The Golden State Warriors are on a huge winning streak, and are looking to take down the Houston Rockets on Wednesday as the news and rumors ramp up.
Check out the latest buzz below.
Curry Responds to Lacob’s Comments
Warriors owner Joe Lacob created a stir when his remarks to a group of venture capitalists that were critical of former coach Mark Jackson were made public.
Lacob told Bay Area News Group that he planned to apologize to Jackson, and Stephen Curry said he thought that was appropriate.
“I think it’s an unfortunate distraction from what is going on right now,” Curry said.
“Obviously we’re playing well and you can pick what’s the difference between this year and last year. But you were talking about two great coaches. I feel like coach Kerr is doing his job great and coach Jackson did his job the way he thought was right and obviously there was a lot of success with it.”
“For him to apologize is a big gesture,” he added about Lacob.
“My whole thing is not to discredit anything Coach Jackson did because he was such a great coach for us and elevated a lot of our individual games, and I’m proud of that and appreciate that. And obviously it’s a new era, a new experience that we’re in right now, and we’re enjoying it.”
Lacob told the News Group about the comments he made: "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mark Jackson and what he accomplished as our head coach. He did a terrific job. I’ve said that many times over the last several months and in recent days, including at this week’s event.
“I was asked to draw comparisons earlier this week between building businesses in the tech world and the sports world, and unfortunately, I used some poor judgment. That’s my mistake. I did attempt to reach out to Mark on Friday, and I certainly apologize for my comments and any unintended harm. I know that Mark will succeed again in this business.”
Lacob had said in taped comments at the Western Association of Venture Capitalists/National Venture Capital Association luncheon that Jackson “wouldn’t hire the very best.”
“Carte blanche. Take my wallet. Do whatever it is to get the best assistants that are in the world. Period. End of story. Don’t want to hear it,” he said. “And (Jackson’s) answer ... was, ‘Well, I have the best staff.’ No you don’t. And so with Steve, very, very different.”
Jackson himself also responded to the comments, telling members of his congregation that Lacob “put me on blast.”
Jackson said in recorded comments that Lacob “said I was good for nothing, an owner that knew me for three years and spent a couple of minutes around me, an owner that had the audacity to say that 200 folks don’t like me in the business.”
Bogut Could Miss Time
Dwight Howard might not be the only franchise center who sits out when the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors meet Wednesday night.
Warriors center Andrew Bogut is questionable to play because of right knee tendinitis. He left Monday night’s 102-86 win in Minnesota — the Warriors’ 13th in a row — early in the first quarter with the injury.
Bogut and coach Steve Kerr said after the game that they didn’t think the tendinitis was anything serious. But any time Bogut is banged up is cause for concern.
The 7-footer from Australia is the anchor of Golden State’s smothering defense, and his seasons have been often derailed by injuries, including last spring when a fractured rib kept him from playing in the first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Bogut has played in every game this season, averaging 7.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, three assists and 2.2 blocks.
The Warriors, who are an NBA-best 18-2, also said power forward David Lee remains out with a strained left hamstring. Lee has appeared in just one game this season.
Houston has been hampered by injuries for a few weeks now.
The Rockets said Tuesday that Howard (strained right knee) is doubtful to play against the Warriors, and James Harden (back spasms) and Francisco Garcia (strained left hamstring) are questionable. Isaiah Canaan (sprained left ankle), Terrence Jones (nerve inflammation in left leg) and Kostas Papanikolaou (strained right knee) remain out.
Houston (16-4) enters the game winners of four straight and seven of eight.
Lee to Return Soon
David Lee is supposed to return this week, although he’s been ruled out of Wednesday’s game.
Lee has a hamstring injury, and has only played one game so far this season.
Kerr said last week that Lee would play this week, but that hasn’t happened yet.
The update was Lee being ruled out against the Rockets.
The Warriors have a two-day break after the game before playing back-to-back road games against the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans.
Multiple blogs have suggested that the Warriors, off to a strong 18-2 start, are actually better off without Lee and that they should trade him.
“Lee is a stat stuffing machine, almost guaranteed to pull down close to 10 boards and put up 20 points a night, but his actual value to a team like the Warriors is doubtful when they can do so well without him,” said one, the Sports Quotient.
“In the 2013 playoffs, when David Lee went down with a hip flexor injury, the Warriors trashed the Denver Nuggets with Harrison Barnes replacing him in the starting lineup. This upset really showed how replaceable David Lee was. He’s sitting on a $15 million per year contract, and right now, the Warriors are playing their best basketball possibly ever without him.”
The blog notes one area where Lee struggles--opposing shooting percentage, when he’s five feet or closer to the shooting player--and also overall on defense.
The biggest reason people feel Lee can be dealt is because of the emergence of Draymond Green, and the boosted play from Marreese Speights.
“Next season, due to Klay Thompson’s max contract kicking in, the Warriors won’t have any cap space to maneuver with, so it seems probable that they will try to deal Lee’s contract out to another team,” the blog concluded. “They may have to give up something else of value in order to convince another team to take on Lee, but it may be worth it to even further bolster their currently robust roster.”
Warriors Beat Timberwolves in Blowout
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders may have come up with the best description of what it’s like to play the Golden State Warriors these days.
“Ever play RISK?” Saunders said, referring to the classic board game. “I feel like I’m Macedonia with two people and I’m surrounded by 50 people and have to roll 12s 49 straight times.”
For those unfamiliar with the game of strategy and world domination, that’s really, really hard to do. Just like beating the Warriors.
Stephen Curry overcame an off night from long range to score 21 points and seven assists and theWarriors extended their franchise-record winning streak to 13 games with a 102-86 victory over the Timberwolves.
“I’m proud this meant something to us,” Curry said. “The streak is what it is, but I think more so we want guys to understand we’re playing well and this is a game we should win and kind of just rising to the occasion.”
Curry missed six of his seven 3-point attempts, but the top-ranked Warriors’ defense forced the short-handed Timberwolves to shoot 36 percent and turn the ball over 19 times to improve to an NBA-best 18-2. Klay Thompson added 21 points and the Warriors breathed a sigh of relief after Andrew Bogut left with a knee injury early in the first quarter.
Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are playing without three starters and have lost six in a row. Thaddeus Young added 13 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota.
Bogut left the game after just three minutes. He was laboring up and down the court and went back to the locker room with the team’s athletic trainers to get checked out.
Every time Bogut leaves the game with any injury is cause for concern. He is the linchpin of their stifling defense, but his seasons have been often derailed by injuries, including last year when fractured ribs kept him from playing in the first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Perhaps looking past a short-handed Timberwolves team at the bottom of the Western Conference, the Warriors gave the Wolves every opportunity to stay in the game in the first half. They shot 38 percent, committed 10 of their 17 turnovers and Curry went 0 for 4 from 3-point range.
The Wolves shot just 35.6 percent in the first half and turned it over 13 times to go into the locker room trailing by nine.
Curry missed his first five 3-pointers, but hit one during a 13-0 run in the third quarter that put the game on ice.
“That never happens,” Wolves forward Corey Brewer said of Curry’s misses. “We had luck with us tonight and just couldn’t capitalize.”
TIP-INS
Warriors: Kerr joins Syracuse’s Al Cervi as the only two NBA coaches to start their careers going 18-2. ... Shaun Livingston had 12 points and Marreese Speights had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench. ... Curry is now 2 for 12 from 3 in his last two games and went 1 for 10 from long distance on Nov. 28 against Charlotte.
Timberwolves: Brewer had five steals in the first half. ... Shabazz Muhammad scored 14 points in 19 minutes after being listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle. ... Zach LaVine had a rough game with nine points, eight assists, six turnovers and a missed dunk in the first half.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
