GSW·2012-13| WEEK 6: Dec 2- 8, 2012 + Player Profiles

[Martti.]

Finally you lost to them.

[Andrew]

At least you've got the season series, should there ever be a need for a tiebreaker.

[Clutch]

Andrew - yeah, if it comes to that, we've got 'em!

Martti - we let them win

[Clutch]

No Kidding Around For Defending Champs

Dec 26, 2011 Oakland, CA (AP) - Jason Kidd and the World Champion Dallas Mavericks held off a late game rally by Golden State to walk away with a 116-114 victory at Oracle Arena.

Kidd, the oldest active player in the NBA at age 38, showed he still has plenty left in the tank with an impressive 11 point, 11 assist double-double. And while he struggled offensively shooting 3-16 from the field including 0-3 from downtown, his playmaking decisions helped teammates get in the flow of the game, most notably, forward Caron Butler.

Butler shot a sensational 12-15 from the field for a team-high 27 points and was the Mavericks' main offensive focal point.

"We're the champs and the team to beat as far as I'm concerned," said Butler who re-signed with the Mavericks during the off-season, a contract paying him just under 50M through the next 5 seasons. "Tonight was my night to step up and give the other guys a break."

Reigning Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki hobbled gingerly up and down the court, obviously still favoring a lingering previous sore toe injury. He was played sparingly for 18 minutes, yet still managed to deliver an efficient, MVP-worthy 8-11 shooting performance for a solid 17 points.

Golden State trailed from the opening quarter but managed to make a late-game push led by the backcourt of Stephen Curry and Vince Carter. The duo combined for 55 of the Warriors total output but clutch free throw shooting by Kidd down the stretch, ultimately would not be overcome.

After the contest Stephen Curry commented with reporters, "This one stings more than the game we had a few nights ago against OKC… I mean, we were in this one right down to the end against the reigning champs… we had the momentum, but just couldn't get over the hump."

The Warriors take a few nights off and prepare to finish out the year 2011 defending home court on a grueling back-to-back schedule versus two Eastern conference contenders - first taking on MVP candidate LeBron James and the retooled Cleveland Cavaliers; then facing defensive beast Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic, featuring former Warrior Kevin Martin in his first return to Oracle Arena.


Kidd baits Curry then delivers to Butler for the uncontested layup | Terry finds Butler for the alley-oop... where's the defense? Seriously!?

Warriors' Moment: high-flying rookie Brantt Dvorak puts Matt Carroll on his ass before taking it strong for the Sports Center finish

[Axel The Great]

Huge game by Curry and VC, shame it couldn't come with a win. Seems like you've got a tough schedule ahead, hopefully you can win at least one of the games vs LeBron or Dwight.

[kibaxx7]

Yep, great 1-2 with VC and Stephen. Shame the loss

[Andrew]

So close, no shame in pushing the defending champions to the limit like that. Seems like your turnovers and their advantage on the boards sealed the deal though.

[Clutch]

Andrew - it's ok, you can say it... "Seems like CURRY'S turnovers and their advantage on the boards sealed the deal though."

Thierry, Axel13 - a shame most def, but as long as the team keeps momentum from shifting reverse, we'll be fine

[Andrew]

Curry certainly was the main culprit. I notice Terry had 7 as well though and the final count was 22-19, so it could've been worse.

[Clutch]

good catch on the Jet; i didn't even notice that

[Lamrock]

Tough loss man. Guess the Dubs don't have their number anymore. Butler had his first good game as a Mav.

[Fresh8]

You got fucked up by Butler.

[Clutch]

Sit - first Durant (somewhat understandable) but now Butler? I blame buffed Azubuike and his recent soft play;

Lamrock - i'm curious if it was a fluke or not and wish i had at least one more game vs OKC; we scored our highest total against them that last one; they just had an inhuman 4th qtr to pull off the win

[TheMC5]

Have you considered bumping Buike to the bench? Might help your bench with some scoring punch.

[Clutch]

TEAM PREVIEW


Off-Season Moves


Current Record 15-12

Breakdown

Cavaliers fans across the globe - and in the city of Cleveland, Ohio particularly - breathed a collective sigh of relief on July 15, 2011 when NBA megastar, LeBron James, chose to re-sign with the wine and gold to the sum of 104.3M over the next 5 seasons.

"All the haters who said I'd 'checked out' of the playoffs last year, who said I'd already quit, already made my bed with a few Olympic teammates and had one foot out the door? You're gonna be sorry," a defiant James told reporters at the unveiling ceremony of a life-sized bronze statue erected in front of the Quicken Loans Arena (or "The Q") shortly after James announced his extension.

James is indeed the focal point and face of the franchise and his renewed commitment set about a series of off-season dominoes designed to keep his Majesty content:

For one, James' tight friendship with brief Golden State Warrior, Carl Landry, heavily influenced the forward's decision to re-sign a month after the return of the King;

Then the Cavaliers quickly traded rookie forward Adeleke Tyson of UTEP (who was no doubt drafted as a weak contingency to James' departure, should things have gone that route) to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Georgia Tech shooting guard, Ajani Karenga, to better compliment the King;

Lastly, the Cavaliers elected to trade inconsistent bigman Andersen Varerjao to New Jersey in exchange for rugged rebounder David Lee as of result of LeBron's heavy criticism of his team's inability to rebound and control the glass during last season's embarrassing 2nd-round exit/sweep at the hands of the eventual Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic.

With a recommitted superstar leader and revamped team, the Cavaliers are looking to go far this post-season. They are scheduled to face Golden State only twice during the regular season, one home and one away game. So, with the King and entourage making their only Bay Area appearance of the season on Thursday, fans can expect Oracle Arena to be the hottest ticket in town.
____


MC5 - considering it; team actually does well with the Curry-Morrow-Carter combo too and Morrow seems to play better defense as a starter (or at least picks up all the loose balls Curry/Carter poke away and is credited the steal thus given the appearance he's playing better D) - we'll see?

[Axel The Great]

Good luck Clutch, show the King who's King!

[Clutch]

A King-Sized Comeback

Dec 29, 2011 Oakland, CA - Stephen Curry delivered the mother of all assists in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter to give the Golden State Warriors a stunning 114-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In many respects, it was a dream game for fans who maxed out Oracle Arena's seating capacity to see King James' one-and-only Bay Area appearance and they were not to be disappointed. Fans witnessed the elite megastar's night to remember while the Warriors continued to show glimpses of post-season worthiness.

King James began a 48-point scoring barrage from the opening tip, as the Cavaliers stormed out to a 10-0 run which forced Warriors coach Avery Johnson to burn an early time out. The Warriors managed to regroup and compose themselves to finish the quarter on a strong 6-0 run and took a 1 point lead to end the quarter. But James had found his rhythm with 12 points in the first and continued to score at will in the second, adding another dozen to finish with 24 points, 7 rebounds by halftime.

"The guy's amazing. Not much you can really do to slow him down," said Warriors' forward Kelenna Azubuike who drew the tough assignment of guarding James and seemed a step (or three) slower the entire evening. Azubuike finished a modest 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals with zero turnovers.

James gave the Cavaliers a 2 point advantage by halftime and continued his offensive onslaught into the third to grow the lead to 5 by the start of the final period. By then fans were out of their seats and cheers rose to near-playoff intensity as the home team slowly clawed their way back into the match.

The score was dead-locked 110-110 at the 1:17 mark when James drove the ball hard, drew contact and converted for the basket and the foul. James' free throw put Cleveland ahead 113-110 with less than a minute left forcing coach Johnson to burn the Warriors' final timeout.

Golden State looked to Vince Carter who posted up on Kirk Hinrich, faked right then spun left to deliver a clutch fade away jumper that buried net and trimmed the Cavs lead down to one with just over 30 seconds remaining. Carter finished a team-high 26 points off 12-18 shooting.

With the King under heavy double-team coverage, point guard Mo Williams brought the ball up and, finding no one, launched a questionable, heavily contested jump shot over Curry with time winding down. As the weak attempt rattled off rim, Azubuike scooped up his biggest rebound of the night to give the Warriors final possession with 7.5 left in regulation and no time outs.

The ball quickly found its way into the hands of Stephen Curry who charged up court and somehow spotted a sliver of daylight through the Cavs defense; he then fired a beautiful half-court bounce pass directly on target to a streaking Andris Biedrins for the easy lay in to take the final lead. Only 1.6 seconds remaining, the crowd erupted in jubilation as Williams' desperation, length-of-the-court heave sailed harmlessly over the shot clock.

"I sprinted ahead but I'm not sure how he found me," said Biedrins who scored the game-winner and finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. "Steph (Curry) made just an incredible pass and for a second I thought, 'Don’t you dare blow this!' "

Curry finished with 12 points and 12 assists but struggled offensively. "My shot was off tonight, definitely… but I knew if I just kept my head in the game, there'd be a way to help our team win in the end," he said.

The Warriors will have one night to celebrate their hard fought victory, then it's back to work for the final game of 2011 tomorrow night versus the reigning Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic, featuring Vince Carter and Kevin Martin's first meetings against their former teams since the trade.


David Lee puts the moves on Noah before taking it strong to the hole

King James making impossible look easy | Story of the night in a single picture

Coach Johnson says, "BAHX OUT! WE AINT OUTTA THIS ONE YET! BAHX OUT!!" | On cue, Azubuike secures the huge rebound

[Axel The Great]

Game-winner by Biedrins. 48 points by the King, and yet, he wasn't King at the Bay Area.

[kibaxx7]

Great game Clutch. You couldn't contain LBJ but you contained his teammates, only 2 dimes by him. Props

[TheMC5]

"I sprinted ahead but I'm not sure how he found me," said Biedrins who scored the game-winner and finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. "Steph (Curry) made just an incredible pass and for a second I thought, 'Don’t you dare blow this!' "

That's gotta be the most eloquent sentence Biedrins has ever uttered in English. Has he secretly been taking ESL classes in your dynasty, Clutch? Huge play at the end there, though. That had to be a huge relief seeing the final shot go in. Cleveland was out of timeouts at that point, I assume? CPU always burns their timeouts way too soon.

[Clutch]

MC5 - Clutchverse Biedrins is a smooth ladies man second only to the dude from the Dos Equis commercials
but yeah, it was a relief he made the layup, but more impressive was Curry's one-handed bounce pass; seriously, it was so fast and on target with so little time remaining my jaw dropped! actually now i think about it again, a slight/moot discrepancy is that CLE did in fact burn a final timeout with 1.6 sec after Biedrins' layup; that's why i wasn't able to pause for a screen grab of Curry's assist in time (replay rewind resets on deadball situations so you need to snap screenshots before timeouts); I was a little pissed at that but still glad with the win;

Thierry - thx man and 32 attempts by LBJ was nuts! he just kept attacking so I understand the low assists;

Axel13 - it might've been Biedrins' first game winner ever (in this dynasty); not sure it's enough to reclaim his starting role just yet but does make it tougher to consider trading him when he does good things like that

just a side note: going out of town til late Sunday and intentionally leaving behind all internet access; so things won't resume til then

[Martti.]

You should change Bron to #6! Tough loss, LeQueen really killed you.

[Andrew]

Awesome win. Did you take control for the final play or did the AI come through?

[rise]

Wow 48 points for LeBron and you still won! Grats!

[Valor]

NIce! You lived up to your name and killed that little Queen James who is no where near being Clutch