Charles Barkley Calls Warriors Stars ‘Stupid' in Emotional Rant
NBA legend Charles Barkley was not too happy with the way the Golden State Warriors played on Monday night.
The Warriors entered Game 4 of their NBA playoffs series against the Houston Rockets brimming with confidence. After all, they won Game 3 and took a 2-1 series lead even with Jimmy Butler sidelined.
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However, Monday's contest was a bit messy for the Warriors, who allowed the Rockets to get in their heads rather than playing like a composed championship-caliber team.
Both Steph Curry and Draymond Green were given technical fouls after a heated moment with Houston forward Dillon Brooks, while Jimmy Butler also joined in talking trash to Brooks while struggling offensively early on.
As "Inside the NBA" reviewed the first two quarters of the game at halftime, Chuck didn't hold back in his assessment of the Warriors. He even went as far as calling both Green and Butler "stupid" for their actions.
Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry reacts during a game.© Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
"Let me just say this: this is just a bunch of stupidity, this ain't got nothing to do with basketball," Barkley stated. "These guys gotta settle down and play basketball. All that other stuff, nothing's coming of it."
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"I told Kenny, I said, 'I think the Rockets are going to win this game because they want the game like this.' The Warriors aren't playing basketball, they're out there being stupid... Draymond's being stupid, Jimmy's out there being stupid, and the Rockets are like 'Okay, they're playing down to our level.'"
The Warriors ended the half against the Rockets trailing by seven points, 57-50, so it's not surprising why Barkley was critical of the Dubs. After all, Golden State knows very well that its focus should be on basketball rather than falling into Houston's mind games.
Luckily for the Warriors, despite the issues they encountered during the contest, they ended up beating the Rockets 109-106 to take a 3-1 series lead.
Related: Steph Curry's Behavior Toward Dillon Brooks During Warriors-Rockets is Turning Heads
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Indianapolis Star
42 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
How Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton shut out the noise and found a way to beat the Thunder
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton knows what to expect from the online and television discourse every time he has a performance like he had in Game 2 of the NBA Finals -- when his scoring and field goal attempt numbers take a dip and he doesn't make the impact he wants to. During the regular season it's more of a local phenomenon, but once the postseason hit, the discourse became more national with every round. How is it possible someone capable of so much magic in a historically improbable late-game comeback such as Game 1 of this series when Haliburton hit a game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds to go to be so quiet in games the Pacers lose. They say he's not aggressive enough or too inconsistent to be considered a superstar and wonder why the 2023-24 NBA assist leader hasn't figured out that he should just shoot more. The narratives are overly simplistic, but Haliburton knows at this point there's only so much he can do to change that. He admits that he is "chronically online" and has a better sense of the NBA and how it's covered than just about any other active player, but at this stage he's actively trying to avoid the social media that he usually drinks in. "I think the commentary is always going to be what it is, you know?" Haliburton said. "Most of the time, the talking heads on the major platforms, I couldn't care less. Honestly, like what do they really know about basketball?" Re-live the Pacers unbelievable run to the NBA Finals in IndyStar's commemorative book Haliburton is aware there's a correlation between his scoring and the Pacers' success. He averaged 21.2 points in wins in the regular season on 14.6 field goal attempts per game and 14.3 points per game on 12.4 field goal attempts in defeats. But he views his scoring less as a cause of the Pacers' wins and more of a connected effect. He scores more and the Pacers win more when he's getting two feet in the paint, and that happens when he's orchestrating the Pacers whirling, ball-movement oriented offense the way that he wants to. The wispy 6-5, 185-pounder who was raised on Magic Johnson highlight videos is neither physically nor mentally built to doggedly drive into the lane to pile up shots and draw fouls in an effort to score 30 or 40 points every night. But when he gets the offense spinning, he can put up big scoring and assist numbers by letting the game come to him. Usually when he doesn't score much, that's a sign of a deeper dysfunction in execution, and Haliburton looks to find that issue rather than focus on his field goal attempts. And in Game 3 he made the adjustments he needed to make. After scoring 17 points in Sunday's Game 2 with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter after the Pacers had faded too far to come back, Haliburton dazzled in Game 3 with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to help lead the Pacers to a 116-107 win over the Thunder on Wednesday in their first NBA Finals home game since 2000. Twenty-five years to the day after the Pacers' Game 3 win over the Lakers in the 2000 Finals, they took a 2-1 lead in this NBA Finals with Game 4 coming up Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Haliburton didn't view the performance as a triumph of aggression or will but of an adjustment in mindset and strategy against a Thunder defense that he told ESPN he considers to be the best he's played against. In Game 2, Haliburton believed he allowed the Pacers' system of randomized movement to become too predictable and too predicated on high ball screens -- usually Haliburton's bread and butter, but an action that plays right into the hands of a swarming Thunder defense. In Game 3, he mixed up actions well enough to create space which was beneficial not only for him but everyone else on the Pacers' roster. Their 116 points were the most they've scored in a game this series, they shot a series-best 51.8% from the floor and scored 50 points in the paint after scoring just 34 in each of the first two games. "We did a great job of just playing off the pitch, off handoffs, screening, all those things," Haliburton said. "I thought we did a great job of -- this is a defense that you can't consistently give them the same look. If you try to hold the ball and call for screens, they crawl into you and pack the paint. It's not easy. It's really tough. That's why they are such a historical defense. You just have to continue to give them different looks as much as you can. I thought we did a great job of just playing and continuing to play random basketball. Against a team like this, there's not really play calls. You've just got to play." That's what Haliburton did and he let his own offense come to him as the game went along. He didn't take a shot for nearly six minutes to start the game and he missed his first field goal attempt, a 20-foot step-back pull-up jumper with 6:10 to go in the first quarter. But he followed that by driving past Thunder All-NBA second team defender Jalen Williams to the right side of the foul line and hitting a 16-foot floater over Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein with 5:10 to play in the first quarter. Then he hit his first 3-pointer in first-team All-Defensive Team pick Luguentz Dort's face with 3:00 to go in the period and suddenly he had his rhythm established early. Haliburton put faith in his floater -- a weapon he's admittedly sometimes too reluctant to use -- hitting three mid-range shots in that fashion over top of charging big men. He scored two buckets at the rim -- one an impressive finish on a drive through contact and the other an easy two-handed fast-break dunk off a steal. He was 4 of 8 from 3-point range, hitting his most 3s since he made five in his 32-point, 15-assist, 12-rebound triple-double in the Pacers' win over the Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. But he didn't just look for his own offense. He helped get fellow All-Star Pascal Siakam started early as Siakam scored the Pacers first six points en route to a 21-point night. Haliburton still got center Myles Turner involved with pick-and-roll and pick and pop actions even though the Pacers tried not to live off those as much. He made plays "off the pitch," using give-and-go actions with bigs operating near the top of the key with their back to the basket catching his passes and tossing them right back to him and that got Haliburton downhill momentum that he could use to either go to the rim or pass and it helped keep the Thunder from loading up their defense quickly. The Pacers managed 41 field goal attempts in the paint after taking just 27 in Game 2. "Terrific," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton. "Look, every game you're going to have to make adjustments against this defense. There's just going to be different looks. You're going to have different high-level defenders on you. You're going to see some different coverage stuff. It's going to be constantly changing. So I thought his approach tonight was exactly what it needed to be, a combination of spatial awareness and aggression, and you know, a real good feel for aggression to score along with getting his teammates involved at the right times." Haliburton moves forward knowing that solving the Thunder defense for a game isn't the same as solving it for a series. Oklahoma City led the NBA in defensive rating and allowed the fewest paint points, and they'll find more ways to keep the ball away from the rim in Game 4. He also knows that there will be games when he's successfully bottled up or scores fewer points because he's more focused on creating for others. "I think there's going to be ebbs and flows," Haliburton said. "I'm never going to be, you know, super great and shoot so many shots every game consistently. There's going to be games where I don't and I've got to be able to find the right balance between the two. But I mean, I think experience is the best way I can learn from it. So seeing where I can be better is important through the first two games and just trying to be better today. You know, taking what the defense gives me, trying to play the right way and watch film and see where I can get better and be ready to go for Game 4." Haliburton has a lot of voices telling him he needs to shoot more. His personal trainer, Drew Hanlen, is particularly explicit about it, and Haliburton acknowledges that he sees plenty of examples of himself passing out on shots he should take and make in the course of a game. But part of that is a product of focus on making the textbook right play and keeping in mind the importance of involving his teammates. In turn, they trust his judgment. "Ty's got to do him," Siakam said. "That's what he's got to do, he's got to be himself every time he's out on the floor. He can impact the game in so many ways. So I'm really not worried about his scoring. I just know that he's going to make the right play. But when he's intentional about doing that every single play, I know something good is going to happen. So as long as he keeps doing that, we're going to be all right."
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Maybe the Pacers are just this good, plus a (scary) U.S. Open preview
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Fact-check your dad today. Three games aren't enough to judge a series, but we have a pretty clear narrative already in these NBA Finals: While Oklahoma City may be a slightly better team by most metrics, there is no group more clutch than Indiana. Undoubtedly. The Pacers are up 2-1 in this series after a 116-107 win last night, and I'm still agape at what happened last night. Two reads: Our friends at BetMGM have Indiana at just +200 to win the series now. I might favor them at this point. This is just good basketball. Onward: The rough, the rough, the rough. Have you heard about the rough at Oakmont, site of this week's U.S. Open? Coverage on the ground suggests missing a fairway is akin to throwing a ball in the Mariana Trench. Bye bye, ball. The Open begins today, and golfers will start teeing off shortly. Let's try to stay in the fairway for this preview: It all sounds a little … chaotic, right? It will be entertaining, do not fret. But if you need some zen beforehand, just look at the grounds crew cutting the grass via an army of push mowers: Wait for the maintenance staff member at 23 seconds. Shout out to those getting Oakmont in mint condition. — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 9, 2025 Let's keep going: Dobbins addresses false Yankees claims Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins caused rancor last weekend when he told the Boston Herald he'd rather 'retire' than play for the Yankees — not just due to the rivalry, but because his father had been drafted by the Yanks twice and traded to the Diamondbacks. The thing is, per the New York Post, Dobbins' father never played for either New York or Arizona. Whoops. Dobbins seemed unfazed yesterday, saying he doesn't 'go and fact-check my dad.' It's all pretty funny. Read his explanation here. Advertisement More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. Many things make me feel like we live in a simulation these days, but seeing the pope wearing a White Sox hat during his weekly general audience in Rome might be the new No. 1 in my simulation power rankings. That's all. Almost done: 📺 Golf: The U.S. Open at Oakmont 6:30 a.m. ET on USA and Just keep it on in the background all day. 📺 NHL: Oilers at Panthers 8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max It's difficult to ever dismiss this Edmonton team, but going down 3-1 in this series, the way Florida has played of late, would feel like a death knell. I just hope it's a closer one than Game 3. Get tickets to games like these here. Politics and sports can often be inexorably intertwined. A new investigation from The Athletic reveals the latest surprising intersection: the charter airline that flies sports teams across the country … and does deportation flights for ICE. Read it here. Fresh off the digital presses this morning: Andrew Marchand went inside the world of Pat McAfee, including his banishment of Adam Schefter from his show. Wild stuff in there. This year's MLB anonymous player poll is finally here. I love seeing these unvarnished opinions. No, I would also not want to face Chris Sale in a tough spot. Read all the answers here. As silly as it sounds for people making seven and eight figures per year, raising a family while playing Major League Baseball can be extremely difficult. The relief? Summertime. As a dad, I found this fascinating. The best women's soccer player you don't know is Evelyn Shores, who has only won a national title this year, made a $1 million goal and scored for the USWNT U-23 team. Get to know her before she becomes a superstar. NBA coaches have quickly gone from a sharp-dressed group of suits to a cadre of quarter-zipped dudes. Will the league ever go back? Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on the Bengals and their weird fight with first-round pick Shemar Stewart. Most-read on the website yesterday: Rustin Dodd's story on that Roger Federer commencement speech, again.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
NBA Finals Game 3 winners and losers: Pacers D contains SGA, Thunder turnovers are costly
NBA Finals Game 3 winners and losers: Pacers D contains SGA, Thunder turnovers are costly Show Caption Hide Caption Shaq talks NBA Finals matchup and NBA on TNT Shaquille O'Neal joins Sports Seriously to talk about all things NBA and his upcoming Netflix docu-series 'Power Moves'. Sports Seriously The Indiana Pacers are two wins away from their first-ever NBA title. Behind a second quarter spark and a barrage from its bench, Indiana controlled the Oklahoma City Thunder on June 11 in the pivotal Game 3 of the NBA Finals, 116-107. Backup Pacers shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin led all players with 27 points, while Tyrese Haliburton added 22 and Pascal Siakam chipped in 21. And for the Pacers, this was massive; when NBA Finals have been tied at 1-1, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the title 80.5% of the time. The Pacers are now 5-0 this postseason when coming off a loss. They still have not trailed in any of the four series they have played these playoffs. Here are the winners and losers from the crucial Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder: WINNERS Bennedict Mathurin, T.J. McConnell and the Pacers bench The Pacers' bench, overall, was outstanding, yes. They outscored Oklahoma City's reserves by a margin of 49-18. But two players, above all, lifted Indiana and were key in a second quarter run that changed the course of the game. Bennedict Mathurin led all players with 27 points on an absurd 9-of-12 shooting night — outscoring the entire Thunder bench — in 22:24. T.J. McConnell scored 10 timely points, but his five steals, three of them off inbounds passes, and five assists invigorated Indiana. Simply put, the Pacers' bench won them this game. 'Those guys were tremendous,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. 'T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game. Mathurin jumped in there and was immediately aggressive and got the ball in the basket. This is the kind of team we are: we need everybody to be ready. ... 'This is how we've got to do it, we've got to do it as a team.' For at least one night, the Indiana defense was better It looked, at least for one game, that it was the Pacers who were the No. 1 defense in the NBA. Indiana put forth a monstrous team effort, particularly on NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, sending multiple players at him, swarming and swatting at the ball when he had it in vulnerable spots. After Game 2, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Gilgeous-Alexander that 'you can mark down 34 points before (the Thunder) even get on the plane.' Perhaps it was a subtle way of sending a message to his players, but Indiana held SGA to 10 points fewer than that, on 9-of-20 shooting. The Pacers rotated players on Gilgeous-Alexander and put full-court pressure on him basically the entire game, and the spike in energy appeared to tire Gilgeous-Alexander, especially late. He had just three attempts in the fourth quarter and did not register an assist 'Their overall tone was better than ours for the majority of the game,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after the game. Tyrese Haliburton finds his shot — early In Games 1 and 2, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton had combined for just nine first half points. On Wednesday night, Haliburton had scored 12 on 5-of-8 shooting, adding seven assists, before intermission. It set the tone. When Haliburton — who finished with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds — is aggressive and gets his shot, the Pacers tend to win. This season, they are 20-1 when he scores at least 20 points and dishes out at least 10 assists. LOSERS Thunder offense sputters without massive SGA game Oklahoma City has actually had nice spurts of offense this series from role players. Luguentz Dort has shot 10-of-17 (66.7%) from 3. Aaron Wiggins popped off for 18 points in Game 2. Alex Caruso poured in 20 in Game 2. But this felt like a game that, for the Thunder to have a chance to win, Gilgeous-Alexander was going to have to go off and score 35 or more. Oklahoma City shot just 35.3% from the field in the fourth quarter. With players pressing some, the Thunder also committed five turnovers in the period. Thunder ball protection The steals off the inbounds were indicative of a larger issue for Oklahoma City: the turnovers were debilitating. 'They sucked,' Jalen Williams said. 'Just bad, unforced turnovers.' Indiana had lost the turnover battles in Games 1 and 2 by 19 combined. But Wednesday night, the Thunder were more careless with the ball, committing 19 turnovers — compared to Indiana's 14. Not surprisingly, the Pacers won the battle in points off turnovers, 21-14. The decision to start Cason Wallace over Isaiah Hartenstein The Thunder — the team with the best record (68-14) in the NBA — had rolled through the NBA playoffs, going 12-4 before the start of the Finals. Center Isaiah Hartenstein had started each of those games, but Thunder coach Mark Daigneault opted to start Cason Wallace in all three games against the Pacers. It now seems like an overcorrection and perhaps even something of a panic move. Though it was just by two points, the Pacers outscored the Thunder in the paint for the first time this series, 50-48. Oklahoma City had carried a plus-20 advantage prior to Wednesday night. Keeping Indiana out of the paint and forcing them to settle for jump shots will be key for the Thunder in Game 4. Hartenstein, who played just 22 minutes and was not a factor, makes that prospect much easier. The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments with USA TODAY's sports newsletter. Your inbox will approve.
