The last time Golden State got Stephen Curry back from a knee injury in the playoffs Rasmus Ristolainen Jersey , he immediately returned to brilliance.
Curry returned for Game 4 of the Warriors‘ five-game Western Conference semifinals against Portland two years ago and made 16 of 32 shots with five 3-pointers and scored 17 points in overtime on the way to 40 in a 132-125 victory. He grabbed nine rebounds and dished out eight assists.
If that is any indicator, the New Orleans Pelicans better be ready for a superstar as eager as ever to get back on the court and chase a repeat championship.
The two-time MVP, sidelined since spraining his left knee March 23, is expected to play Tuesday night in Game 2 against New Orleans with what is sure to be a fired-up crowd at Oracle Arena. The Warriors have won a franchise-record 13 straight home playoff games.
In late December against Memphis, Curry came back after being sidelined 11 games with a sprained right ankle to score 38 points with 10 3-pointers.
”I’m not too worried about him. I’ve seen him come back from injuries many times,” coach Steve Kerr said Monday. ”… Sometimes it’s just one shot that gets him going.”
And what a boost Curry’s presence could be for the defending champions who are already clicking on both ends.
”He loves the game just as much as anybody I ever been around and I know he wants to play. I’ve just been thinking about that, just worrying about how he feels not playing,” reigning Finals MVP Kevin Durant said. ”… Excited for him to get back just to be in a place where he enjoys most, which is playing ball, and the other stuff, we’ll figure it out. But I’m more so excited as his brother that he’s out there, he gets to play basketball, something that he loves to do.”
The Pelicans prepared all week to see Curry back on the court and they know they must bounce back fast to stay in this best-of-seven series after a 123-101 flop in Saturday night’s Game 1.
Golden State scored 41 points in the second quarter and 76 in the first half – both new franchise-bests for the postseason. The Warriors shot 13 for 20 in the second, making four 3s and 11 of 14 free throws.
”We hang our hats on defense,” Rajon Rondo said. ”What happened in the second quarter is inexcusable. I can’t blame it on a week off of rest. It’s a lack of communication and not being disciplined. If we can clean that up, I think we’ll be fine.”
Anthony Davis and Rondo will challenge the Pelicans to play with more intensity on the defensive end. The Warriors thrived when they made things hard on Davis to take shots, got stops and pushed the ball in transition.
”We’re very confident. It’s one game. They win by 40, you win by one, 90, it’s one game,” Davis said. ”It’s still best-out-of-seven. Our job is to learn from what we messed up tonight and get prepared for Game 2.”
The Warriors have taken their defense to another level, led by Durant and Draymond Green – who is coming off a triple-double and has 15, 19 and 18 rebounds in his past three games, respectively.
Golden State also is pushing the pace, a far different game than in the first round against the Spurs.
”We all like to get out in transition,” Warriors guard Shaun Livingston said Monday. ”We can slow it down and we understand to win games we’ll have to execute and maybe win some grind-out games, that’s just part of playoff basketball Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Jersey , but everybody loves to run.”
Here’s something to know about the Cleveland-Toronto series opener, also Tuesday:
CAVALIERS AT RAPTORS. Game 1, 8 p.m. EDT, TNT
LeBron James just won his fifth straight Game 7 and now the Cavs will face the Raptors for the third consecutive postseason.
Toronto eliminated the Wizards in a six-game first round and now the challenge is stopping LeBron and his supporting cast.
”We understand everything starts and stops with him,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. ”There’s certain things you want to give up with him, there’s certain things you have no choice in the matter. There’s a pecking order as far as what we want to give up, what we live with.”
The Cavs are 8-2 against Toronto the past two postseasons and went 5-2 in matchups during the regular season the past two years.
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AP Freelance Writer Ian Harrison contributed to this report from Toronto.
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Patrick Peterson hasn’t faced a starting quarterback in the preseason.
The three-time All-Pro cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals is getting himself in regular-season form anyway.
Peterson returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown after Dallas decided to sit quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott in what was supposed to be the dress rehearsal, and the Cardinals rolled to a 27-3 exhibition victory over the Cowboys on Sunday night.
The Cardinals (3-0) forced eight turnovers to give them 16 takeaways in the preseason. That included two muffed punts by Dallas (0-3), the second recovered for a touchdown by Trent Sherfield to open the scoring in the first quarter.
Prescott’s absence made it three straight weeks that Arizona didn’t face the opposing starter. San Diego’s Philip Rivers skipped the opener, and Drew Brees sat for New Orleans last week.
“I definitely wish we would have seen some A-1 talent at the quarterback position,” Peterson said. “But we still know if we play sound defense, that can happen to any of them.”
Sam Bradford led two largely ineffective series for the Cardinals after completing all seven of his passes in the first two preseason games. Playing without running back David Johnson and receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Bradford was 1 of 4 for 6 yards as Arizona generated just one first down.
Josh Rosen Womens Victor Rask Jersey , the 10th overall pick and likely backup to Bradford in the regular season, didn’t play after injuring the thumb on his throwing (right) hand in practice last week. Mike Glennon directed a drive to Phil Dawson’s 42-yard field goal in three second-quarter possessions, finishing 8 of 10 for 35 yards.
“We wanted to see a little bit more of Glennon but also didn’t want to take a chance of re-injuring that thumb,” coach Steve Wilks said. “We’ll re-evaluate it this week and determine if we’ll allow him to play in that last preseason game.”
The Cowboys were missing center Travis Frederick and right guard Zack Martin, part of the reason Prescott didn’t play. The other reason was a longer-than-planned touchdown drive of 16 plays on Prescott’s final possession of the second preseason game against Cincinnati.
Owner Jerry Jones said last week he didn’t need to see Elliott, the 2016 NFL rushing leader as a rookie, in a preseason game. It figures to be the first time in three seasons that Elliott, who is healthy, will miss the entire preseason since starters are generally expected to sit in the finales.
“We know we are trying to evaluate players out here,” Jones said. “In general, our fans don’t want us to run and take unnecessary risk. That’s what you saw tonight. It was almost comical, relative to the turnover situation.”
EARLY CELEBRATION
Peterson stepped in front of Cooper Rush’s pass to Tavon Austin along the sideline and held the ball in the air most of the way on the easy stroll to the end zone. Rush, who won the backup job as a rookie with a strong preseason last year, was 11 of 17 for 93 yards with two interceptions.
Peterson also forced a fumble by toppling Rod Smith when the running back tried to hurdle him. Smith was originally ruled down Womens Travis Hamonic Jersey , but replay showed the ball coming out before his arm hit the ground. The Cardinals intercepted three passes and recovered three fumbles, not counting the muffed punts.
ANOTHER MILESTONE
Dallas defensive end Randy Gregory had another milestone in his return after missing last season on a substance-abuse suspension. Gregory, who made his preseason debut last week, easily beat starting left tackle D.J. Humphries with a spin move to sack Bradford on Arizona’s third offensive play.
ANOTHER MISSING STAR
Johnson sitting likely signaled the end of his preseason at eight carries for 50 yards with a touchdown. Chase Edmonds had 55 yards on 11 carries. T.J. Logan, a fifth-round pick last year before spending the entire season on injured reserve, ran 59 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
A moment of silence was held before the national anthem for the late Sen. John McCain, with his hometown Cardinals on the sideline. Fitzgerald looked up to see the image of McCain on the huge video board hanging over the center of the field, and the crowd cheered afterward. McCain died Saturday.
INJURIES
Cardinals: RB D.J. Foster, listed third in the depth chart, injured a knee during a touchback on a kickoff and didn’t return.
Cowboys: Already thin at safety, Dallas lost Kavon Frazier to a left shoulder injury in the first quarter. He was starting in place of Xavier Woods, who injured a hamstring last week against Cincinnati.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
There were no apparent protests during the pregame playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
UP NEXT
Preseason finales for both teams Thursday night: Cowboys at Houston; Cardinals at home against Denver.
Claudias Meerwasserforum
Thema drucken
27.09.2018 11:14
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