—

No. 1 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (67-15, 4-0) vs. No. 5 UTAH JAZZ (51-31, 4-3)

Season series: Warriors, 2-1.

Story line: The rested Warriors, after a first-round sweep, face a Utah team that won the only series that went the distance in the first round. It’s a clash of styles between Golden State, the highest-scoring team in the NBA at 115.9 points per game, and a Jazz squad that allowed the fewest points per game during the regular season (96.8).

Key Matchup: Andre Iguodala vs. Joe Johnson. The veterans begin the game on the benches but will probably be on the floor down the stretch. Johnson, who had a great series against the Clippers, will be one of keys if the Jazz are able to keep the tempo at the slower pace they want and need to have a chance.

Prediction: Warriors in 5.

—

Compiled by AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney

—

More AP NBA: apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

The post Capsule preview of the Jazz-Warriors series appeared first on IdealCapper.

Turns out he used to beat up on Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

”We beat the first unit more times than they beat us, and I think it was by a landslide,” Iguodala said.

So good, so deep that the MVP of the NBA Finals never started a game all season, the Warriors built the kind of squad that can compete for many NBA titles.

And when they were in trouble trying to win this one, down 2-1 in the series, they inserted Iguodala into the lineup. He responded with the same defensive effort he had been providing against James along with unsuspected offense, including 25 points Tuesday in the Game 6 clincher.

”He was great the entire series. But he saved this season for us,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. ”I always say Andre’s a pro’s pro. He’s a professional guy, and it showed, and that’s why he’s the MVP of this series, and that’s why we’re champions.”

One of the reasons, anyway.

There’s also Curry, the regular-season MVP who delivered a couple of big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that helped the Warriors build a big enough lead to withstand Cleveland’s late comeback. And there was Green, the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up who bounced back from a poor start to the series to finish with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists Tuesday.

Throw in 10 points apiece off the bench from Shaun Livingston and Festus Ezeli, or David Lee re-emerging earlier in the series after falling out of the rotation, and the Warriors still had plenty of firepower off the bench even once Iguodala was no longer part of it.

Iguodala was the primary defender on James, but as James said, ”It’s never 1-on-1.”

”But I think his ability to play multiple positions for their team along with some of those other guys allowed their team to be so dynamic,” James added.

Iguodala was a former No. 1 option in Philadelphia who won gold with the U.S. Olympic team in 2012. Lee has made multiple All-Star teams. Livingston was a one-time No. 4 pick in the draft who has become a valuable and versatile player after overcoming a devastating knee injury earlier in his career.

”Well, it speaks to the character of the players more than anything. (General manager) Bob Myers and his staff have done an incredible job of putting together this roster,” coach Steve Kerr said. ”I was well aware of the versatility that the roster had, but as I got to know the players I realized they had what it took spiritually, emotionally. They were united. They wanted to win.”

They are good enough to do it again, provided they keep Green and Harrison Barnes once they are eligible for free agency, and if they can find a way to overcome the rugged Western Conference. Plenty of teams that looked great one year couldn’t do it the next on the stronger side of the NBA bracket.

But not many of those teams had what these Warriors had, a team that ultimately won 83 games, more than any team other than Michael Jordan’s Bulls.

”I think we definitely are a great team, and a team that should go down in history as one of the best teams from top to bottom,” Curry said. ”We have a lot of things to be proud of this season.”

Including, perhaps, showing how the NBA is won nowadays. The old ideas about teams that play small and rely on outside shooting not being able to win an NBA title – the ones Charles Barkley has promoted for years – are gone now. Golden State shot them down with 67 wins in the regular season and a powerful run through the postseason.

Maybe now a team built in that style will show other teams how they have to construct their rosters.

”Well, I mean, we’ll see,” Curry said. ”We found a recipe for success, and that’s the most important thing for us.”

The post Deep and versatile, Warriors show how to build a champion appeared first on IdealCapper.

Under the system that was used for about three decades, the middle three games were hosted by the team with the worse record. Had that not been changed before the 2013-14 season, Sunday’s game would have been in Cleveland.

Critics of the 2-3-2 format argued that Game 5, often a pivotal game when the series is tied, should be a home game for the team with the better record.

Now the Golden State Warriors have it, and know they need to capitalize on it.

After going 39-2 at home in the regular season, they have lost twice at Oracle Arena in the postseason, including Game 2 of this series. They didn’t play well in Game 1, either.

”But I think we’re going to be really composed, really aggressive,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. ”We’re going to feed off our crowd’s energy tomorrow, which we’re going to need because that’s why you play so hard during the regular season, to have home-court advantage, to be able to capitalize off of that in situations like these.”

The team that won Game 5 of the finals when the series was tied 2-2 won the title 20 of 28 times.

”I think it’s going to be a big momentum swing, whoever wins Game 5. That is pretty obvious with the series being 2-2,” Warriors forward David Lee said. ”But we’re not really worried about the result as much as we’ve got to come out and play the way we played in Game 4, and that is play Warriors basketball.”

Here are some things to watch Sunday:

STAYING SMALL?: Steve Kerr wouldn’t reveal whether he would stick with the lineup he used for Game 4, with Andre Iguodala in and center Andrew Bogut going to the bench.

The smaller lineup helped speed up the tempo and the Warriors had their best performance of the series in their 103-82 victory. Yet, they also won 67 games in the regular season with a conventional lineup, so either option could work.

”Obviously we won Game 1 with our normal lineup. We’ve had a great season with our normal lineup,” forward Harrison Barnes said. ”So it’s something we went through last (game) to get our offense going. So whether we stick with it or go back to the old one, we’ll see.”

LOOKING TO LEBRON: Held to 20 points in Game 4 after averaging more than 40 for the first three, LeBron James won’t go out searching for a certain number of shots or points, and coach David Blatt said the Cavaliers don’t want him feeling he has to.

”For me, from the perception, it’s a lose-lose when it comes to, `OK, well, in the first three games I score 40, but I shoot a lot of shots. Last game I scored 20, I don’t shoot as many shots, and we lose.’ So it’s like, what do you want?” James said.

”So for me, that’s not my thought process. I don’t really care about it. All I care about is how I can produce for our team.”

FEELING GREAT, MATE: The extra day of rest between Games 4 and 5 benefited all the players, but was perhaps most important for Matthew Dellavedova. The Australian point guard needed treatment for dehydration after his brilliant Game 3 performance and didn’t look recovered Thursday, struggling to 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting.

”I’m feeling great,” he said Saturday. ”I’m feeling a lot better and really ready to go for Game 5.”

NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP: J.R. Smith missed all eight 3-pointers in a 2-for-12 performance in Game 4. At least he knows things can only improve.

”It’s one game, so the best part about it, I can’t play no worse,” he said.

He certainly has to play better. The former Sixth Man of the Year is shooting just 29.8 percent from the field in the finals.

The post Warriors expect better play at home in Game 5 of NBA Finals appeared first on IdealCapper.

Sources told us that the Nuggets are now getting strong consideration from Miller along with the early frontrunners in the race to sign him: Oklahoma City and Memphis.

Miller, according to sources, met face-to-face Friday with new Grizzlies owner Robert Pera and CEO Jason Levien after an earlier sitdown with Thunder general manager Sam Presti. Sources said that Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant and Grizzlies All-Star Marc Gasol have both taken an active role in recruiting Miller, who has received interest from a number of contenders after being released earlier this week by the Miami Heat via the amnesty provision.

The Nuggets have joined the hunt, sources said, with the promise of minutes at the wing positions after losing two key performers in that department — Andre Iguodala and Corey Brewer — in free agency.

Most of the teams pursuing Miller are offering a minimum salary but pitching the opportunity to take on a prominent role as a perimeter specialist on a championship contender.

The Houston Rockets, sources said, have also made Miller an offer that the 33-year-old is considering.

The post Nuggets eye Mike Miller appeared first on IdealCapper.

“This is our union and we have taken it back,” National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher said.

Fisher said it was a day of change for the union, one that had seemed inevitable since a review of the union last month was critical of Hunter’s leadership and urged players to consider whether they wanted to keep him.

They didn’t.

“We want to make it clear that we are here to serve only the best interests of the players,” Fisher said. “No threats, no lies, no distractions will stop us from serving our memberships.”

In brief remarks, Fisher said a new executive committee was elected, and he will remain as president. The Spurs’ Matt Bonner is vice president, Miami’s James Jones is secretary-treasurer and the Nets’ Jerry Stackhouse is first vice president. The Clippers’ Chris Paul and Willie Green, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Denver’s Andre Iguodala, and the Hornets’ Roger Mason, Jr. are vice presidents.

Hunter said he had “yet to receive any notification” of his firing.

“If accurate, it is indicative of the extremely troubling process followed by the NBPA during the past few weeks,” he said in a statement. “During the days and weeks ahead, my legal team and I will begin carefully reviewing the actions taken and statements made against me in the meeting room in my absence. I look forward to gathering the evidence showing how certain individuals made sure the outcome was preordained.”

Hunter had led the union since 1996, guiding the players through three collective bargaining agreements and helping bring their average salaries to more than $5 million, highest in team sports. But Fisher pushed for the review after a falling out between the two leaders, and though it found Hunter wasn’t guilty of any criminal activity involving union funds, it cited him for a number of conflicts of interests and poor choices that led the players to remove him.

Commissioner David Stern was aware of the union’s actions but had little comment.

“We await notification from the union as to who we should be dealing with because it has been a principle of faith with us that we will deal with whomever the union tells us to deal with,” Stern said.

Released in January, the review conducted by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP criticized Hunter for hiring family members and friends. It said he knew his 2010 contract extension wasn’t properly ratified by union rules, and raised questions about everything from travel expenses to the amount he spent on gifts.

Players acted quickly, putting Hunter on a leave of absence Feb. 1. He hoped to be invited to Saturday’s annual meeting, which included about 35 players, superstar LeBron James among them.

Hunter’s family did, and that was another central issue of the report. He had since fired his daughter and daughter-in-law, and cut ties with a financial institution that employed his son. He also instituted an anti-nepotism policy at the NBPA.

Fisher, Paul, Bonner, Mason and Jones were holdovers from the previous executive committee. Stackhouse, who along with James was vocal during the meeting, joins Iguodala, Curry and Green among the newcomers.

Fisher and Hunter clashed during the 2011 lockout, and their fractured relationship divided the union. Hunter originally persuaded the executive committee to vote to request Fisher’s resignation last year. Fisher did not resign and instead pushed for the outside review, which lasted more than eight months and cost the union more than $4 million.

The law firm reviewed NBPA documents and emails, and interviewed more than three dozen witnesses. It found that Hunter spent more than $100,000 on gifts for executive committee members — including a watch worth more than $20,000 for Fisher before their falling out — and accepted a payout of $1.3 million for unused vacation time when records made it unclear how his time off was kept.

Fisher remains president even though he isn’t on an NBA roster, having asked the Dallas Mavericks for his release after a brief stint earlier this season. He gave no update on what would happen to the executive director position. Union attorney Ron Klempner was appointed to the position on an interim basis when Hunter was placed on leave.

“The current interim regime in control of the NBPA has set a terrible precedent for the union,” Hunter said. “It violates every tenet of fairness upon which the union was founded. Now that this has occurred, I will continue to examine all of my options, including whether the fairness that was absent from the NBPA process might be available in a different forum.

“In addition, given the legitimate legal and governance questions surrounding the eligibility of the members who voted and the adherence, or lack thereof, to the constitution and bylaws, I do not consider today’s vote the end, only a different beginning.”

The post Billy Hunter unanimously voted out appeared first on IdealCapper.