Expect fireworks as Lakers, Warriors open NBA 75

Two teams balancing early-season transitions and late-season title aspirations share the national spotlight Tuesday on NBA Opening Night when the Golden State Warriors visit the Los Angeles Lakers.

The duel of the only Western Conference franchises to win NBA titles since 2014 is a rematch of a historic meeting last May, when the Lakers beat the Warriors 103-100 at home in the opener of the league's first-ever play-in tournament.

Fighting through blurred vision that resulted from getting poked in the eye earlier in the game, LeBron James hit the game-clinching 3-pointer in the final minute in that one, and later declared, "I was seeing three rims and shot at the middle one."

Much has changed since the night when James put up a 22-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, which was barely enough to offset a 37-point night by Golden State's Stephen Curry.

The Lakers have retained just three players from that team that went on to lose to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the Western playoffs. And one of those three -- Talen Horton-Tucker -- won't suit up for the opener because of a thumb injury.

James and superstar sidekick Anthony Davis are now surrounded by the likes of Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan, Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard, the latter two having returned to the team after playing elsewhere last season.

An 0-6 preseason, which included two losses to Golden State, didn't surprise James.

"We're going to have moments where we're not quite right there," he admitted. "We may take steps backward. I think nothing is worth having if it's not worth working for."

The Warriors return six of the eight who got minutes in the season-ending loss, but still are without All-Star guard Klay Thompson, who continues to rehab an Achilles injury that cost him the entire 2021 season, and big man James Wiseman, who is close to returning from a torn meniscus in his knee.

Golden State gave itself a chance in the play-in game by hitting 15 of its 34 3-point attempts, and the Lakers would be wise to expect more of the same this time around.

After setting a franchise record by averaging 38.7 3-point attempts last season, the Warriors went crazy from beyond the arc in the offseason, putting up a whopping 63.2 a night.

Curry hit 17 of his 42 from deep in his four games, but that wasn't even the most encouraging part for the Warriors. Jordan Poole hit 16 treys over five games, while newcomers Otto Porter Jr. (55.2%) and Nemanja Bjelica (44.4%) combined to make 24 in 47 attempts.

The Warriors went 5-0 in the preseason, capped by a 41-point explosion by Curry in a 22-point romp over Portland in Friday's finale.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr stamped his guys ready to go, especially Curry, the league's reigning scoring champ.

"He's been building up perfectly from before camp started to all of the training over the summer to now," Kerr said of Curry. "He's clearly ready to roll for the regular season. He's in a great place."

In opening the NBA's 75th season, the Warriors and Lakers are opening in Los Angeles for the first time since 1982. Times have changed: That game featured a total of nine 3-point attempts and only two were successful: One by LA's Mike McGee and the other by the Warriors' Joe Hassett.

World B. Free led Golden State with 30 points as the Warriors recorded a 132-117 victory over the defending NBA champions who were led by future Hall of Famers Magic Johnson (22 points), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (20 points) and James Worthy (20 points)

__World B. Free led Golden State with 30 points as the Warriors recorded a 132-117 victory over the defending NBA champions who were led by future Hall of Famers Magic Johnson (22 points), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (20 points) and James Worthy (20 points

--reuters

NBA: Curry to auction 'Bruce Lee shoes' for families of Atlanta shooting victims

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry will auction a pair of custom game-worn shoes featuring a picture of martial arts icon Bruce Lee to raise money for the families of last month's Atlanta-area shootings victims.

Curry wore the yellow, white and black shoes -- designed with the Bruce Lee Foundation and featuring Lee's famous quote "under the heavens, there is but one family" -- during Sunday's 117-111 defeat by the Atlanta Hawks.

In the last year, there has been increased reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States. Eight people -- six of whom were Asian women -- were killed in a March 16 rampage in Atlanta.

"I think Stephen's gesture is a beautiful example of allyship and solidarity in action," Shannon Lee, the daughter of the martial arts legend and chairperson of the board of directors for the Bruce Lee Foundation, tweeted.

"I am honoured he would choose my father and my family as the symbol for the idea that we are all one family, as my father said, and therefore must all stand for one another."

Speaking before Sunday's game, Curry said he had feelings of "disgust, horror and outright anger" at the violence in the United States.

"After all we have been through this past year, let alone in the history of our country, people still deal with unnecessary tragedy and are afraid for their lives," he told The Undefeated website.

"We have to do better."

The Biden administration announced measures responding to rising anti-Asian violence, including deploying $49.5 million from COVID-19 relief funds for U.S. community programs that help victims. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford )

-reuters

Curry sizzles as Warriors rout Pacers

LOS ANGELES – Golden State star Stephen Curry scored 26 points on another milestone night on Monday (Tuesday Manila time), leading the defending champion Warriors in a 132-100 rout of the Indiana Pacers.

The Warriors stretched the longest winning streak in the league this season to 11 as they wrapped up a five-game road trip in style in Indianapolis.

Curry connected on 10 of 13 shots from the field, including six three-pointers and became the first player in NBA history to make 200 three-pointers in seven successive seasons.


He did most of the damage in the first half, when his 23 points included eight straight to break a 16-16 tie midway through the first quarter — a burst that put the Warriors on their way.

"Just a really good way to finish it," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of the convincing end to the road trip. "I was a little worried about this game. Everybody's anxious to get home, but we've finished off the trip the right way.


"We're in a groove, we're in a good place. We've just got to keep going."

DeMarcus Cousins added 22 points for the Warriors, shaking off a scary fall in the first quarter.

Cousins, playing just his fifth game for the Warriors after missing almost an entire year after a torn Achilles tendon, went down hard after Indiana's Myles Turner fouled him in transition in the first quarter.

"I wasn't actually hurt, I was more spooked from the fall," said Cousins, who was slow to rise but stayed in the game.

Kevin Durant added 16 points for the Warriors, who let "banged up" Draymond Green sit out for a bit of rest.

Turner scored led the Pacers with 16 points, but Indiana dropped their second straight since losing guard Victor Oladipo to a season-ending knee injury.

In Boston, the absence of Kyrie Irving was no problem for the Celtics as Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart scored 21 points apiece to lead the Celtics to a 112-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Aron Baynes added 16 points, Marcus Morris scored 15 and Al Horford and Terry Rozier chipped in 14 each for the Celtics, whose 16 blocked shots were a franchise record.

Irving sat out with a sore left hip — possibly the result of a fall in Saturday's loss to the Warriors.

"I don't think it'll be anything long-term," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said before the game. "We'll see after tonight how he feels tomorrow."

Stevens said it wasn't a tough decision to have Irving sit out a seventh game this season, even with a minor injury, as the team looks to preserve the long-term health of the All-Star point guard.

"Especially with a guy that we were going to sit him eight to 12 games anyway, so when he does have nicks and bruises, it makes sense to sit."

Nuggets rally

The Denver Nuggets, second in the Western Conference behind the Warriors, erased a 25-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Grizzlies in Memphis 95-92.

Nikola Jokic scored 24 points and drained a go-ahead hook shot with 28.9 seconds to play as the Nuggets became the first team in the league this season to win after trailing by 25 in the second half.

Down 17 heading into the final period, the Nuggets forced the Grizzlies into eight straight misses in the final 10 minutes.

Malik Beasley scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.

"It's what we do," Beasley said. "We just stayed together, kept our heads up and kept playing hard. We're the best team in this league to me."

source: philstar.com

MVP Steph Curry scores 40 as Warriors breeze to 35-point Game 3 rout of Rockets

The Golden State Warriors and their MVP, Steph Curry, were in dominant form on Saturday as they breezed past the Houston Rockets, 115-80, to take move to within a win of sweeping the NBA Western Conference finals.

Curry scored 40 points on 12-for-19 shooting from the field in a scintillating offensive performance. He scored 19 of those in the third quarter, where he hit four of his seven three-pointers in the game.

He shot 7-for-9 from beyond the arc and 9-for-10 from the free throw line as well as dishing out a team-high seven assists.

Curry set a new record for most three-pointers made in a single postseason, smashing Reggie Miller’s old mark of 58 in the 2000 NBA playoffs. The Warriors guard already had 64 at the end of Game 3.

The Warriors guard did it in fewer attempts and far fewer games. He needed only 13 games as compared to Miller’s 22 while tallying his 64 on just 143 attempts (44.7%) compared to Miller’s 147.

Golden State also got contributions from Draymond Green, who had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Klay Thompson, who added 17 as well.

Behind Curry, the Warriors turned it into a rout as early as the first half. He scored 18 first half points – 15 of those in the second quarter – as they opened up a 25-point halftime lead, 62-37.

They held the Rockets to 12-for-41 (29.3%) from the field and 2-for-13 (15.4%) from beyond the arc. James Harden had just eight points on 1-for-8 shooting over the first two periods.

Houston tried to mount a run in the third. They scored seven unanswered points to get crowd pumped up and their deficit to under the 20-point mark.

But Curry stomped out the rally with a remarkable 19-point performance in the third quarter, with his three-pointer with 39.4 remaining in the period giving the Warriors a 31-point lead, 92-61.

The league MVP had 37 points in 31 minutes at the end of three periods.

source: interaksyon.com