S.F. Examiner: Mysterious Harden bows out with abysmal (13 turnovers) night

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

OAKLAND — There they were, the MVP and the almost MVP, hugging. For one man, Stephen Curry, it was congratulatory, and for the other, James Harden, it was comforting. The end had arrived for Harden and the Houston Rockets. There were no more games to play.

The Warriors, led by Curry, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, had beaten the Rockets, 104-90, in the Western Conference Finals Wednesday night before a sellout crowd that sent cheers cascading down the tiers of Oracle Arena in ear-splitting glory. It is on to the finals for the golden men of Golden State. It is on to the summer, Houston.

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© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Can Washington rescue the no-D, no-win A’s?

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

OAKLAND — The old guy looks good in green and gold. To the A's, anyone who can show them how to pick up a moving ball looks good.

It's been Warriors fans chanting, "Defense, defense," but it's the Athletics' fans who needed to be shouting it. Which is the reason A's management brought back the old guy, Ron Washington, whose head is clear after personal issues prompted his resignation as manager of a Texas Rangers team that won two American League pennants on his watch.

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© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Carson Raiders lack rhyme, reason

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

LOS ANGELES — The Raiders are not here. At least I could not find them. Neither are the Chargers. Nor the Rams. Nor a new stadium. What they have here, in the suburbs of Inglewood and Carson, is a battle to get an NFL franchise and a lot of talk about spending millions of dollars for a team which never might arrive.

They’re already planning for a Super Bowl. Not involving a local team, since one doesn’t exist, but a local stadium, although that doesn’t exist, either. They’ll have one, we’re told, but don’t book your seats yet. Don’t do anything until all an earthmover moves earth some place.

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© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: Powerball replaces smallball, and Warriors still survive the grind

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

OAKLAND — It was everything NBA playoff basketball is supposed to be, two desperate teams crashing and colliding, scoring and rebounding, getting leads and losing them and, in the final frantic seconds, making a great defensive play to save a victory for the Warriors.

"You just want the win," said Steve Kerr, the Warriors coach. And they just got it, 99-98, over Houston on Thursday night at Oracle, to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Western Conference final.

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© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: Warriors turning smallball into large difference in series

By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

There's a phrase for everything in sports, isn't there? We had "Billy Ball" for the move-'em-along style of baseball the A's played in the early 1980s. We had "Hack-a-Shaq" for the way opponents repeatedly fouled Shaquille O'Neal, because he couldn't make free throws.

And now we have "smallball," which seems to be anything in the NBA involving athletes 6-foot-9 or shorter.

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© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner