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LeBron James and Anthony Davis in trouble as they both face a harsh and…

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LeBron James and Anthony Davis are in trouble as they both face harsh and…

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It was a reality check swatted across the mouth.

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It was an equalizer pounded into the ribs.

It was precisely what is printed on those silly shirts worn by the screaming locals.

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It was Gold Blooded.

News flash! The Golden State Warriors aren’t going to go down easy.

News flash! The Lakers are going to make this hard.

Handed a golden opportunity to severely damage the defending NBA champions in the Western Conference semifinals Thursday, the Lakers squandered a 1-0 series lead after coming face-to-face with the heart of, well, a warrior.

It was Game 2 that was game on.

It was Golden State pummeling Anthony Davis, tormenting LeBron James, blowing past the Lakers as if they were standing still, winning 127-100 at a gleeful Chase Center to even the best-of-seven series.

“I fully anticipate our team to respond,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said afterward.

The Lakers had better. And quick.

The Lakers franchise has won each of its last nine series when tied 1-all, the longest such streak in NBA history, but this doesn’t feel tied.

The next two duels in this best-of-seven clash will be at Crypto.com Arena beginning Saturday, but it no longer feels as if the Lakers can make quick work of their weary Northern California rivals.

It no longer feels like anything other than … a Klay Thompson rainbow three … a falling-down Stephen Curry three … a grinding Draymond Green rebound … and a wincing, crumbling Davis.

It all starts at the end of that sentence. One game after he was unstoppable, AD was KOd, swarmed into submission, and held to five baskets with four turnovers, and 11 points after taking 11 shots, illustrating the Warriors’ best chance to win this series.

Toss around AD and push your way into the next round.

“The Lakers are huge, they are a massive team,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “We felt like going into the game, we had to bring some size and physicality.”

It didn’t happen in the opener. It might not happen again. But it happened Thursday, and the Lakers were demoralized into basically standing around.

Except for James’ 23 points and Rui Hachimura’s 21 points with four three-pointers, no other Lakers player did anything.

“Our stagnation … my eyes saw us settle a little bit,” Ham said. “They did a good job of crowding the paint. Not allowing us to play downhill.”

Davis said he didn’t feel crowded. He said he didn’t feel as if he were settling. He said it wasn’t them, it was him.

“I took all the same shots I took in Game 1, I just missed them,” Davis said. “Same looks didn’t shoot no shot that I didn’t shoot in Game 1. Just missed them. That’s all.”

Meanwhile, led by Thompson’s 30 points, the Warriors had six players in double figures while collecting 15 more rebounds, six more points in the paint, and five more second-chance points.

While the Lakers were nowhere, the champions were everything, everywhere, all at once.

“I thought we just played simple basketball,” Kerr said, adding, “Our guys were playing with a lot of force, a lot of aggressiveness but making good decisions within that aggression.”

And pride. Don’t forget pride. The Warriors were too proud to be beaten down by AD for a second consecutive game.

“They’re a championship ballclub for a reason,” Ham said. “After Game 1, we fully anticipated them to come out and throw some haymakers, which they did.”

With an interior defense fueled by Draymond Green and JaMychal Green, the Warriors made the proper adjustments. Now it’s the Lakers’ turn.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” Ham said.

He better have a ton of chalk.

The one day of rest between games doesn’t favor James. The speed of Curry and Thompson doesn’t favor the Lakers’ defense. And if JaMychal Green can score 15 points with a trio of threes … yeah, pull out that drawing board.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Ham said. “But you don’t get to this point in the season by it being easy. You have to buckle down.”

The Warriors began their push on the biggest Laker immediately, holding Davis to one basket in the first quarter and fewer baskets (two) than turnovers (three) at halftime. The Lakers still led by seven at the end of the quarter, but without Davis imposing his will, the Lakers eventually lost theirs.

In the second quarter, the Warriors began attacking the basket and Davis with joyous abandon, Thompson throwing in threes from the rafters, the Lakers staggered and reeling and outscored 41-23 for the entire ugly period.

And that was that.

READ MORE: Stephen Curry Reveals Why LeBron James Followed Him to…

The Warriors kept blitzing after halftime, outscoring the Lakers by 19 in a third quarter that ended with James sulking, Davis collapsing and somebody named Moses Moody throwing down a dunk. The Lakers trailed by 30 after three and the final dozen minutes wouldn’t be necessary.

The game unofficially ended when Ham pulled the starters before the fourth quarter, but the Warriors just had to rub it in.

With 9:43 left in the game, Curry sprinkled the salt, knocking down a three while being knocked down by Malik Beasley, the Warriors leading by 31, Curry laughing, everybody laughing, and everything was so funny … not.

“You give credit where credit is due,” James said. “They played exceptionally well tonight and we didn’t.”

The Warriors’ variety of weapons was mirrored by their public address announcer, whose initial announcement of “Hollywood royalty!” was accompanied by the giant scoreboard showing a disheveled Danny DeVito. But in the second quarter, the Hollywood royalty displayed was the still-so-cool, Joe Montana, showing a range of celebrities matched only by the versatility of the city’s basketball team.

Before the game, Kerr all but predicted this rout, saying, “We feel good about our ability to adjust, but also about our ability to respond to losing a game and being down in the series. … This is nothing new for our team. We know what we’re capable of.”

Now, so do the Lakers.

They have won 25 consecutive series in which they won the first game. But these are the Warriors. And the fight has just begun.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Steph Curry And Andre Iguodala Ot Battles

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Steph Curry And Andre Iguodala Ot Battles

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Steph Curry was originally planning on spending the last day of May helping the Golden State Warriors prep for the NBA Finals. But after the team was eliminated in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Curry’s plans turned to his other passion: golf. And he brought some of his closest people with him.

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Curry participated in the PGA Tour’s Memorial Pro-Am on Wednesday at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin Ohio, about two hours away from the hospital where he (and LeBron James!) were born.

Unlike some pro-ams, such as the famous event at Pebble Beach, the field for the Memorial was kept under wraps until the last minute. And not only did Curry play, but he — and his philanthropic group, the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation — were ambassadors.

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The pro-am, which takes place a day before the official PGA Tour tournament at the same golf course, features 27 pairings, each with two PGA Tour golfers and three amateurs. Curry, an avid golfer with a low handicap — and someone who golf coaches and pros have said could potentially make the cut at a real tournament — was paired with superstar Jordan Spieth, a three-time Major champion, 13-time PGA Tour winner, the current No. 11 ranked golfer in the world, and, crucially, the face of Under Armour’s golf line. He was also paired with Keith Mitchell, a one-time PGA Tour winner and the No. 56 ranked golfer in the world.

On the amateur side, Curry was paired with his own brother-in-law and former teammate, NBA free agent Damion Lee, as well as country music star and avid golfer Jake Owen.

READ MORE Lakers could end up with ‘giant headache’ if LeBron James gets his wish

But Curry wasn’t the only Warriors player in attendance. Andre Iguodala — who is one of Curry’s closest friends and his frequent golf partner — also played in the event. Fittingly, Iguodala was paired with Spieth’s best friend, golf star Justin Thomas, a two-time Major champion, 15-time PGA Tour winner, and currently the No. 15 ranked golfer in the world. He was also paired with J.J. Spaun, a one-time PGA Tour winner and the No. 77 ranked golfer in the world, country music and reality competition star Luke Bryan, and tech investor and influencer Geoff Yang.

In addition to those three Warriors players, Curry’s dad, Dell (a former NBA player and a current broadcaster for the Charlotte Hornets) and brother Seth (a former Santa Cruz Warrior and current NBA free agent) also played. They were paired together with actor Chris O’Donnell, and pros Collin Morikawa, a two-time Major champion, five-time PGA Tour winner, and the No. 18 golfer in the world, and Tyrrell Hatton, a one-time PGA Tour winner and the No. 17 golfer in the world.

In addition to all that, the Bay Area was represented with a few other athletes as well, with former San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Steve Young and Alex Smith playing, as well as other notable celebrities like retired NFL superstars Peyton Manning and Larry Fitzgerald, and actor Josh Duhamel.

On the golf side, the top five golfers in the world, by the official rankings — Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, and Xander Schauffele — were all competing.

Now look at this swing! Don’t leave us for golf yet, Steph!

 

 

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Lakers could end up with ‘giant headache’ if LeBron James gets his wish

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Lakers could end up with ‘giant headache’ if LeBron James gets his wish

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Potential L.A. Lakers signing Kyrie Irving is one of the best players in the NBA, but he is also a giant headache, writer Mark Medina has told GiveMeSport.

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Irving was drafted first overall in 2011 by the Cleveland Cavaliers and really started to take over in his third season. After LeBron James came back to Cleveland, James and Irving led the Cavs to an NBA title in 2016. Yet, following that, everything started to go downhill.

In July 2017, Irving requested a trade from Cleveland and a month later joined the Boston Celtics. He then left Boston in the summer of 2019 to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. Yet, after dealing with injuries and sitting out games, he once again asked for a trade and was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks.

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He’s headed for free agency in July and reports have claimed that James is pushing for the Lakers to sign Irving and re-ignite their partnership. However, Medina has pointed out some of the problems that come with the 6 foot 2 guard.

Lakers could end up with ‘giant headache’ if LeBron James gets his wish

Irving struggles to stay healthy
“I think when you talk to people in the front offices around the league, they think, yeah, he has a great basketball talent, but he’s one giant headache. There’s a lot of unpredictability as far as his availability goes, because he has had a lot of injuries. Even though he trains really well and is well-conditioned and has a great game, he’s had struggles with staying healthy on the court,” Medina told GiveMeSport.

READ MORE After Massive Exit at Stephen Curry’s Warriors, Big Replacement Proposed by the NBA Fans

“Then it’s all the other extracurriculars. There’s been so many times in the last few years when he’s had leave of absences with just taking personal days without any explanations. Then there’s been a lot of unique circumstances like not adhering to the vaccine mandate when playing for a Brooklyn Nets organization in a city that had a vaccine mandate, and therefore didn’t make them available for games.”

Irving’s next move
As Mark Medina says, Kyrie Irving has struggled to stay healthy as he hasn’t played over 70 games since the 2016-17 season with Cleveland, which was his last with the Cavs. Yet, he did seem to find a bit of success in Dallas as he averaged over 38 minutes per game and averaged 27 points per game.

However, the Mavericks missed the playoffs after being in a playoff spot when they traded for him. With that, his future in Dallas is uncertain as Irving is a free agent this summer.

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After Massive Exit at Stephen Curry’s Warriors, Big Replacement Proposed by the NBA Fans

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After Massive Exit at Stephen Curry’s Warriors, Big Replacement Proposed by the NBA Fans

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The Golden State Warriors went to 6 NBA Finals and won 4 NBA championships in a span of eight years. Stephen Curry and the rest of the roster have deservedly earned plaudits for their continued excellence. However, there was one person who played a pivotal role in building this iconic team, Bob Myers.

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Myers, the President of Basketball Operations and General Manager of the Golden State Warriors resigned from his position recently. Myers played a key role in hiring head coach, Steve Kerr, and made crucial decisions to retain core players like Klay Thompson and acquire stars like Kevin Durant.

Under Myers’ leadership, the Warriors won four championships and achieved the best regular-season record in NBA history. Additionally, he was recognized as the NBA Executive of the Year twice. Naturally, his departure from the organization has raised concerns among fans. However, there is one person Warriors fans will love to see take over the role.

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After Massive Exit at Stephen Curry’s Warriors, Big Replacement Proposed by the NBA Fans

Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala might have played his last game for Golden State. Throughout his time with the team, Iguodala has been instrumental in providing guidance and mentorship to the younger players. His contributions were particularly noteworthy during the Warriors’ successful campaign to win the 2015 NBA Championship.

His exceptional defensive skills against LeBron James played a significant role in the series, earning him the honor of 2015 NBA Finals MVP. Iguodala wished Myers after his decision via a tweet. He tweeted “To more life Robert, appreciate you!”

READ MORE LeBron James posts cryptic Instagram story about ‘money’ after Heat’s Game 6 loss

Fans were quick to point out how Iggy knows the franchise inside out and would do a great job as Myers’ successor.

Warriors fans present 4x NBA Champion with a request
Despite losing the architect behind their legendary dynasty, Warriors fans found hope in the form of Iguodala. One fan tweeted, “We need you Iggy.”

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