Latest news with #Lakers-Warriors
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fans Don't Love Insider's Bold Lakers, Warriors Take For Next Season
The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors made blockbuster trades this season. The Lakers acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, while the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. Los Angeles was the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs and had home-court advantage against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. However, the Lakers lost the series in five games. Advertisement Meanwhile, Golden State faced the Houston Rockets in the first round and won the series in seven games before losing to Minnesota in the second round in five games. Steph Curry suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in Game 1 against the Timberwolves and missed the rest of the series. LeBron James shoots over Steph Curry© Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images The Lakers and Warriors are rivals. They play in the same division and Curry and LeBron James have had a rivalry since meeting in four straight NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018. With that said, some fans want to know who has the brighter future between the Lakers and Warriors. Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd answered that question, saying he believes Golden State's future is brighter than Los Angeles' Cowherd got roasted for his Lakers-Warriors take, as many fans replied to The Herd's post on X, bashing the sports pundit. Advertisement "How tf is this dude allowed to have his own show," one fan said. "Not a great take Colin. Have a feeling this will be reposted on Freezing Cold Takes in about a year," a second fan wrote. "No more bball talk Colin. Freal it's cool. It's very clear you don't watch the games. You talk to Jmac to sound smart I would stick to football and baseball," a third fan wrote. James is 40 years old. He's the oldest active player in the NBA and suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee in Game 5 against the Timberwolves. While Doncic is only 26, his poor conditioning and lack of defensive skills were on full display in the Lakers-Timberwolves series. Mavericks GM Nico Harrison traded Doncic because he didn't feel he could win a championship with the five-time All-Star. Advertisement Curry is 37, while Butler and Draymond Green are 35. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has won four championships and coached in six NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Lakers head coach JJ Redick just finished his first year as a coach in the NBA. "The Warriors have no future lmfao the Lakers have 26-year-old Luka," one fan said. "Colin Cowherd hasn't been on point about an NBA teams future in his long? He's not good with predictions Lakers have Luka a guy who already willed a team to 2 conference finals and a NBA championship and is only 25 or 26 Warriors have a geriatric team Let's be serious," another fan said. Advertisement We still don't know if James will be on the Lakers next season. He has a player option for next season. The leading scorer in NBA history can pick up his player option, decline it and become a free agent or retire from the NBA. Only time will tell who will be better next season between the Lakers and Warriors, but Cowherd is in Golden State's corner. Related: NBA Trade Idea Pairs Steph Curry And Jimmy Butler With 2-Time All-Star
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NBA Playoff Ratings Up 6% Through First Round
The Minnesota Timberwolves may have robbed the NBA's media partners of a quarterfinals collision between perennial ratings champs LeBron James and Steph Curry, but the league has momentum on its side as the second round of the playoffs begins to heat up. According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, the opening salvo of the NBA postseason averaged 3.71 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT/truTV, which marks a 6% increase versus the year-ago 3.49 million. The Disney networks did much of the heavy lifting in the first round, as deliveries across the 12 ABC/ESPN games were up 14% year-to-year, while the TNT Sports channels saw a more modest 4% lift as their long association with the NBA nears an end. As expected, big-reach broadcaster ABC has put up the biggest audience numbers, averaging 5.55 million viewers for its half-dozen weekend airings, up 13% from last year's analogous stretch (4.9 million). ABC carried the most-watched playoff outing thus far, as Minnesota's 116-113 win over Los Angeles on April 27 averaged 7.35 million viewers in the Sunday matinee (3:30 p.m. ET) slot. ABC also was the beneficiary of an opening weekend that coincided with the Easter holiday, a date that has proven to be a boon for out-of-home viewing. With an average draw of 5.57 million viewers, deliveries for the network's April 20 doubleheader were up a massive 32%, as ABC reaped the benefit of all those additional impressions that were captured via brunches and family celebrations. TNT's own Easter two-fer also enjoyed a considerable boost, as its evening and primetime telecasts were up 23% to 4.13 million viewers. Bear in mind that there's been a distinct uptick in out-of-home impressions since Nielsen expanded coverage of its OOH panel earlier this year. The combination of the more inclusive metric and the Easter lift conspired to help boost the opening weekend's deliveries by 17%. While the NBA didn't maintain that big year-over-year surge for long—after the second weekend of the playoffs, the rate-of-change was +4%—the first round finished on a strong note, as TNT averaged 6.63 million viewers for Game 7 of the Warriors-Rockets series. With an average draw of 4.51 million viewers per game, that maxed-out set stands as the playoffs' second-biggest attraction, trailing only the truncated Wolves-Lakers series (5.1 million). From a ratings standpoint, the Lakers' early exit is less than ideal, as it dashed hopes for a second-round showdown with Golden State. When James and Curry crossed swords in the 2023 playoffs, that six-game slate averaged 7.8 million viewers, peaking with 8.64 million for the deciding telecast on ESPN. While there won't be a Lakers-Warriors juggernaut to help boost the NBA's numbers this time around—the 2023 series was the most-watched conference semifinals in 27 years—a lengthy Knicks-Celtics duel could go a long way toward staving off a letdown. While the ratings for Game 1 of the New York-Boston tilt have yet to be issued, the rekindled rivalry between these two major-market franchises guarantees that at least one high-profile team will punch its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals. Together, the combined reach of the nation's largest media market (New York boasts 7.49 million TV households) and the No. 9 DMA (2.58 million) translates into a hometown rooting interest for 8% of all U.S. TV homes. All told, the Eastern time zone is home to 48% of all TV users. Out West, any best-case scenario involves Curry and the Warriors advancing to the Finals. The rest of the field is littered with smaller-market clubs, with top seed Oklahoma repping a market with 762,700 TV homes, giving the Thunder 40% of the local reach of the Nuggets and Timberwolves. Coverage of the NBA playoffs continues Wednesday night with Game 2 of Knicks-Celtics tipping off at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Nuggets-Thunder in the 9:30 p.m. slot. Both games will be carried by TNT/truTV. More from Advertisement Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Newsweek
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Best Warriors vs. Timberwolves Player Props, ATS Bets: Wolves G1 Favorites
The first career playoff matchup between Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry is one of the top storylines in the Warriors vs. Timberwolves Western Conference semifinal clash. The first career playoff matchup between Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry is one of the top storylines in the Warriors vs. Timberwolves Western Conference semifinal clash. Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves (6) have taken down a handful of stars -- including Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and LeBron James, to name a few -- over the last two postseasons. Up next for the Wolves: Stephen Curry and the Warriors (7) in the Western Conference Semifinals. After an impressive gentleman's sweep of the 3-seeded Lakers in the first round, Timberwolves fans are one series victory away from their second consecutive appearance in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors, are on the other hand, needed huge Game 7 performances from Curry and Buddy Hield to take down the Rockets in the first round. From the well-documented bad blood between Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert to the reunion between Jimmy Butler and a franchise he forced his way out of in dramatic fashion back in 2018, this series has it all. Now, let's get into the best bets for Warriors vs. Timberwolves. Warriors vs. Timberwolves Series Odds DraftKings : GSW +155; MIN -180 : GSW +155; MIN -180 FanDuel: GSW +162; MIN -194 Warriors vs. Wolves Game 1 Betting Odds DK FD bet365 GSW spread +6.5 (-110) +6.5 (-110) +6.5 (-115) MIN spread -6.5 (-110) -6.5 (-110) -6.5 (-105) GSW ML +215 +210 +205 MIN ML -265 -255 -250 Total 210 (o-108; u-112) 210.5 (o-108; u-112) 210.5 (o-110; u-110) How to Watch Warriors vs. Timberwolves Tipoff: 9:30 p.m. ET Channel: TNT/truTV/Max Warriors vs. Wolves Game 1 Player Props Anthony Edwards Over 5.5 Assists (+114 at DraftKings) -- 1 unit Edwards finished Game 2 of Lakers-Warriors with a goose egg in the assists column, but he was otherwise an assists machine in the first round, with at least six dimes in Games 1, 3, 4 and 5 (including a total of 22 across Games 3-5). The fact that Edwards racked up eight assists despite his team's awful shooting performance from outside in Game 5 (the Wolves made just 7-of-47 3-pointers) says a ton about what a safe bet he is to record at least six assists vs. Golden State tonight. It's an understatement to say that the Warriors have better perimeter defenders to throw at Edwards than the Lakers did. Still, at this point in Edwards' career, he won't be seeing much single coverage against anyone. Whether it's Butler, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski or Buddy Hield checking Edwards, he should draw enough help to get plenty of opportunities for assists. Including not only this year's first-round series against the Lakers, but also Minnesota's three series in 2024 against the Suns, Nuggets and Mavericks, Edwards has recorded at least six assists in 15 of his last 21 playoff games, including 9 of his last 10. We'll dive into other ways to tackle the props markets in this series as it plays out, but so far, sticking with Edwards' assists has been consistently profitable. Warriors vs. Wolves Game 1 Pick, Best Bets Figuring out how much of a factor fatigue will be for the Warriors is almost impossible after the Nuggets beat the Thunder last night on two nights' rest following their own Game 7 triumph. For the Warriors, taking on another big, physical team like the Timberwolves after dealing with the Rockets' athleticism for seven games is an unenviable task, but I like Curry and Butler to -- at minimum -- keep tonight's series opener tight. I also like tonight's game to go under the total of 210.5, as both these teams are comfortable slowing it down (MIN was 24th in pace in the regular season, while GSW was 17th), and the veteran Warriors in particular will likely look to make this a halfcourt game. Warriors vs. Timberwolves Game 1 Best Bets: Warriors +6.5 (-110 at DraftKings) -- 1 unit Under 210.5 (-110 at bet365) -- 1 unit Newsweek may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up through the links in this article. See the sportsbook operator's terms and conditions for important details. Sports betting operators have no influence over newsroom coverage.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rockets vs. Warriors Live Stream: Start Time, Channel, Where To Watch Warriors-Rockets Game 7 Live
If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Pricing and availability subject to change. Lakers-Warriors Two Game 7s in two nights? It doesn't get much better than this! The Houston Rockets host the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of their first-round series. The Rockets are a dangerous team. This young Houston squad found themselves down 3-1 against an experience Warriors team only to win Games 5 and 6 to force a 'win or go home' Game 7. Advertisement Last night, the Denver Nuggets won a Game 7 on their homecourt, and the Rockets are hoping to do the same as they attempt to bounce future Hall of Famers Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green from the playoffs. Can this veteran Warriors team win a closeout game on the road, or will it be the ascendant Rockets who advance to round two? We're about to find out. Here's how to watch tonight's Warriors-Rockets game live online. What Time Is The Rockets-Warriors Game On Tonight? Tonight's (May 4) Game 7 matchup begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV, and Max. Where To Watch Warriors vs. Rockets Game 7 Live Online: If you have a valid cable login, you can watch tonight's Warriors-Rockets game live on TNT, truTV, or the TNT website/app. Advertisement You can also stream the game on Max, which is available for $9.99/month. One final option: You can add Max to your Amazon account for an additional $9.99/month. How To Watch Rockets-Warriors Game 7 Live Online Without Cable: You can stream both TruTV and TNT with an active subscription to Sling TV's Blue Plan ($25.50/month for the first month, $50.99/month thereafter), Hulu + Live TV ($82.99/month), DirecTV ($84.99/month), or YouTube TV. YouTube TV, which is currently available for $59.99/month for the first two months ($82.99/month thereafter), offers a 21-day free trial for eligible subscribers.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Warriors vs. Lakers: Stephen Curry, LeBron James and high-stakes basketball — it's on!
For more than a decade, every meeting between LeBron James and Stephen Curry — two of the greatest and most transformative players ever, arguably the two most towering figures of the last generation of NBA basketball, rivals turned Team USA running buddies, a couple of kids from Akron — has been appointment viewing. At this stage in their respective transcendent careers, though, with James in Year 22 and an astounding 40 years old and Curry, a baby-faced assassin no longer, having just turned 37 and finishing up his 16th season, each one feels particularly special: something you've got to savor while you've still got the chance. When the stars align to deliver both James' Lakers and Curry's Warriors in the heat of a playoff chase, with postseason seeding on the line, and with both teams in ascending form after making mammoth marquee acquisitions at the trade deadline — in case you hadn't heard, Luka Dončić is a Laker and Jimmy Butler is a Warrior — and squaring off in a nationally televised Thursday night banger on the eve of the playoffs? Well, friend, that's about as good as it gets. Advertisement Before LeBron and Steph (and Luka, and Jimmy, and Draymond, and Steve, and JJ, and …) renew pleasantries in Los Angeles, let's run through a handful of things worth knowing ahead of Lakers-Warriors, one of the most anticipated matchups of the latter days of the 2024-25 NBA season: Playoff preview? L.A. enters Thursday at 46-29, in third place in the Western Conference, mere thousandths of a percentage point ahead of the 47-30 Nuggets. Golden State sits two games back at 44-31, fifth in the West, a half-game up on the resilient Timberwolves, rising Clippers and slumping Grizzlies. They've been two of the best crunch-time crews in the league since their respective big trades, too, with Golden State going 8-2 in 'clutch' contests (games in which the score was within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime) and the Lakers going 9-5. If the playoffs started today, the Lakers would host the Wolves in Round 1, while the Warriors would travel to Denver. Given how tightly packed the middle of the West is, though, it's still eminently possible that these two teams could wind up opening the postseason against one another; multiple postseason projection models have Golden State with virtually even odds of landing in fifth or sixth, and while the Lakers are more likely to stay in third after Denver's two losses this week, it's far from sewn up. Advertisement One imagines the powers that be at the league office would prefer getting to delay a series featuring this much megawatt talent until later in the postseason, when even more eyeballs might wind up fixated on it. (I'm reminded of the old David Stern joke that the NBA's preferred Finals matchup would be Lakers vs. Lakers. LeBron-Luka vs. Steph-Jimmy-Draymond would probably strike the late commissioner a pretty decent substitute.) One would also suspect, though, that Adam Silver and Co. would be plenty happy to welcome — and promote the hell out of — such a matchup even if it started in mid-April rather than late May. Jimmy eat world Since Butler's debut on Feb. 10, the Warriors have been one of the best teams in the NBA. They're 19-5 since his arrival — the NBA's third-best record in that span, behind only the historic Thunder and defending champion Celtics — with the league's No. 5 offense and No. 3 defense, according to Cleaning the Glass. (Toss out one game he missed against the 76ers, and they're 19-4 with Jimmy in the lineup; filter for just the games in which he, Curry and Draymond Green have all played, and Golden State's 18-2.) True to his word, Butler has proven a hand-in-glove fit in Golden State, averaging 17.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 32.3 minutes per game. For the full season, only four players in the league are topping those numbers; Jimmy will see two of them on Thursday. Advertisement Butler has helped elevate the Warriors on both ends. They're blitzing opponents by 10.1 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions with him on the court, and — crucially — by an even-more-eye-popping 13.1 points-per-100 when Jimmy's on the floor without Steph. Those non-Curry minutes have been the bane of Steve Kerr's existence ever since Kevin Durant left town; Butler's arrival has allowed Golden State to turn them into a strength, while giving Kerr a whole new suite of options for maximizing the Warriors' offensive attack and a second all-world defensive genius to pair with Green along the back line of what's become one of the league's most difficult units to score on. Whatever reasonable concerns may still exist about what the future in the Bay might hold for the famously combustible Butler, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. imported Jimmy to see if he couldn't turn what had become a moribund and under-.500 Warriors squad into something a hell of a lot more fearsome. So far, so good. Luka with the lid off Dončić joined the Lakers not only utterly stunned by the shock of being dealt by the only franchise he'd ever known, but also working his way back from a left calf strain that would wind up costing him nearly seven weeks. When he returned to the lineup just before the All-Star break, he needed a couple of games to find his legs and get acclimated to his new surroundings. Advertisement Ever since those wobbly opening days in forum blue and gold, though? He's looked every bit like the world-devouring megastar of Laker fans' dreams: The Lakers are 14-8 (a 52-win pace) with Dončić in uniform, and 11-6 (a 53-win clip) when he suits up alongside James. But while L.A.'s overall efficiency numbers have underwhelmed since Luka's debut — 19th in offense, 13th in defense, 15th in net rating — he himself has not. Since those first three knock-the-rust-off outings, Dončić is averaging 29.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.9 steals in 36.5 minutes per game, shooting 38% from 3-point land on more than 10 attempts a night and 80.5% from the free throw line on nearly 10 attempts a night. The only players ever to produce like that over the course of a full season? Michael Jordan, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokić. Decent company. Advertisement When the league-shaking blockbuster first went down, plenty of pundits — present company included — wondered whether a Lakers defense built around Luka, LeBron and Austin Reaves without Anthony Davis lurking to clean everything up would be able to get stops at a championship-caliber level. All told, with Dončić on the floor, the Lakers have outscored opponents by 7.2 points-per-100, scoring and defending at rates that would rank top-six in the league over the course of the full season. Sounds pretty championship-caliber to me. Whether that will hold up against elite offensive opposition in the heat of a playoff race, of course, is something that remains to be seen. You know what sounds like a pretty fun test? The supercharged Warriors, led by a dude who's really enjoying the benefits of playing alongside a second All-Star-caliber creator: Steph, unleashed I mean, just look at this: Curry hits L.A. fresh off one of the most impressive games of his career — and considering the career he's had, that is saying something — with 52 points, 12 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and just two turnovers in 37 minutes of work in a massive road win in Memphis. It was his second 50-point game of the season, both of which have come since the Butler trade — a period during which Steph has made it abundantly clear that, in addition to being the greatest shooter of all time, he's also very much still one of the most devastating and important offensive players in the present tense. (For the season, Curry ranks third in offensive estimated plus-minus, behind only the MVP dyad of Jokić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.) Advertisement Since Jimmy's arrival, Curry is averaging 27.8 points, 5.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 32.5 minutes per contest, shooting 57.8% on 2-pointers, 41.8% on 3s (on nearly 12 a game) and 91.3% from the foul line — good for an absurd .663 true shooting percentage. The only other players ever to score this much, this efficiently, on this high a usage rate? Jokić, Durant … and Steph himself, back in his unanimous-MVP-winning 2015-16 campaign. That Curry can still crank it up to that level this far into his career is mind-blowing. That the Warriors are scoring nearly 122 points-per-100 in his minutes during this post-Jimmy-trade heater — a rate that would top the East-leading Cavaliers' league-best and historically dominant offense for the full season — is the kind of thing that will keep opposing coaches up at night heading into the season's home stretch. Speaking of 'cranking it up to that level this far into his career' … LeBron, everywhere It turns out that having the option to toss the keys to one of the greatest offensive engines in the world, and not having the weight of every possession on his shoulders, agrees with LeBron, too. Advertisement In his 18 appearances since Luka's debut — he missed seven games with a groin strain — James has averaged 24.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.1 steals-plus-blocks in 36.1 minutes per game while shooting 49.7% from the floor. It's not as if he's suddenly just parked in the corner or anything; James' usage rate with Luka on the floor is still 27.5%, according to PBP Stats. It's worth noting, though, that LeBron has never had a usage rate that low for a full season, and that even a slight reduction in the amount of time and energy he has to expend on the ball allows him to double down in other areas. Like hitting the glass — his 22.4% defensive rebounding rate since Luka's debut would be the second-highest mark of his career — and reminding would-be drivers that they should really not try that stuff when he's in the ZIP code: An increased level of activity and aggressiveness from LeBron, especially on the defensive end, is a critical aspect of one of the revamped Lakers' most intriguing new looks: the 6-foot-9 James lining up alongside the 6-6 Dončić, 6-7 Dorian Finney-Smith, 6-8 Rui Hachimura and 6-5 Reaves (who's been balling lately) in a 'small'-ball lineup that has plenty of physicality, length and switchability at the point of attack. The Lakers can't replace what AD gave them as a back-line eraser, but being huge and malleable across all five positions can help stop leaks before they spring: That lineup has only played 69 minutes together this season, but it's +19 in them, was excellent in Monday's win over a super-tough Rockets squad, and has allowed a minuscule 103.5 points-per-100 in that similarly minuscule sample. It'd be really fun to see how L.A.'s nascent version of small-ball might hold up against an opponent that likes to run its own … like, say, Golden State's brand, with rising Defensive Player of the Year candidate Draymond Green flanked by Butler, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Curry, which has allowed a microscopic 102.4 points-per-100 across 133 minutes. Styles make fights, and teams with a hell of a lot of style and fight make for awfully compelling matchups. Lakers-Warriors promises to be one on Thursday … and, just maybe, a couple of weeks from now, too.
