Red Bluff Daily News

April 14, 2017

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ByJanieMcCauley TheAssociatedPress OAKLAND Steve Kerr paid close attention. Teammates, too. No- body wanted to miss this im- promptu, incredible shooting dis- play by two of the world's best. Stephen Curry and Kevin Du- rant took turns firing 3-pointers from all over the court, some 200 of them total, while their coaches- turned-rebounders kept care- ful count of makes and misses and others watched in awe. Klay Thompson was shooting behind them, "I heard a lot of makes, though." Steph edged KD by a single 3, per player development coach Bruce Fraser's figures from Tues- day's shootout. Durant later con- firmed the final stats. "That was a really skillful work- out right there, there wasn't a lot of athleticism being shown, but iron sharpens iron," Durant said. "You only get better when you play with the best and you work with the best. "I didn't even realize what we were doing. I was really just fo- cusing on regaining some touch. It was definitely fun working with Steph. He works so hard, he brings something different to the game that I don't have and I think vice versa. We push each other." Special guest Chris Won- dolowski got a treat. The San Jose Earthquakes star and U.S. na- tional team forward realized he had come on the right day to wit- ness an amazing show of shot- making. He tweeted Thursday, "It was fun to watch all the work that goes on behind the scenes." Even those who see Curry and Durant every day appreciated this performance. And their post-practice shoot- ing went up a notch this week with the playoffs about to begin. The fierce competition on Curry's regular practice court became all- out entertainment with Durant healthy at last from a left knee injury that sidelined him for 19 games.Thesessionlastedabout30 minutes. They talked and laughed, theycursedalittle,theyholleredat the basketball to cooperate. WARRIORS CURRY,KDENGAGEIN 3-POINT SHOOTOUT PHOTOSBYMARCIOJOSESANCHEZ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser, right, works with guard Stephen Curry during warmups before the team's NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday in Oakland Curry and Kevin Durant took turns firing 3-pointer a er 3-pointer, some 200of them total, all while their coaches-turned-rebounders kept careful count of their makes and misses in an entertaining post-practice show. By John Hickey Bay Area News Group KANSAS CITY A chance to get a road trip win and series sweep eluded the A's Thursday night when Kansas City left-hander Jason Vargas baffled Oakland in a 3-1 Royals win. One night after scoring eight runs on a dozen hits Oakland collected just four hits off Var- gas before Rajai Davis homered leading off the ninth against K.C. closer Kelvin Herrera to get the A's on the scoreboard. It didn't help the A's, who finished the road trip with a 3-3 record, cause any that Jesse Hahn, making his first start of the year after a good perfor- mance over six innings on the first game of the road trip in Texas, struggled from the be- ginning. Hahn was dinged for four hits, including three in succes- sion to start the game, as Kan- sas City jumped to a 2-0 lead five batters into the game. The Royals were only able to add one more run against Hahn, that coming on Bran- don Moss' sacrifice fly in the third inning, but he never had a clean 1-2-3 inning, thanks in part to an A's defensive that committed its American League-leading 10th and 11th errors. Hahn went on to pitch cred- itably well from the second through sixth innings before turning the game over to the bullpen in the person of lefty Daniel Coulombe. Hahn al- lowed just two hits and two walks in his final five innings, but with the A's going nowhere against Vargas the game was less competitive than the final score might have suggested. A'S Royals' Vargas too much for Oakland By Josh Dubow The Associated Press The new arena in Sacramento was a hit. The play on the court was just more of the same disap- pointment that has plagued the Kings for more than a decade. The move to the Golden One Center did little to change the for- tunes of the Kings, who finished their 11th straight season with- out a playoff berth, going 32-50 to finish 12th in the Western Con- ference. After the arena opening that was the final step in keeping the team in California's capital city after years of talk of possi- ble moves, the most noteworthy event in the first season under coach Dave Joerger was the Feb- ruary trade of star center DeMar- cus Cousins to New Orleans. That ended Sacramento's slim playoff hopes and signaled a new direction for a team that last made the postseason in 2006. "The last 20 games, our kids improved so much and we want to continue to do that," general manager Vlade Divac said. Here are some other takeaways from the season ReplacingBoogie The Kings finally cut ties with Cousins in February after decid- ing his temper and difficult at- titude outweighed his stardom on the court. Hield, one of the key players acquired in the deal, played much better after arriving in Sacramento and was named the league's top rookie in March. Sacramento hopes he can be a building piece for the future. "I just want to get better all- around and be more explosive," Hield said. "I want to develop where I want to be like James Harden and how he handles the ball dribbling. I want to be able to do all of that, be more of an ef- ficient scorer, get to the foul line more, and get my body strong so I can be explosive around the rim." Big guys The Cousins trade also gave more opportunities to Cauley- Stein and Labissiere and they made the most of it. Cauley-Stein averaged 12.9 points and 8.1 re- bounds after the trade, more than doubling his scoring average and tripling his rebounding totals. La- bissiere played just eight games before Cousins left but averaged 10.8 points and 6.0 rebounds over the final 25 games. NBA Kings out of the playoffs yet again Staff report WILLIAMS The Los Molinos base- ball and softball teams squeezed in games Wednesday between the raindrops with the boys taking home a win and the girls coming up short. The Bulldogs dominated the WilliamsYellowjackets18-1thanks to some loud bats and the arm of freshman pitcher Ty Isaksen, who gave up just 1 earned run on 2 hits and struck out 9 through 5 innings for the win. At the plate, Joe Myers and Aaron Hardy each went 2-4 with 3 RBI; Caleb Duncan was 2-4 with a triple and an RBI; fresh- man Hunter Landingham was 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI; fresh- man Devin Henderson went 2-3 with 2 RBI and Isaksen was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Five other Bulldogs had plate appearances and each one of them put up an RBI. Henderson stole safe twice and Landingham, Duncan, Isaksen and Hardy each stole once. The Bulldogs (6-1 overall, 2-0 league) are scheduled to host the Mercy Warriors (2-7-1 overall, 0-1 league) at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 25. TheBulldogsandWarriorswere scheduled to meet in Red Bluff April 7 but the game was can- celled due to rain. It has yet to be rescheduled. LadyBulldogs6,Williams12 WILLIAMS The Los Molinos Lady Bulldogs took a road loss Wednesday to the Williams Yel- lowjackets 12-6. The Bulldogs got on the board first with 2 in the first, but the Yellowjackets came back with 3 in the second and 2 in the fourth and would hold the lead the rest of the way. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday no indi- vidual stats were posted for the Bulldogs. The Lady Bulldogs (3-5 overall, 1-2 league) are scheduled to host the Mercy Warriors (1-3 overall, 1-0 league) at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 25. LOS MOLINOS Bulldogsteamssplittheirgames Boys team beats Williams by he y margin while girls team takes loss in high scoring game Warriors' Kevin Durant follows through on a 3-point basket during the second half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Lakers, in Oakland. Nobody wanted to miss this impromptu, incredible shooting display by two of the world's very best: Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. RICH PEDRONCELLI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Kings guard Buddy Hield, le , drives to the basket against Phoenix Suns center Alex Len during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday in Sacramento. SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, April 14, 2017 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1

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