.

NEW ORLEANS – Draymond Green had a contentious second-quarter discussion with a heckling courtside fan Sunday night in the Warriors’ win over the Pelicans, apparently due to the fan’s reference to a WNBA All-Star.

Standing at his locker at Smoothie King Arena after the win, Green explained that a fan on the baseline repeatedly called him a “woman.” Green then confronted the man with 2:02 remaining in the first half. Official Courtney Kirkland kept Green and the fan separated.

“It was a good joke at first, but you can’t call me a woman,” Green said. “I’ve got four kids and one on the way. He got quiet, though, so it’s fine.”

Green, 35, added that the fan “didn’t say much else” once Green got closer.

Though the Warriors star declined to specify whose name the fan was using, the Associated Press reported that the fan, who identified himself to the AP as Sam Green, was calling him “Angel Reese.”

Reese was a record-breaking rebounder at nearby LSU and has become a polarizing figure in the WNBA for the Chicago Sky while playing at an All-Star level. The fan told the AP that he made his verbal jab because Draymond Green had several rebounds but had not attempted many shots yet in the game, and that the Warriors player threatened to punch him if the taunts continued.

“It was a little unnerving,” said Sam Green, who insisted that he did not use profanity toward the Warriors’ four-time NBA champion.

Ushers were seen speaking with the fan after the incident, but he was allowed to remain in his seat for the rest of the game.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he did not know exactly what happened during the incident, but was not bothered by Draymond Green chatting with the fan.

SAN ANTONIO – Wearing a white shirt emblazoned with ‘John Beam’ and a black heart on the front, Warriors coach Steve Kerr began his pregame press conference in San Antonio Friday night by sharing his thoughts on the late football coach and Oakland icon.

Beam coached in the East Bay for 40 years, first at Skyline High School and then at Laney College, before retiring from coaching in 2024 and becoming Laney’s athletic director. He was shot in the head at the college’s athletic fieldhouse on Thursday, and was pronounced dead on Friday morning.

“It’s a really difficult time for people in Oakland right now,” Kerr said. “Coach Beam was a legend … a sad day, sad day for the Bay Area, and a sad day for coach Beam’s family.”

The longtime coach was beloved by members from every corner of the Oakland community, and later became a nationally-recognized figure for his role in Netflix’s “Last Chance U” documentary that featured Beam’s Eagles.

Kerr then made a heartfelt plea to address gun violence in the city that the Warriors played in until 2019.  

“Everybody knows he’s a revered figure in Oakland, who did so much for so many people,” Kerr said. “On behalf of the Warriors, I want to extend our condolences, and remind everybody we have to be the change, as a community, as citizens, we have to be the ones who insist that we address gun violence issues.”

Kerr said that he did not “know him personally,” but that the two had many mutual friends.