The Golden State Warriors have been waiting for this moment for half a decade, if not longer: Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are heading for a divorce. He is likely to be traded in the coming weeks or, at the very latest, this upcoming offseason. Folks, it's on. And the Dubs can't get him. Unless the Greek Freak proclaims that he wants to play for the Warriors and only the Warriors a demand that has not been made and isn't expected Golden State will have to watch its (okay, Joe Lacob's) dream of pairing Steph Curry with Giannis drift away.
Melton suffered a partially torn ACL early last season after a misstep against the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 11. He said he knew something was wrong at halftime of the game, but he played through it. After tests revealed the partial tear, Melton spent several weeks consulting with doctors before ultimately deciding on season-ending surgery. He had the procedure on Dec. 4, 2024. His season debut on Thursday night will be exactly one year after the surgery.
Two decades later, he had then coached the 73-9 Warriors, where prime Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the death lineup tore up the league. When equating Oklahoma City's current-day dominance with those dynastic forces, he pointed his finger at a shared commonality. "A team mindset of zero agendas," Kerr said. "Just win every night, and obviously great talent. But I think high IQ players .... Both had really high IQs individually and as a team."
The Warriors with Stephen Curry have hardly put the fear into the eyes of NBA defenses this season. Without the him, they have been the league's least-threatening offensive group and did little to shirk that reputation Saturday against the Western Conference's lowliest team. It required nearly every possession of regulation, but the Warriors made just enough shots to pull out a 104-96 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
SAN FRANCISCO Kevon Looney had navigated Chase Center's winding halls hundreds of times during his 11-year career. But Saturday afternoon's trek through the glitzy San Francisco arena was his first as a visiting player, an unfamiliar experience for the former Warrior still adored by the organization and its fans. I thought I knew the Chase Center like the back of my hand, Looney, now a member of the Pelicans, said.
A mobile 7-footer who can bomb threes and attack off the dribble while getting to the free throw line at an elite rate, he is the kind of frontcourt player NBA teams have coveted ever since the Curry-and-Kerr Warriors revolutionized the NBA almost a decade ago. Now, the shorthanded Warriors will have to deal with a blossoming superstar they reportedly were close to trading for a year ago.
The Warriors, riddled with injuries, have barely survived an opening gauntlet that has seen them play 11 games in 21 days. A tough schedule is about to ratchet up in difficulty. Their opening stretch looks like a cakewalk compared to what is to come. The next nine days will see the Warriors travel from Oklahoma City to Miami for a six-game trip that features five games against probable playoff opponents.
SAN FRANCISCO With back-to-back away losses behind them and a brutal six-game road trip lying ahead, the Warriors took advantage of the team's only home game in a 16-day stretch on Sunday evening. Golden State won 114-83 in what was, mostly, a rock-fight of a basketball game until late in the third quarter. Jimmy Butler led the team with 21 points, while Moses Moody scored 13, Brandin Podziemski had 14 and Quinten Post scored 14.
DENVER Effort. There is no stat to measure it. It cannot be felt, moved or heard. But it can be seen. And it certainly can be noticed, both in its abundance, and in the case of the Warriors' 129-104 shellacking on Friday night at the hands of the Nuggets in an Emirates Cup group stage matchup, in its absence.
When you're a kid, when you'd watch it, you'd definitely want to be in it, Podziemski said before Thursday's game against his hometown Bucks. I had that dream for sure.
A substantial number of the Milwaukee faithful attended Thursday night's game at Fiserv Forum dressed in colorful Halloween costumes. But nothing in the stands were as frightening as Milwaukee's offense in the Warriors 120-110 loss. Even without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, a late scratch with a left knee injury, the Bucks got whatever shot they wanted. And it was a long-forgotten Golden State castoff who led the way.
They just thought the way Steph was going, with Jimmy out there, we were going to score," Kerr said. "That was my biggest concern: Can we execute? And they just reminded me: We have Steph and Jimmy. They'll find a way to score. And they did. It was fantastic to watch the defense with that kind of size and length.
