Warriors shock the world, beat NBA best Celtics

Stephen Jackson had been hurt and missed the last 4 games, letting his wrist get some much needed rest. Jackson came back against the NBA best Boston Celtics, who were sporting a 27-3 record. The Warriors were sporting a 8-22 record. The Celtics were coming off a Xmas day loss to the Lakers. All things pointed to the Warriors getting their asses handed to them.

Instead, Jackson finished with 28 points on 9-for-17 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals to lead the Warriors to a 99-89 victory against the Celtics. He hit so many clutch shots, you’d have a hard time remembering any of his six turnovers.

“We finally got Jack playing like Jack,” coach Don Nelson said. “First time in a long time.”

Fortunately for the Warriors, they also had Marco Belinelli playing like Belinelli, knocking down bombs and energizing the crowd. He finished with 22 points, including an 11-point 3rd quarter that sparked the Warriors’ roaring comeback.

They got Ronny Turiaf playing like Turiaf. He anchored a Warriors’ defense that held the Celtics to 17 points on 6-for-20 shooting (30%) and forced 6 turnovers in the 4th quarter. The Warriors held the Celtics’ Big 3 to 35 points, 18 below their average.

“I can’t say enough about Turiaf,” Jackson said. “He’s been bringing the energy, and the confidence we have in him, knowing that if we get beat, we know he’s going to be there to rebound and block shots. Without him, I don’t think we could’ve won this game.”

Thanks to Belinelli’s shooting stroke, the Warriors carried some momentum into the 4th quarter, though they trailed 72-64 after three quarters.

Turiaf opened the quarter by jamming home a two-handed dunk, pulling the Warriors to within six — the closest they’d been since the first quarter. Then Jackson caught fire.

He followed an Azubuike 3 with one of his own, cutting Boston’s lead to 78-77. Jackson then gave the Warriors the lead with a turnaround jumper that bounced in at the 6:03 mark. Moments later, he nailed another 3, giving the Warriors an 82-78 advantage with 5:32 to go. Oracle was officially rocking.

“That was crazy,” said injured guard Jamal Crawford, still buzzing after witnessing Oracle Arena at its peak for the first time. “Best fans in the league. The Garden is the Garden. But this is different. They are passionate man. Passionate.”

The Warriors’ improbable run continued. Belinelli knocked down a pull-up jumper off the glass. Then Jackson drew a foul on Allen while attempting a 3. Allen fouled out and Jackson knocked down all 3 free throws, putting the Warriors ahead 87-78 with just over 4 minutes left.

Point guard C.J. Watson came off the bench to put the icing on the cake — nailing back-to-back mid-range jumpers, the latter putting the Warriors ahead 93-84 with 1:23 left in the game — and Jackson lit the candles with a pair of free throws with 36.2 seconds remaining.

“It shows we have great character on this team and that we have guys who are willing to give themselves up for the team,” said Turiaf, who posted season highs in points (14) and rebounds (8). “We are a young team that has gone through a lot of injuries and a lot of tough times this season. But this tells us that regardless of what happens, we just need to keep working hard and eventually good things will start to happen to us.”

Next up for the W’s, the hated Lakers. Man, I hate the Lakers. Hopefully their team plane crashes and they all die…. then the women of the world will be safe from the rapist known as Kobe Bryant.

I have never copied/pasted anything in my entire life. EVER!

Giants sign the big unit to a 1 year deal

The Giants have a very strong rotation that consists of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, Randy Johnson and Dirty Sanchez. The Giants also are looking for Noah Lowry to make a comeback after 2 forearm surgeries cancelled his season last year. If he can come back, the Giants will have an extra starter that they can trade for a bat.

Lacking a potent offense, the Giants need a bat in a big way. Having resisted offers of corner infielders for Jonathan Sanchez, general manager Brian Sabean hinted that he might at least listen to trade proposals involving the left-hander, now that Johnson’s aboard.

Johnson says he hasn’t conceded that this will be his last season, but the 45-year-old acknowledged, “It could be my last season. … I probably want to enjoy it a little more and be surrounded by people who are enjoying it as well.”

Johnson believes that the Giants can achieve the feat that would please him and his teammates most: A National League West title. The Giants have endured 4 straight losing seasons, but Johnson noted that he witnessed the type of turnaround the Giants aspire to in 1999, when he helped the d-backs win the division with a 100-62 record after they finished 65-97 in their first season the year before.

“I foresee that possibility and the likelihood that would happen,” Johnson said, adding that competing in a “weaker NL West” could assist the Giants.

Manager Bruce Bochy likes the thought of the Giants’ younger pitchers taking cues from Johnson’s drive - which he’ll certainly maintain as he pursues his 300th career win. Cain and Lincecum, both 24, and Sanchez, 26, should particularly benefit from Johnson’s example. “It can’t help but rub off on people,” Bochy said.

Johnson, whose renowned fastball still travels in the low-90-mph range, might be in as good of shape as any Giants pitcher. Having spent his previous two offseasons recovering from back surgeries, he has focused on conditioning instead of rehabilitating this winter.

That also bodes well for the Giants, who Johnson selected after fielding interest from a dozen teams, by his count.

Sharks lose 3-2 in shootout, still pick up a point

The Sharks picked up a point Saturday night, despite the heroics of Brad Winchester. Winchester tied the game in the 2nd period, and scored the deciding goal on the 1st shootout chance of his career, helping the St. Louis Blues knock off the Sharks 3-2.

“They’re a top team in the league, certainly,” Winchester said. “We just played hard and played smart. We pressured at the right times and it paid dividends in the end.”

David Perron added his first goal in 19 games for St. Louis, which had lost 7 of its previous 8. The Blues ended a 7 game losing streak against the Sharks.

Winchester fired a wrist shot over Nabokov’s glove for the deciding goal in the shootout. He was a surprise choice to participate in the shootout, given his success against San Jose.

“You’re always ready,” Winchester said. “When he let me know, I was ready to go. I just tried to take it in stride.”

San Jose is 27-4-4 and set a franchise record for fastest 5 goals to start the game in a 5-0 victory over the Canucks on Tuesday, although a 2-2-1 record the last five games reflects that the franchise has cooled off. Coach Todd McClellan was dissatisfied with all aspects of his team’s game.

“Way too many passengers. Still celebrating Christmas. Whatever,” McClellan said. “We weren’t prepared to play and to be quite honest with you, you could almost see it coming.”

Jonathan Cheechoo and Mike Grier each had a goal and assist, and Joe Thornton had 2 assists for the Sharks, who have been put to the test in all 3 meetings against the lowly Blues with a pair of 5-4 victories earlier in the season. They fell to 3-1 in shootouts.

Next up are the Dallas Stars on Monday night.

Raiders shock the world!

Just when you and everyone else are about to leave the Raiders for dead, they up and play a game like this.

The Raiders’ all-around impressive 27-16 victory over the red hot Houston Texans on Sunday had those who braved the cold and rain at the Coliseum roaring their approval and likely wondering if this was a one game aberration or a harbinger of things to come.

 

“Obviously, it lends itself toward a more positive vibe heading into next year,” Raiders coach Tom Cable said, “but, at the same time, we want to go in to Tampa (on Sunday) and put a great effort on the field so we can back it up. As I mentioned before, we have struggled to do that. So this would be very important for us.”

 

The Raiders snapped a 3 game losing streak and won for only the second time in 2 months. They improved to 4-11 and assured themselves a third-place finish in the AFC West.

Perhaps more important, the Raiders showed they are capable of beating a good team and playing well in all phases of the game from start to finish, regardless of who is on the field.

The Raiders played without their top 4 wide receivers against a Texans team riding a four-game winning streak on the strength of the league’s 3rd ranked offense.

Second-year wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins almost single-handedly turned a close game into a one-sided affair. He scored on a 29-yard touchdown reception and an 80-yard punt return within 4 minutes, 19 seconds of each other midway through the third quarter.

“I feel like I’m explosive,” Higgins said. “Like, you never know what can happen. ‘It looks like he’s tackled, it looks like he’s down. Oh, he’s gone. It looks like he can’t catch it, like he can’t do this. There he goes.’ So, I always look at myself as a playmaker.”

The Raiders wrap up the season at Tampa Bay on Sunday.

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