Dub Hub: Steve Kerr says Kevon Looney ‘saved’ them in win vs. the Blazers

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Friday, April 12th.

The Golden State Warriors secured their third straight victory after beating the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, 100-92. Although it may have been their sloppiest performance of this recent stretch of games, the Warriors still found a way to win thanks to a big-time performance off the bench from center, Kevon Looney.

The nine-year veteran big man anchored multiple key possessions down the stretch, finishing the night with nine points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and four blocks to go with his team-high plus-minus of +19. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr praised Looney for “saving” the team once again, as the win, along with the Sacramento Kings’ loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, opens up an opportunity for the Warriors to move up to the eighth seed in the West.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Friday, April 12th:

• Kevon Looney provides a spark off the bench to power the Warriors to a 100-92 victory over the Blazers
• How the Warriors can clinch the eighth seed in the Western Conference standings
• Kings lose to the Pelicans on Thursday night, 135-123

Warriors News:

Steve Kerr praises Kevon Looney in 100-92 victory over the Blazers: “Loon just saved us, like he has done dozens of times in his career here.”

Warriors, Kings or Lakers: Who will get the West’s eighth seed? | The Athletic

Friday is the crucial night. If Sacramento can beat the Suns, the path for the Warriors and Lakers to climb is nearly blocked. All the Kings would need is a Sunday afternoon home win over a Blazers team that’ll be three hours from summer vacation. The Kings still have an outside shot at seventh. They’d need to go 2-0 and have the Suns also lose in Minnesota on the season’s final night.

But if the Suns beat the Kings on Friday night in Sacramento, the eighth-seed door cracks open for the Warriors. They’re hosting the Pelicans at the same time 86 miles away in San Francisco and, after resting Green and Thompson, are expected to have their full rotation available. If they beat the Pelicans and then the Jazz on Sunday and get that Kings loss, they finish eighth.

Brandin Podziemski confident that the Warriors can ‘beat anybody’

Klay meets young Dubs fans who skipped school to see him in Portland | NBC Sports Bay Area

Joe Walker of Spokane, Wash., told NBC Sports Bay Area that he bought the Warriors-Blazers tickets for his sons, Gus and Mac, back in November as a Christmas present. Thompson is the boys’ favorite player, and the Walker trio all are “huge” Washington State fans.

When Warriors senior vice president of communications Raymond Ridder got wind of the Walker family’s predicament, he reached out to Joe Walker on X, formerly known as Twitter, right away.

What followed was pure magic, as Thompson and several other Warriors teammates made it up to the young fans by meeting them after the 100-92 win over the Blazers.

Podziemski declares he, Jackson-Davis are NBA’s ‘best rookie duo’ | NBC Sports Bay Area

“Yeah, all the time,” Podziemski told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on Thursday’s episode of “NBA Today” when asked if All-Rookie honors are on his mind. “Every week, I see NBA.com’s new rookie ladder. This morning, I just saw it with Trayce at No. 10, so to see both of our names in the top 10 list was super fulfilling.

“But I think in a much broader perspective, if you could re-draft, you wouldn’t take me 19 and you wouldn’t take him 57. So, you know, we’ve made our impact and put our print on the NBA so far, and I think we’re the best rookie duo in the league.”

NBA News:

McCollum, Williamson score 31 apiece, Pelicans complete five-game sweep of Kings with 135-123 win | AP News

De’Aaron Fox had 33 points and eight assists, but Sacramento lost for the fourth time in its last five games and lost its chance to avoid the play-in tournament. The Kings (45-35) are tied with the Lakers and Warriors for eighth.

“If we could’ve finished in sixth, I wanted that more than anything else,” Sacramento coach Mike Brown said. “Or fifth. But at the end of the day, this is where we are, and let’s frickin’ go get it and let’s learn and grow from it and see what happens, at the end of the day. But I’m excited about any opportunity to play in the postseason.”

Kram Session: Eight Numbers to Know Ahead of the 2024 NBA Playoffs | The Ringer

Plus-3.2 Points per 100 Possessions

Once again, the Nuggets are awesome when Nikola Jokic is on the floor and terrible when he isn’t. This season, Denver has a plus-12.7 net rating with Jokic on, per Cleaning the Glass, and a minus-11.5 rating with him off, making for by far the largest on/off split among players with at least 1,000 minutes. (Jokic’s on/off swing is 24.2 points per 100 possessions; the biggest swing for a non-Nugget is 14.4 points per 100, for San Antonio’s Tre Jones.)

But the takeaway from that minus-11.5 figure is more nuanced than just concluding Denver can’t function without its MVP. The Nuggets have indeed been abysmal when replacing Jokic with a true reserve center this season—but they’ve managed to tread water just fine when staggering starters and using Aaron Gordon as a small-ball backup 5.

Timberwolves’ Karl Anthony Towns expected to play on Friday after missing 18 games due to a meniscus injury

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Player grades: Warriors vs. Blazers

Trayce Jackson-Davis

27 minutes, 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 3-for-4 shooting, 4-for-4 free throws, 86.8% TS, -11

TJD has turned into a block machine, and it’s pretty damn fun to watch — he has 11 swatted shots in his last three games. I loved the defense Jackson-Davis played on Deandre Ayton. Ayton ultimately got his, leading all scorers with 25 points, but he needed 24 shots to get there ... and the shots he did make fell more into the category of impressive than easy.

Grade: A

Post-game bonus: Tied for the worst plus/minus on the team.

A tweet to end the week:

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.