Warriors' Curry poised for return on March 1, says Kerr

SAN FRANCISCO – Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is being lined up to return from injury in this weekend's game against the Washington Wizards, head coach Steve Kerr confirmed Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time).

Speaking ahead of the Warriors' clash with the Sacramento Kings, Kerr said Curry was targeting Sunday's game with the Wizards as a possible return date.

Curry has not played since fracturing his hand in the Warriors' fourth game of the season against Phoenix on October 30.


The Warriors, who also had to grapple with the departure of Kevin Durant last season and long-term injury to Klay Thompson, are currently languishing at the foot of the Western Conference with a 12-45 record.

Kerr however handed the Warriors a rare piece of good news on Tuesday after confirming a report that Curry was set to return on Sunday.

"That is the hope," Kerr said. "We're going to re-evaluate on Saturday. He won't come back before (March 1) but I know he's had that date in his mind," Kerr added.

"He'll continue to work this week and we'll make that determination on Saturday whether he'll play on Sunday."

Kerr said Curry's rehabilitation had been mostly restricted to conditioning and shooting drills. The team planned to put Curry through his paces in more practice games this week.


"He looks good," Kerr said. "He's only had one scrimmage game because that's the only practice that we had that enabled that.

"He's been working with the team but most of that is drill work. But he's been doing his post-practice workouts for several weeks and really working hard on his shooting and conditioning.

"He's doing everything he possibly can to prepare for his return. But ultimately it's not the same as being out there and getting knocked around a little bit.

"In the next couple of days we'll try and simulate some action as best we can."

Curry's return to fitness is also good news for the United States Olympic basketball team, with the Golden State ace determined to make the team for this summer's games in Tokyo.

Agence France-Presse

DeMarcus Cousins hits winning free throws to lift Warriors past Heat

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant scored 39 points and DeMarcus Cousins made two free throws with 5.4 seconds to play that helped the Golden State Warriors cap a comeback from a 19-point deficit in the first quarter to beat the Miami Heat 120-118 on Sunday night.

Cousins rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Durant and drew a foul, setting the stage for his winning free throws that gave the Warriors their 11th double-digit comeback of the season, and second straight after rallying from 17 points down in the first quarter Friday in Phoenix.

Miami overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Justise Winslow. Josh Richardson and Dwyane Wade then had back-to-back steals and layups to put the Heat up 118-115 with 51.5 seconds to play.

Durant then tied it with a 3-pointer and Cousins made his big shots after both teams missed from long range to give the Warriors their 15th win in 16 games.

Klay Thompson scored 29 points and Stephen Curry added 25 for Golden State.

Richardson helped shoot Miami to the big early lead and finished with a career-high 37 points with help from eight 3-pointers. Waiters added 24 and Winslow had 22 in Miami’s fifth loss in six games.

The Warriors went on a 12-0 run early in the third quarter starting with a 3-pointer from Curry to take a 66-61 lead. But Miami wouldn’t go away and the Warriors needed to fight until the final horn to secure the win.

The Heat went on a 24-2 run early in the first quarter and quickly built a 19-point lead against the slow-starting Warriors. But Golden State scored the final six points of the frame, including a 3-pointer from Jonas Jerebko to cut the deficit to 10 points after one.

TIP-INS

Heat: Wade played despite a scary fall Friday in Sacramento that left him with a bruised back. “Any one of us would probably be in a body brace right now. But he’s built like Captain America,” coach Eric Spoelstra said. Wade got a standing ovation following a video tribute during the first quarter timeout in his final regular season game in the Bay Area before retiring after the season. Wade finished with 10 points.

Warriors: F Andre Iguodala sat out after tweaking his left hamstring on Friday. … The Warriors have scored at least 100 points in 26 straight games, their longest streak since a 36-gamer in 2016-17. … Draymond Green was called for his 11th technical foul early in the fourth quarter when he wanted a goaltending called when Bam Adebayo blocked Shaun Livingston’s shot. Durant was called for his 10th later in the quarter.

FREE AGENCY TALK

The Warriors have grown tired of talk about NBA free agency, but coach Steve Kerr was happy to chime in when it came to baseball’s market. When asked about the possibility that free agent slugger Bryce Harper could sign with the San Francisco Giants, the noted Los Angeles Dodgers fan was all in favor of it.

“I’d love it if Bryce Harper came here,” Kerr said. “Does my opinion matter? Bryce, come to the Giants. Let’s go!”

UP NEXT

Heat: Visit Denver on Monday.

Warriors: Host Utah on Tuesday.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Curry sets another record for 3s, Warriors hold off Nets

NEW YORK — Golden State appeared on its way to another easy victory when the game suddenly turned into a 3-point shootout.

Luckily for the Warriors, they have the perfect guy for that.


Stephen Curry set another NBA record by making seven 3-pointers and finished with 35 points as the Warriors held on to beat the Brooklyn Nets 120-114 on Sunday.

Kevin Durant added 34 for the Warriors, who were coasting before the Nets made it close with some sizzling shooting behind the arc.

Curry finally turned them back when his final 3-pointer made it 115-108 with 1:07 to play. He has made at least five 3s in all seven games, breaking George McCloud’s record of six games in a row during the 1995-96 season.

“They got hot in the fourth to try to make it interesting, but made enough plays down the stretch to obviously get the win,” Curry said.

Klay Thompson continued to struggle behind the arc, going 1 for 5 and falling to 5 for 36 this season. He finished with 18 points and still hasn’t had a 20-point outing this season.

D’Angelo Russell scored 25 points and Caris LeVert had 23 for the Nets, who made 20 3-pointers in 42 attempts and cut a 19-point deficit down to two.

“I think the 3-pointer got them back in the game and ended up we had to play a little bit and execute down the stretch, so it was a solid outing for us,” Durant said.

Golden State has won four in a row since its lone loss and the previous three were all by at least 20 points. The franchise record is four straight 20-point victories, set by the San Francisco Warriors in 1966-67, and it appeared the Warriors were going to equal that.

Curry scored 16 points in the first quarter. The Nets hung close until midway through the second, and another 3 by Curry pushed it to 63-44 with 1:55 remaining in the half.

“The way the first half went we easily could have kind of folded and that’s not what kind of guys we have in that locker room,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They’re a resilient bunch and I thought they competed their tails off and it was good for the fans to see that we didn’t just succumb to their talent or their aura so to speak.”

Draymond Green had a season-high 13 assists.

TIP-INS

Warriors: G Shaun Livingston missed the game with a sore right foot. … Thompson met before the game with 14 young players from the Caribbean who are part of the NBA’s Jumpstart program. The players who got to visit NBA facilities and landmarks in New York were picked by Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry after they participated in an elite camp for Caribbean-based players age 17 and younger in Trinidad and Tobago.

Nets: Brooklyn has lost the last seven meetings. … Russell made five 3s, while LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie and Allen Crabbe all had four.

SORRY, COACH

Steve Kerr said DeMarcus Cousins apologized for his ejection Friday against the Knicks.

Cousins was sitting on the bench in street clothes when he argued with referee Scott Foster, who gave him a technical foul and then threw him out of the game. Kerr said they had a good talk since and the volatile center understands things are different with the Warriors than his previous teams.

“That kind of stuff is not going to help us win a championship, it’s not going to help his reputation and I think he understands that,” Kerr said.

SOMBER SPEAKING

A somber Kerr said the sad thing about the shooting that killed 11 in a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday is that he’s not surprised when it happens because there is so much gun violence and division in the U.S.

“We’re broken right now and so nothing surprises us anymore, or nothing surprises me anymore,” Kerr said. “Shootings at schools and churches, synagogues, malls, movie theaters, and we need our leaders to step up and unite the country with the appropriate words and the appropriate actions and we’re not getting that right now. It’s frustrating and I don’t know what else to say.”

Kerr said he planned to vote for all candidates who back gun control and safety. His father, Malcolm Kerr, a professor who served as president of the American University of Beirut, was shot and killed outside his office in the war-torn Lebanese capital in 1984.

UP NEXT

Warriors: Visit Chicago on Monday.

Nets: Visit New York on Monday.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Warriors use big second quarter to pull away, crush Pelicans

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Draymond Green dazzled all over the floor with his fourth career postseason triple-double, and the Golden State Warriors thoroughly overmatched the New Orleans Pelicans for a 123-101 win in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals Saturday night.

Green finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks and just with his hustle and energy helped the defending champions pull away with a superb, decisive second quarter.

Now, they likely get Stephen Curry back for Game 2 on Tuesday night and all that he brings — even if in a limited role initially.


Anthony Davis had 21points and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 in the first quarter before having a tougher time generating shots the rest of the way to finish 9 for 20. Jrue Holiday was held to 4-for-14 shooting and 11 points.

Golden State again played without two-time MVP Curry, who has been sidelined since March 23 with a sprained left knee. Coach Steve Kerr called it “very likely” Curry would play Game 2 in the best-of-seven series.

Klay Thompson, who led Golden State with 27 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first half that made it 76-48. But New Orleans ended the second on a 7-0 run and Darius Miller’s 73-foot heave at the halftime buzzer counted after review, getting the Pelicans within 76-55 at the break. They hit another buzzer-beater to end the third but it was way too late.

Rajon Rondo had nine points and dished out 11 assists for New Orleans.

But once Golden State got going in transition, Oracle Arena started rocking and the Pelicans couldn’t keep pace — with tempo being something the Warriors know is key this series. They opened the second with a 13-5 burst and were on their way.

Davis, who averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in a first-round sweep of Portland, made 5 of 7 shots in the opening period.

Green has been brilliant on the boards as Golden State keeps taking its defense up a level. He had games of 19 and 18 rebounds in the final two matchups of a five-game series with San Antonio in the first round.

Nick Young started at forward for the Warriors while 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala remained in the starting lineup in place of Curry as Golden State won a franchise-record 13th straight postseason home game.


The Warriors swept the Pelicans in the only other playoff meeting between the franchises in the 2015 first round as Golden State went on to capture its first championship in 40 years.

HIGH-FLYING W’S

Golden State had its highest scoring postseason first half as well as second quarter. The 76 points topped 73 against Phoenix on May 4, 1994, while 41 in the second bested 40 scored against Utah on May 11, 2007.

Golden State shot 13 for 20 in the second, making four 3s and 11 of 14 free throws.

PALS

Kerr and Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry shared a nice greeting and laugh before the series got going. As general manager in Phoenix, Kerr worked with Gentry and then made him the first call to be his top assistant when Kerr became head coach of the Warriors before the 2014-15 season.

CURRY OUT

As usual, Curry insisted he “feels great and he’s ready to go,” said Kerr, who is encouraged his superstar point guard feels so good.

“Just made the decision based on giving him the extra few days and the fact he only scrimmaged yesterday,” Kerr said. “You’ve been out five weeks and we’re playing in the playoffs, I don’t think one scrimmage is enough, even though he feels great, he wants to play and pleaded his case. But we’re going to sit him tonight and very likely he’ll play Game 2.”

Curry returned to full practice with contact Thursday and only scrimmaged 5 on 5 for the first time Friday, and Kerr prefers that Curry get additional on-court time at full speed Sunday.

TIP-INS

Pelicans: The Pelicans’ 126-120 win April 7 in Oakland snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Warriors. “We approach the game as if everybody’s washed their hands of everything that has happened,” Gentry said. … Gentry received a technical at the 8:43 mark of the first quarter. … The Pelicans shot 7 for 23 in the second. … New Orleans surrendered 110 or more points in the last 11 regular-season games against Golden State.

Warriors: Green topped Tom Gola’s three playoff triple-doubles for most in franchise history. … Young, who played 21 minutes, made a 3 on his first shot and another late in the game on his second attempt. … Golden State has won 25 of the last 27 meetings overall vs. the Pelicans. … Jay-Z and Beyonce sat courtside.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Warriors trounce Spurs minus Leonard for 2-0 series lead

OAKLAND, California — Stephen Curry had 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in three quarters and the Golden State Warriors trounced on the Spurs missing Kawhi Leonard, running away from San Antonio for a 136-100 rout Tuesday and 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Kevin Durant added 16 points and Draymond Green provided another strong all-around performance with 13 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks. Rookie Patrick McCaw had 18 points and five assists off the bench shooting 6 for 8 as Golden State earned its most lopsided victory of the playoffs to go to 10-0.

Jonathon Simmons scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half as the lone bright spot for the short-handed Spurs.

Leonard re-injured his left ankle in Sunday’s 113-111 Game 1 loss after coming down on Zaza Pachulia’s foot. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on Monday called out the Warriors starting center for the “dangerous” and “unsportsmanlike” closeout — which had Pachulia insisting he is not a dirty player, was only playing hard, and felt badly that the All-Star forward was injured.

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Saturday in San Antonio.

Pachulia left the game injured for a Warriors team already without key reserve forward Andre Iguodala, held out because of soreness in his left knee that limited him to 10 minutes in Game 1.

Pachulia didn’t come out for the second half because of a bruised right heel. He was scheduled for an X-ray. The big man played nearly 7 minutes but sat the entire second quarter before Matt Barnes took his place.

Golden State quickly established its pass-happy, up-tempo style to take the Spurs out from the opening tip. It was a drastic difference from a game of catch-up two days earlier when the Warriors rallied from 25 down and a 20-point halftime deficit.

Klay Thompson, still struggling to find his steady shooting touch, had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. The Warriors had 39 assists — the most by any team this postseason — including 30 on their initial 38 baskets.

Shaun Livingston scored in double figures for the first time this postseason with 10 points for Golden State.

Simmons started in Leonard’s place and made 6 of 9 shots to begin the game while the rest of the Spurs were 3 for 22.

The Warriors began 10 for 16 as Curry hit three quick 3s and Green added two more for a 25-12 lead late in the first and 33-16 advantage after one quarter.

LEONARD STATUS

Popovich wasn’t about to guess whether Leonard would return in time for Saturday’s game, saying it could be Friday or even game day before that would be determined.

“I have no idea. Just depends on how the ankle heals,” Popovich said. “I’d probably list him as questionable. But the thing that worries me is that he did it again, the exact same thing. So one would logically think maybe it will take longer, but I’m hoping that’s not true and we’ll have him for Game 3. But I don’t know. I don’t think we’re going to know until Friday and Saturday, probably.”

Popovich said before the game Leonard was back at the hotel “ordering dinner.”

TIP-INS

Spurs: The Spurs had another 23 offensive rebounds after 14 in Game 1. … Patty Mills, playing in place of the injured Tony Parker, had another quiet night. After he went 1 for 8 and missed all six of his 3s in the first game, he finally hit from long range midway through the second Tuesday.

Warriors: Coach Steve Kerr attended his second game this series but again watched behind the scenes as he recovers from a May 5 procedure at Duke University to repair a spinal fluid leak. … Golden State’s 23 first-half assists were its most ever in a playoff half, topping 22 against Phoenix on May 4, 1994. The Warriors notched their fourth 30-assist game this postseason. … Curry extended his NBA record by hitting at least one 3 in his 68th straight postseason game, every one he has played.

source: sports.inquirer.net

NBA: Nike to get rid of sleeved jerseys next season—report

The sleeved jersey trend in the NBA has received mixed reviews from players and fans alike, ever since it first came to the league in 2013.

With Nike taking over the reigns from its rival Adidas as the official uniform manufacturer for the league next season, several reports are now claiming that the sleeved-jersey era might soon be coming to an end.

As per reports from Paul Lucas of Uni-Watch, the sporting giant is heavily considering getting rid of the often-criticized uniforms which was strongly pushed by Adidas during its 11-year NBA partnership.


“Nike, meanwhile, is expected to present its initial NBA jersey designs to retailers beginning this week,” the report revealed.  “The company said it doesn’t plan to produce sleeved jerseys, a style debuted by Adidas in 2013 that received mixed reviews from players and fans.”

Several high-profile players have voiced out their annoyance over the constrictive apparel in the past, perhaps none bigger than LeBron James who famously ripped out his sleeves in-game, after claiming it hindered his shooting form.

Also, the sleeved jerseys, which can be likened to warmers worn by players before their actual games, do not appear to be popular among fans and were not selling as well as Adidas and the league had hoped they would.

Three years after its initial release, more than half of NBA teams currently have at least one sleeved alternate jersey in their repertoire.

Even the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers donned the unorthodox looking basketball gear during last year’s NBA finals. Khristian Ibarrola

source: sports.inquirer.net

WATCH: Frustrated Curry hits fan with mouthguard, gets ejected

It wasn’t the best of days for Stephen Curry.

The usually mild-mannered Curry blew his top after being called for a foul against LeBron James with 4:22 left to play and his Golden State Warriors trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers, 87-99, in game 6 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.

Out of frustration, the league’s only unanimous MVP screamed at the referee and hurled his mouthguard towards the crowd, hitting a fan at courtside, to earn him a technical foul and an ejection.

Teammates Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston rushed to pacify Curry, who immediately apologized to the fan.

“I’ve thrown my mouthpiece before. I usually aim at the scorer’s table, I was off aim. Definitely didn’t mean to throw it at a fan. It’s obviously not where I want to take my frustration out,” Curry said in the post-game press conference.

It was the first ejection of Curry’s c career the first time he has fouled out since December 2013.

“The last two fouls I had, I didn’t think I fouled either Kyrie [Irving] or LeBron [James], that’s just kind of my perception of the plays and I had a reaction to it.”

Curry finished 30 points for Golden State, which missed a chance to wrap up the finals series anew at Cleveland’s home floor with the 115-101 loss.

The series ends at Golden State on Monday (Manila) time for the winner-take-all game 7.

source: sports.inquirer.net

NBA: Warriors rival Jordan’s Bulls for greatest season

OAKLAND, United States — One victory shy of defending their NBA title, the Golden State Warriors might just be on the verge of completing the greatest season in the league’s 70-year history.

A triumph over Cleveland in Monday’s fifth game of the best-of-seven NBA Finals would give Golden State a repeat crown to cap a campaign that had the best start in league history, 24-0, and saw the Warriors win a record 73 regular-season games, one more than the old mark of the Michael Jordan-led 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

“I never in a million years would have guessed that record would be broken,” said Steve Kerr, the Golden State coach who won his first NBA title as a guard on that Bulls squad. “I’ll say the same thing I said 20 years ago. I don’t think this one will ever be broken.”

A 108-97 victory Friday in Cleveland gave the Warriors a 3-1 lead in the finals and their 88th combined season and playoff win, one more than the Bulls’ old record total from two decades ago.

But Chicago was 15-3 in the playoffs to stand 87-13 overall while Golden State is 15-6 in the playoffs and only 88-15. And the Bulls had to win only three games in round one, not four as Golden State did this year.

The Warriors’ 28 regular-season win streak in a row dating to the end of the prior season became the second-longest in NBA history. They won 54 home games in a row over two seasons, 10 more than the old mark of the ’95-96 Bulls, and Golden State’s record 34 road wins were one more than those Bulls managed.

Jordan congratulated the Warriors in April on an “amazing season” but added, “I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs.”

‘It’s all subjective’

Golden State’s Draymond Green takes the best-ever debate in stride, saying “they are going to talk and we really don’t care.”

“We’ve got (to win the title) before you can even consider saying that,” Green said. “It’s all subjective. To say we’re better than the ‘Showtime’ Lakers, how can you say that? We never played them.”

That’s when teammate Klay Thompson interjected: “We are better than the ‘Showtime’ Lakers.” But that could have been a nod to his father Mychal, who won two titles with that Lakers lineup.

“Like saying we’re better than the Bulls — we’ll never play them. Two completely different eras,” Green added. “So I don’t really get off on the ‘best team of all times.’ I’m trying to win rings. That’s my only goal.”

Lakers Hall of Fame guard Magic Johnson defended his “Showtime” squad, saying the unit with NBA all-time scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy could beat this year’s Warriors.

“We’ve never seen two guys who can shoot like Steph and Klay (Thompson), but they never ran up against somebody like us,” Johnson told ESPN.

Each boasts Aussie big man

The 1995-96 Jordan, in his first full season after an ill-fated try at baseball, led the NBA with 30.4 points a game and added 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists, then raised his average to 30.7 points in the playoff run and captured NBA Finals and season Most Valuable Player awards.

But Curry led the NBA this year with 30.1 points a game, also averaged 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists, led the NBA in steals with 169, free throw accuracy at 90.8 percent, hit a one-season NBA record 402 3-pointers and won season MVP honors for the second year in a row. After a 38-point effort in game four, the finals MVP could come his way as well.

“He doesn’t have the size and the strength to dominate a game physically, so he has to dominate with his skill,” Kerr said. “But he has a lot of faith in himself and he trusts his shot.”

The Bulls had Scottie Pippen (19.4 points a game) to match Thompson (22.1) and Dennis Rodman with an NBA-best 14.9 rebounds a game to Green’s team-best 9.5.

Each team had an Australian center, with the Bulls’ Luc Longley averaging 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.35 blocked shots and the Warriors’ Andrew Bogut at 5.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.

The Bulls had Croatian forward Toni Kukoc and guards Ron Harper and Kerr but the Warriors counter with Harrison Barnes and 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala off the bench.

And both Kerr and Chicago’s Phil Jackson were voted NBA Coach of the Year.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Champion Warriors visit Obama in White House

President Barack Obama welcomed the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors to the White House on Thursday, joking with superstar Stephen Curry and his league-leading teammates.

Obama is a big basketball fan and played golf with Curry and his father, former NBA standout Dell Curry, last August while on vacation.

“Steph was using the excuse of Secret Service being intimidating for why he lost the match. That is not the case,” Obama said. “But he will have another opportunity.”

Obama said he was disappointed not to see Riley Curry, the young daughter of the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player who charmed the cameras during her father’s post-game news conferences during last June’s NBA Finals.

“I was hoping that Riley Curry would be here today to share the podium with me, but I guess I’m going to have to get media training some other day,” Obama said with a smile.

Obama acknowledged Warriors coach Steve Kerr, whose five NBA titles as a player included three from 1996 to 1998 as a guard alongside Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls, Obama’s team.

“It’s rare to be in the presence of guys from the greatest team in NBA history, so we’re pretty lucky today because we’ve got one of those players in the house,” Obama said.

Kerr was on the Bulls’ 1995-96 squad that went an NBA-record 72-10 and the following season’s team that went a second-best 69-13. Now the Warriors team he coaches is a threat to both marks.

Kerr, who guided Golden State to a crown in his first season on the sidelines but missed the start of the current campaign due to back surgery, returned only two weeks ago, after the Warriors had opened 39-4, the second-best start in NBA history, under fill-in Luke Walton.

“Unfortunately, the NBA won’t let Luke count those wins as his own. Which, man, that doesn’t seem fair,” Obama said.

“You defied the cynics, you accomplished big things, you racked up a great record, and you don’t get enough credit,” Obama added, then pausing for a beat as the similarity to his political situation hung in the air.

“I can’t imagine how that feels,” he deadpanned, to laughs from the crowd.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Curry drops 40 in reigning champ Warriors' opening night win

League MVP Stephen Curry got his new campaign off to an emphatic start as the 2015-16 NBA season got under way.

Curry became the first reigning MVP in history to score 40 or more points on opening night as the Golden State Warriors began their title defense by thumping the New Orleans Pelicans 111-95.

It was an evening of celebration for Golden State. The players received their 2014-15 championship rings in a pregame ceremony.

The Warriors, a 67-game winner in the regular season a year ago, won without coach Steve Kerr, who attended the ring ceremony but then headed to the Warriors locker room, where he rested an ailing back. Assistant Luke Walton coached the game.

Curry finished with 40 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

He nailed four three-pointers during a 24-point, first-quarter explosion, as the Warriors thrilled a crowd that had just taken its seats following the raising of the franchise's championship banner. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Lack of experience proves no problem for champion Warriors

CLEVELAND - The NBA champion Golden State Warriors proved on Tuesday that an age-old mantra -- you have to learn to lose before you can win -- doesn't apply to them.

The inexperienced Warriors beat a LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers team to win the championship despite a roster that did not include one player with any NBA Finals experience.

Golden State are the first team to win a title behind a roster without any previous Finals experience since the 1991 Chicago Bulls. And Steve Kerr is the first rookie coach to win an NBA title since the Los Angeles Lakers' Pat Riley in 1982.

"Every year is so different," Kerr told reporters. "A lot is based on matchups and injuries and maybe a little good fortune. We had good fortune with our health most of the year, and that was big."

The championship series had plenty of sub-plots, including reigning league Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry up against two-time champion James as well as it being a clash of franchises looking to end decades-long title droughts.

But the best-of-seven series was also one of inexperience versus experience, and in the pressure-cooker environment that is the NBA playoffs, the latter tends to prevail.

The Warriors, however, displayed the demeanor of a team that competed on the game's biggest stage several times before, bending at times but refusing to break en route to capturing the Oakland-based franchise's first NBA title since 1975.

"We have a lot of different personalities ... but the common denominator is guys were like really hungry to show what they can do individually," said NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Andre Iguodala.

"When you get all those guys together and say we're going to do it together as a team, that's an awesome formula for what we put together tonight, and that is a championship."

After splitting the first two games of the championship series on their home court, the Warriors went to Cleveland and promptly fell behind in the series 2-1 as their usual potent offense lost its punch.

Kerr made a bold change to his lineup for Game Four when he gave Iguodala his first start of the season.

The steely veteran led the way in a pivotal victory that reinvigorated the deadly run-and-gun offense that had defined the Warriors all season.

Led by sharp-shooting guard Curry, the Warriors dominated the regular season and were barely tested as they captured a league-best 67 wins out of 82 games.

By comparison, the Cavaliers were an exhausted and banged-up team in the Finals but they were led the whole way by James, one of the most polarizing figures in NBA history.

Even James had to lose before he won, having fallen short in his first trip to the NBA Finals with Cleveland in 2007, where they lasted a minimum four games to a veteran San Antonio team.

James finally won a championship in 2012 after joining a Miami Heat team stocked with talent.

The Warriors' road to the Finals was made somewhat easier after the 2014 champion San Antonio Spurs, a potential opponent in the Western Conference finals, lost in the opening round of the playoffs, while Cleveland were without their second and third-best players.

"Things went our way, but we took advantage of that. Every year that's the case. A team fails, a team soars, there's injuries, bounce of the ball, whatever," said Kerr.

"In the end, none of it matters. The only thing that matters is that we got the job done."  — Reuters