Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors - Game 2 - 1st Half Highlights | 2016 NBA Finals
A dominant team with a charismatic superstar that just completed a dramatic comeback in California, the Warriors provide a ready metaphor for everyone.
Last week, Bernie Sanders attended the seventh game of the Western Conference Finals, where the Warriors -- who play in Oakland -- won their third straight to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder, four games to three. Sanders, behind in the Democratic delegate count and looking for some California magic of his own, made the obvious comparison.
"They turned it around, I think that is what our campaign is going to do as well; a very good omen for our campaign," he told reporters after the game in Oakland.
Sanders, who arrived late, said his presence at Oracle Arena helped the home team.
"Absolutely! No question about it," he said. "They were losing, then in the third quarter they did fantastically well. What other explanation is there?"
Hillary Clinton isn"t looking for a big comeback of her own. But she found her own way to bring up the Dubs at the Greater St. Paul Baptist Church in Oakland Sunday morning.
"The Golden State Warriors are doing pretty well," she said. "I really got into this. Because you know in the beginning of the season they said the Golden State Warriors, can they repeat? Can they do it again?"
The Warriors provide "some lessons," she added. "You get a game plan. Everybody knows their part. People work together. They set the goals. We know some people have different talents than other people. But we also know we do better when we are using each others" talents."
Of course, President Barack Obama loves the team as well. Obama hammed it up with the Warriors when they visited the White House to celebrate their 2014-2015 championship.
And he had his own comparison to make.
The Warriors started the current NBA season with a 39-4 record under interim coach Luke Walton. However, Obama noted that the wins (and four losses) are awarded to Coach Steve Kerr in the record books.
"Which, man, that doesn"t seem fair," Obama told Walton and the rest of the team in February. "You defied the cynics, you accomplished big things, you racked up a great record, and you don"t get enough credit. I can"t imagine how that feels."
As for the GOP, Donald Trump isn"t using the Warriors to fire up his base -- he"s relied on a high-profile endorsement from Indiana University legendary coach Bobby Knight for hoops-related credibility.
But he did have a small flub Thursday. Ahead of Game One of the finals between Golden State and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Trump referred to the team as "San Francisco."
That was small potatoes compared to this year"s biggest basketball flub: Ted Cruz"s memorable brick in Indiana. Trying to channel the energy -- and underdog, come-from-behind story -- of the high school team in the movie "Hoosiers," Cruz referred to the rim as a "basketball ring."
CNN"s Elizabeth Landers contributed to this report.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors - Game 1 - Full Game Highlights | 2016 NBA Playoffs Dear TIME Readers,
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Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder - Game 3 - Full Highlights | 2016 NBA Playoffs
BURLINGTON, Mass., May 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avid (Nasdaq: AVID) today announced that NBA Western Conference finalists and 2015 NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors, have invested in the Avid MediaCentral Platform to power their fast-turnaround, multiplatform media operations. By embracing Avid Everywhere, the teams production staff are able to collaborate from everywhere to efficiently produce Emmy Award-nominated content to support the Oakland, California-based team as it battles the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
The Warriors media production arm, Warriors Studio, produces a wide range of content including commercials, online video content for warriors.com and social media platforms, and video content for in-stadium entertainment at Oracle Arena. Operating from three separate locations, reporting from away games, managing huge volumes of footage, and creating content for multiple distribution platforms presented significant challenges to the team. Senior Executive Producer Paul Hodges turned to Avid based on his experience using Avid solutions while working for MLBs San Francisco Giants.
With the MediaCentral Platform, everything is centralized so multiple editors can work on the same content for different platforms, while everything is automatically transcoded in the background, said Hodges. We can now hire freelance editors even if theyre 300 miles away, and production staff on the road can quickly access content in our archives remotely. Were a small studio doing the work of a huge facility with Avid as our backbone.
With their new workflow powered by the MediaCentral Platform, and integrated with assistance from Cutting Edge audio and video group, the Golden State Warriors have successfully elevated the quality of their productions, and in turn, the size of their audience. The production team was recently nominated for four Emmy Awards, while NBA TV aired one of its recent shows internationally, reaching an audience of 19.1 million subscribers.
Avid Everywhere addresses the critical challenges that sports teams like the Golden State Warriors face, enabling production teams in remote locations to collaborate as if theyre in the same studio, and simplifying the process of creating content for multiple platforms, said Jeff Rosica, senior vice president, chief sales & marketing officer, Avid. With the MediaCentral Platform, the team at Warriors Studio is able to create, manage and distribute world-class content from their modest facilities to support the Warriors as they vie for a place in the NBA Finals.
Warriors Studios workflow consists of Avid Artist, Media and Storage Suite solutions. The production team uses Media | Director to efficiently ingest content from multiple cameras, while Avid Airspeed is the primary ingest point for any tape-based and over-the-air media. Avid Interplay | MAM media asset management system is used to add metadata and tag content, making it easy to browse, retrieve and repurpose. According to Hodges, sports teams dont have the luxury of archiving content as everything remains relevant, making metadata and tagging capabilities critical for retrieving content.
Avid Media Composer | Cloud enables editors to work remotely from different locations, while Avid shared storage enables multiple editors to work on the same pool of content for different distribution platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, and the Warriors website. In future, Hodges plans to use Media | Distribute to automate the process of preparing and delivering content to multiple platforms. The team also uses the industry-standard Avid Pro Tools digital audio software for sound editing and mixing.
About AvidThroughAvid Everywhere, Avid delivers the industry"s most open, innovative and comprehensive media platform connecting content creation with collaboration, asset protection, distribution and consumption.Media organizations and creative professionals use Avid solutions to createthe most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the worldfrom the most prestigious and award-winning feature films,to the most popular television shows, news programs and televised sporting events, as well as a majority of todays most celebrated music recordings and live concerts. Industry leading solutions include Pro Tools, Media Composer, ISIS, Avid NEXIS, Interplay, ProSet and RealSet, Maestro, PlayMaker, and Sibelius. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visitwww.avid.com, connect with Avid onFacebook,Instagram, Twitter,YouTube,LinkedIn, or subscribe toAvid Blogs.
2016 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, the Avid logo, Avid Everywhere, iNEWS, Interplay, ISIS, AirSpeed, MediaCentral, Media Composer, Avid NEXIS, Pro Tools, and Sibelius are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of the Interplay Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Product features, specifications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors - Game 2 - Full Highlights | 2016 NBA Playoffs
OKLAHOMA CITY Before they became aware of the full scope of the uproar over the kick that felled Steven Adams, while they were merely digesting how an impending blowout loss to Oklahoma City would leave the Golden State Warriors in a 2-1 Western Conference Finals deficit, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green shared more smiles than you would have expected on the bench in the fourth quarter.
They might well have been up 30 instead of down 30 for how they looked Sunday night.
Green had Curry laughing so much that Curry put his towel over his head and pulled it over his face as a veil. At a time more suitable for hiding in shamehanded a loss so severe that it ended with Klay Thompsons head in his hands, Shaun Livingston"s arms crossed over his chest and Andrew Bogut throwing his towel down in disgustCurry and Green took failure in stride.
Their confidence is real, unshakable and right at the heart of what the Warriors have done...and might do again.
With the NBA"s decision not to suspend Green for Game 4 Tuesday,that confidence is ready to be sung at the perfect pitch.
A little humbled by the defeat, a lot more appreciative of the mere opportunity to be out there in pursuit of a championship, Curry and Green are ready to be their sharpest again.
And this is what the playoffs are supposed to do: through adversity, force the game"s greats to reach greater levels.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has had the same default response when people are shocked his teameven with those 73 victories in pocketdoesnt do well. Kerr offered it once more Monday, saying: "A reminder again of how hard it is to win a championship."
The last time the Warriors lost consecutive games was near the end of their last climb: Games 2 and 3 of the 2015 NBA Finals against the Cavaliers. The current problem works as a similar prod for Golden State; Kerr recalled clearly that "Cleveland outcompeted us the first few games" before the Warriors improved in that area, ending Matthew Dellavedova"s reign as the world"s shining example of grit and hustle.
However, the drive, talent and improved maturity of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, along with the growth of role players such as Adams and Dion Waiters, introduce a new element to the drama now.
"Most talented team we"ve faced over the last couple of years," Kerr said. "For sure."
That creates the legitimate possibility that the Warriors" best effort isnt good enough, which is an unnerving feeling teams and participants at every level of all sports know well.
It is at this point confidence is truly tested, and it"s telling that Curry believes the Game 3 disaster boils down merely to "a six-minute stretch in the second quarter" when the Warriors played really dumb basketball.
The root of it was, in fact, overconfidence. The Warriors thought they could shortcut the process and hasten a rally with quick shots that made for easy OKC transition scores.
"Kind of human nature," Curry said. "Just wanting to get your team out of whatever rut it"s in."
The line between confidence and complacency has always been fine for the Warriors this season. Kerr and then-interim head coach Luke Walton had speeches prepared for the complacency trap of being defending champions early in the season, but they instead were met with even stronger player confidence.
Green"s booming voice didnt grate on teammates who"d heard enough of his direction. Curry"s boundless fame hadn"t built resentment. Those two guys stayed in character, and the other guys were mature enough to appreciate what they had.
Despite frequently letting huge leads dwindle into narrow victories and enduring rashes of turnovers while entertaining themselves with difficult shots, the Warriors won more than anyone ever has in the regular seasona resounding siren that talent and confidence can overcome complacency.
Which only set them up for more potential complacency in these playoffs.
Curry"s injuries last month helped prevent anyone from taking anything for granted, but slippage in teamwork was obvious in these two losses to the Thunder.
Back at Chesapeake Energy Arena for the Warriors" light practice Monday, Curry and Green took turns answering media questions while sitting on the scorer"s table, one of their sacred places. The two of them always do their final stretches together there amid the darkness of the opposing team"s lineup introductions.
There was certainly more gravity to their tones as they spoke Monday. At the time, they didn"t know if Green would be suspended, and Green especially had a rare softness to his voice as he searched for words in explanation of his misdeed rather than just spouting whatever came to his mind.
About his limbo state, the loquacious Green said only: "It sucks."
He couldn"t resist expressing annoyance that Westbrook was judging his play, asserting that aggressively flailing stars such as Westbrook taught Green the technique of drawing attention to fouls. Green characteristically boasted about how much he enjoys getting booed, saying it "helps me play well," before allowing that he wants even his haters to recognize his earnestness.
Now that he is aware OKC fans believe he intentionally kicked Adams, Green said without any ill will: "I dont want them booing me for that reason."
At the start of the meaningless fourth quarter Sunday night, Green had been so relaxed that he leaned back on the visiting bench with both arms thrown over the chairs of the teammates next to him, legs splayed out. Despite the scoreboard, his ego was still practically leaking out of him, as if he were leisurely driving a convertible through Oklahoma City"s historic Automobile Alley.
Green has been humbled to some extent after a full day twisting in the wind, worrying he had let his team down even more than he thought.
No, he"s not going to rein himself in for Game 4. That"s not Draymond, and he is exceptionally adept at being true to himself. He"s going to be better focused, though, and more equipped to apply his confidence for good instead of bad.
The Warriors need his energy and adjustability. They need much more of those things than they got from him in Game 3. The same goes for Curry and his imagination and execution.
But the two of them have one thing for sure: They will appreciate the opportunity to be out there together in Game 4 more than in any previous game in this memorable season.
You already know they have no doubt about what they can accomplish together.
For as frenzied an atmosphere against Curry and Green as it will be, theirs will be an awfully difficult mindset for Oklahoma City to overcome.
Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.
Golden State Warriors - Team Highlights vs Clippers | November 19, 2015 | NBA 2015-16 Season
EL SEGUNDO On Thursday night, Byron Scott was just a fan of good basketball, settling in to watch the Clippers and Warriors on national television.
He watched as the Clippers jumped out to a big lead, and as the defending champion Warriors stormed back behind a barrage of 3s to win 124-117 and remain undefeated.
Even when they were up 23 in the second quarter, something like that, I said this game is far from over, Scott said.
The Lakers host the Toronto Raptors on Friday, but soon the Warriors will be the coachs concern. They travel to Golden State on Tuesday, a night the Warriors could potentially be in position to set the NBA record for wins to start a season.
If the Warriors beat Chicago on Friday, and win at Denver on Sunday, they will be 15-0, tied with the 1994-94 Houston Rockets.
Unlike Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who has been restrained in his praise of the rival Warriors, Scott heaped it on the defending champs.
By far, right now, theyre the best team in the league, he said.
He said Stephen Curry has taken his game to another level and marveled at Draymond Greens defense.
To me, Scott said, it looks like theyre better now than they were last year. They dont have that championship hangover. I think they want more. Its scary, because theyre not living on last year.
He added: I just think they got so much more confident and its not just one or two guys, it seems like their whole team is that much hungrier.
It reminds Scott of one season in particular from his 14-year playing career: 1988. The Lakers had just won a championship and at the parade and celebration, coach Pat Riley guaranteed they would repeat.
I was like, OK, we really got to come ready for next year, Scott said. And I thought we came back that year even more focused to try to do something that hadnt been done in 20 years at that time.
These days, the Lakers seem a long way from being involved in any games the caliber of Thursdays Clippers-Warriors tilt; a game that meant so much to both sides, that was so gripping.
Scott participated in games like that as a player, but its been a long time since hes seen that as a coach.
I miss that a lot, he said. I love that. Thats the best form of competition right there, when you see two teams that dont like each other very much anyway. Kind of reminds me of Lakers-Celtics type things.
"When I look at that it brings back a bunch of memories."
