Golden State Warriors News

If both Durant and Barnes miss Game 2, it’s expected rookie Patrick McCaw would earn the starting nod. McCaw started 20 of 71 games in his first season, averaging 4 points per game in 15.1 minutes.

This marks the first time the NCAA Tournament will be played within the City of San Francisco since the West Regional was staged at the California Coliseum on Treasure Island in March 1939.

When JaVale McGee originally signed with the Warriors last summer, some prognosticators thought it was Bob Myers grasping for any type of answer at the center position. Little did many know at the time, McGee would end up playing a major role in the Warriors’ first playoff victory Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers

In a tragic turn of events, Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas’s sister was killed in a car accident Saturday morning. Both Durant and Kerr made a point to let the Thomas family know that the entire Warriors family was thinking of them in what is obviously an incredibly difficult time for them.

Green’s scoring is going unnoticed the day after the victory. Ten of Green’s 19 points came in the fourth quarter. This is the important part: Green tied Steph Curry with 3 made 3s, and when he’s sinking wide open shots now with Kevin Durant in the fold,

After Green missed an easy dunk in the second half, CJ McCollum took time to tell Green he needed to do more calf raises. Following the game, the Blazers guard doubled down on what he said on the court.

In fact, Kerr liked it so much, the Warriors cancelled their scheduled practice for Monday. And by no means did Golden State play flawless basketball — 16 turnovers were coupled with some jittery play. But clearly, Kerr is content.

At 6.8 blocks per game, the Warriors led the league by nearly one more block per game than the second-best Spurs (5.9). It helps having three guys in JaVale McGee, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green who can come off of their matchups and help defend.

Golden State can attribute the defining moments of its Game 1 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers to the times when two lesser-known heroes were on the floor: JaVale McGee and Ian Clark.

Durant went into closer mode late in the fourth quarter, scoring on consecutive trips down the floor to give the Warriors a 113-99 edge with just over three minutes to play. KD ended up with a team-high 32 points and 10 rebounds on 12 of 20 shooting. It was his 40th career 30-point game in the postseason.