Bobcats-Warriors Preview

Posted Dec 20 2012 2:29PM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - The moment Mark Jackson saw Stephen Curry return to the court in September for the first time since the point guard's most recent right ankle surgery, he had an epiphany.

Not the kind that comes to Jackson when he preaches from the pulpit for his ministry. Nor the sort he shouts from the sideline as the Golden State Warriors' coach. Instead, he just kept quiet and smiled about the possibilities.

"You just saw like, 'Man, that's what I'm talking about. I can really be a better coach this year,'" Jackson said, chuckling.

The truth in Jackson's joke, as even he admits, is that nobody is questioning his coaching abilities now in large part because nobody is questioning Curry's health.

The Warriors (17-9) are off to their best start since the 1991-92 season, when the team began 21-8 behind Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin. Golden State enters Friday night's game against Curry's hometown Charlotte Bobcats playing like a playoff-bound team in the Western Conference.

That's no small feat for a franchise that has missed the postseason 17 of the last 18 years. Neither is it a mild milestone in Curry's comeback, not after his troubled right ankle sidelined him for most of the last year and had some wondering whether he could ever be the point guard who looked so promising in his first two seasons.

"Missing games and not having complete confidence that my ankle would hold up was tough," Curry said. "To be at this point right now playing and helping the team win, it definitely feels great to just be able to focus on games."

Warriors general manager Bob Myers believes Curry's breakthrough this season came at Dallas on Nov. 19.

Curry made only four of 12 shots through three quarters and rolled his right ankle early in the fourth before he picked it up offensively, scoring 14 of Golden State's last 17 points in regulation. Curry added six points in overtime to lift the Warriors to a 105-101 win.

"Everybody kind of was thinking, 'Here we go again,'" Myers said. "He kind of had this look, it was like a boxer who takes a punch and starts laughing. He went the other with it and came out guns blazing and performed exceptionally well and won us the game, really. He took over the game. That, to me, was a pivotal point in our season. Not only for his leadership ability but for the rest of the players on the team to see how talented he was, when needed to be the man, he could do it."

Myers took the risk of signing Curry to a $44 million, four-year contract extension through the 2016-17 season hours before the season opener at Phoenix. Curry had even sat out the final two exhibitions as a precaution because of ankle issues.

It was the final day Golden State could sign Curry to an extension or he would become a restricted free agent next summer. While the risk of injury is no different now than it was then, Curry's confidence has helped put everybody around him at ease.

"Every day that goes by and nothing transpires, I feel better," Myers said.

Curry is averaging career-highs of 19.9 points and 6.3 assists per game. He has started all 26 contests and is making a strong case, along with co-captain David Lee, to be Golden State's first All-Star since Latrell Sprewell in 1997.

All this after Curry averaged career lows of 14.7 points, 5.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds while missing 40 games during last season's lockout-shortened 66-game schedule, repeatedly spraining, tweaking or rolling his right ankle.

Curry rehabbed in Charlotte for weeks. Finally, in April, he had what the team called an "exploratory procedure" that "revealed a stable ankle with no structural damage and consisted of cleaning out loose debris and scar tissue." The former Davidson star also had surgery to repair a tendon in his ankle in the summer of 2011 and often had problems even while playing that next season.

"Everybody keeps saying, 'Why? How is he different?' It's just that he's healthy," Lee said. "He's finally capable of playing the way that he's able to play. He's got a great calming effect on us out there offensively and defensively. He's a great leader on the floor and a great teammate off the court. He provides a lot more than just hitting a jump shot.

"This year I can honestly say I feel like it's behind him."

The Bobcats (7-18) hoped last season's struggles were behind them when they opened 7-5, matching their win total from all of 2011-12. But they're still stuck on seven wins, having now lost 13 straight.

After nearly beating the Lakers on Tuesday, Charlotte lost 121-104 at Phoenix the following night.

"We're fine. We're a young team," guard Kemba Walker said after scoring 27 points Wednesday, his third straight game with at least that many. "We still feel pretty confident in ourselves. As long as we're getting better, we definitely will all just come together. Good things are going to happen for us."

Curry had 27 points in the Warriors' 104-96 win at Charlotte on Dec. 10, although the Bobcats have won their last three trips to Oakland.

Lee's triple-double paces Warriors past Bobcats

By MICHAEL WAGAMAN
Posted Dec 22 2012 10:22AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) David Lee had another big game in what Golden State coach Mark Jackson believes is already an All-Star worthy season for the Warriors veteran forward.

Lee was impressed the way his teammates bounced back from a disappointing loss two nights earlier.

On a night when Stephen Curry set a career high with eight 3-pointers, Lee put together one of his best all-around performances of the season with 23 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists to help the Warriors extend the Charlotte Bobcats' losing streak to 14 games with a 115-100 victory on Friday night.

It's the 11th consecutive game in which Lee has had 20 points or more and his 11th with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, tops in the NBA.

"You can pencil in 20 and 10, and then sprinkle in some other stuff around the tree," Jackson said of Lee. "He's been that good all year long. Stef was again spectacular. Those are my leaders and they are doing a great job of setting the tone."

Lee did that with his third career triple-double - second with the Warriors while Curry became the first player in franchise history to make seven or more 3s in consecutive games. Golden State's guard finished with 27 points.

That combo was enough to offset a solid night from Charlotte's tandem of Gerald Henderson and Kemba Walker, who combined for 39 points.

It also got Jackson to talking about the All-Star game. Before and after the game, Golden State's coach said both Lee and Curry deserved consideration, though Lee isn't quite ready to get into that discussion just yet.

"The biggest argument for me on that is we just have to keep winning games," said Lee, who went 11 of 16 from the floor. "That's the way I'm going to get to Houston or Stef's going to get to Houston, is we just keep winning. A lot of that becomes political and we can't do a whole lot about that, but winning games makes our best case."

Henderson had a season-high 23 points for the Bobcats while Walker had 16 points and six assists.

"I thought we just kind of went cold," said Walker, who went 6 for 17 from the floor. "Those guys, they just made the right plays on offense and did a great job of moving the basketball and really getting us out of position."

Klay Thompson added 20 points while Carl Landry and Draymond Green had 11 apiece for the Warriors, who have won eight of 10.

Golden State led by double digits the entire second half and never trailed following a 14-3 run late in the first quarter.

The Bobcats, who haven't won since Nov. 4, had five players in double figures but lost to the Warriors for the second time in 11 days despite committing only seven turnovers.

The way Golden State was shooting it didn't matter.

The Warriors (18-9) shot 51.9 percent from the floor and made a season-high 14 3-pointers after getting 13 in Wednesday's loss to Sacramento.

Curry, who had seven 3s against the Kings, led the perimeter attack while Thompson went 4 for 8 from beyond the arc. That helped Golden State complete its first season sweep of Charlotte since 2004-05, the Bobcats' first year in the league.

Charlotte, making its third stop on a four-game road trip, made one brief run after falling behind 39-25 early in the second quarter but didn't do much else.

Walker, who went to the bench briefly in the first quarter after running hard into a screen attempt by Golden State center Andris Biedrins, scored five points as part of an 11-0 run then made his fourth 3-pointer of the first half to pull the Bobcats within 44-43.

That was as close as they could get.

"We played hard but when you get down to execution ... there's a two-point disparity and the next thing you know it's eight," Charlotte coach Mike Dunlap said. "(Lee and Curry) have presence. They're going to have presence all year long, and we're not the only ones that are going to struggle defending them."

Curry, coming off a 32-point night in the Warriors' 131-127 loss to Sacramento on Wednesday, made a pair of 3s over the final 3:40 and had 15 points before halftime to help Golden State pull away.

Notes: Golden State committed seven turnovers in the first quarter but only four over the final three. ... Charlotte fell to 2-12 against the Western Conference. ... The Bobcats played without guard Ben Gordon, who sat out with soreness in his right knee. ... New York Yankees ace and Bay Area native CC Sabathia was among those in attendance.

Notebook: Warriors 115, Bobcats 100

Eric Gilmore, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:07 AM - Updated Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:07 AM

THE FACTS: David Lee had had his third career triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 115-100 victory Friday night over the Charlotte Bobcats at Oracle Arena.

Stephen Curry scored a game-high 27 points for the Warriors (18-9) and made a career-high eight 3-pointers, breaking his previous mark of seven that he tied Wednesday night at Sacramento. Curry became the first Warrior in franchise history to make at least seven 3s in back-to-back games. He's the first NBA player to accomplish that feat since J.R. Smith with Denver in April 2009.

Klay Thompson added 20 points, while Draymond Green scored a career-high 11 and Jarrett Jack added 11 for the Warriors, who bounced back from Wednesday night's 131-127 loss to the Kings.

Lee had his first triple-double with the New York Knicks against the Warriors and his past two for Golden State.

The Bobcats (7-19) lost their 14th straight game, the NBA's longest current skid. They haven't won since Nov. 24 when they beat Washington 108-106 in double overtime and matched their victory total from last season.

Gerald Henderson led the Bobcats with a season-high 23 points, while Ramon Sessions had 17 and Kemba Walker 16. Bismark Biyombo had a double-double with a season-high 14 rebounds and 12 points, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 12 points.

Lee was well on his way to a triple-double by halftime. He had 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

The Warriors beat the Bobcats for the second time in 11 days.

QUOTABLE: "He had an amazing game. Obviously he's a scoring threat on the low post an even the mid-range jump shot. He had it all going tonight. When he draws attention and is able to get in the creases and make plays and kick out, we got to be ready to take good shots and make him look good."
-- Stephen Curry on David Lee

THE STAT: The Warriors shot 51.9 percent from 3-point range, making 14-for-27 attempts -- both season highs -- while Charlotte shot 38.1 percent from long range, going 8-for-21. Charlotte shot just .367 from the field, the lowest percentage by a Warriors opponent this season.

TURNING POINT: The Warriors led just 49-47 with 2:40 left in the first half and had squandered most of their 14-point lead. But Golden State finished the half on a 9-2 run to grab a 58-49 lead at the intermission. Harrison Barnes hit a pair from the line, Thompson nailed a jumper, Lee tipped in a Thompson miss and Curry drained a long 3-point shot during the surge. The Warriors never led by fewer than nine points the rest of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "It's tough, it's tough. To play as hard as we play at times and then still come up short. But at the same time, we're still a young team, we're still trying to learn this game, we're still trying to become a better team. We're still getting better as the season's going on. That's all we can really think about right now."
-- Bobcats' Kemba Walker on the 14-game losing streak.

ROOKIE WATCH: Green had a strong all-around game off the bench for Golden State with 11 points, four assists, two rebounds and a block. Coming off a game at Phoenix in which he scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds -- tying his career highs -- Kidd-Gilchrist put up solid but not spectacular numbers. He six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block to go with his 12 points.

HOT: Curry and Walker were on fire in the first half. Walker drilled 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and scored 16 first-half points. Curry made 5-for-7 from long range and scored 15.

NOT: Walker went ice cold in a scoreless second half. He missed both of his 3-pointers and all six of his shots from the field. Bobcats starting forward Byron Mullens went 0-for-6 for the night. He entered the game shooting .375 from the field.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Lee continued putting up remarkable numbers. He scored over 20 points for the 11th straight time, setting another career high.

INSIDE THE ARENA: New York Yankees left-hander C.C. Sabathia, a Bay Area native from Vallejo, attended the game and sat courtside. Sabathia, the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2007 as a Cleveland Indian, won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009.

NOTABLE: The Warriors are off to their best start through 27 games since 1991-92 when they were 19-8. ... Golden State improved to 17-2 when outrebounding its opponent. ... Bobcats backup guard Ben Gordon missed the game with a sore right knee. Charlotte coach Mike Dunlap said the move was precautionary and that he didn't expect Gordon to miss much time. He's averaging 12.8 points per game. ... The Warriors improved to 11-2 against Eastern Conference teams ... Warriors backup center Andris Biedrins had three of his team's season-high nine blocked shots. He also had seven rebounds and two points. ... Thompson had his 20th career game with at least 20 points.

UP NEXT: For the Bobcats, Saturday @ Denver, Wednesday vs. Miami, Friday at Brooklyn. For the Warriors, Saturday vs. L.A. Lakers, Wednesday @ Utah, Friday vs. Philadelphia.

• Bobcats: Thomas
• Warriors: Bogut, Rush

• Bobcats: --
• Warriors: Barnes

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #54 Nick Buchert, #10 Ron Garretson, #20 Leroy Richardson
• Attendance: 19596
• Duration: 2:07