Warriors seek more glory as title-hungry rivals lurk

Butler practices again with Wolves

WASHINGTON, Oct 15, (Agencies): Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry will enjoy watching the Golden State Warriors hoist another championship banner Tuesday when they open the 2018-19 NBA campaign against Oklahoma City.

But the 3-point sharpshooter doesn’t need to look to the rafters to know the Warriors remain the team to beat as they begin the quest for a third consecutive NBA title and fourth crown in five seasons.

“I’m still glowing,” Curry said. “The glow won’t wear down until you get beat.”

The Warriors boast three other AllStars in two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant, defensive stalwart Draymond Green and Curry’s backcourt partner Klay Thompson – plus a fifth in injured center DeMarcus Cousins, signed in July but still sidelined after left Achilles tendon surgery in January.

Working Cousins into the lineup once he returns could add some zest to the regular season for Golden State, which has so far avoided letting repetitive domination lead to complacency.

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of with our team,” Curry said. “We’re talented and all that, but the work that goes into it, the mental approach to turn the page, has been there the last three years.

“You work so hard to earn the right to be proud of yourself at the end of the summer.”

Golden State will try to become the first team since the 2000-2002 Los Angeles Lakers to win three consecutive NBA titles and join the 1950s Minneapolis Lakers and 1960s Boston Celtics as the only clubs to win four titles in five years.

The Celtics dynasty, with eight titles in a row and nine in all from 19571966, is the only NBA squad to reach five consecutive NBA Finals – a feat the Warriors can achieve this season.

The Houston Rockets, who pushed the Warriors to seven games in last season’s Western Conference Finals, and the Boston Celtics, bringing back injured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward to a team that was one win from last season’s Eastern Conference crown, figure to lead a pack of rivals who ache for a chance to play for the championship.

“To be honest, it’s fun,” Curry said of wearing the target for every NBA rival. “No matter if it’s a Tuesday night at home or a back-to-back in some random East Coast city, you’re going to be tested and you can’t just sleepwalk through stuff.

“We’ve been exposed at times in

Curry

terms of when we’re not extremely locked in that we can be beat. But when we are focused and in tune with each other, understanding what we’re trying to do to be successful, obviously we’re tough.”

No one knows that better than the Rockets, who won a league-best 65 games last season behind NBA Most Valuable Player and scoring champion James Harden. Houston led Golden State 3-2 in the West Finals before Chris Paul suffered an injured hamstring and missed the last two games, both won by the Warriors to reach the NBA Finals, where they swept Cleveland for the crown.

While four-time NBA MVP LeBron James left Cleveland for the Los Angeles Lakers, he’s unlikely to lift them from 35 wins to title contenders in a season, leaving the Rockets to again offer the best threat in the West to Golden State’s supremacy after adding 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony to the lineup.

“We’re trying to win a championship. The margin for error is very little,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “With this team, the depth we have, I think we’ve got an answer for everything. We’ve just got to figure out what that answer is.”

The Celtics have some sorting to do as well in an East up for grabs with James gone from Cleveland. Toronto added Kawhi Leonard and Philadelphia offers young star talent but Boston figures to be the best in the East.

All-Stars Irving and Hayward suffered season-ending injuries that allowed Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier to make an impact and nearly put the Celtics in the finals anyway. Blending the talent into a formidable lineup over the six-month season figures to make Boston a title threat.

“This franchise is really built for the next few years of being at the top tier of teams in the league,” Irving said. “Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? What more could you ask for from an organization to really elevate your game? I’m looking forward to the challenge this year.”

Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler is still suiting up for the Minnesota Timberwolves, with the opener three days away.

Despite his preference to play elsewhere, signs have begun to point to him staying with the Timberwolves at least to start the season. Butler took part in practice on Sunday, the second time he has done so since training camp began with his trade request as the focal point of the team.

“They want me to go out here and hoop to the best of my abilities,” Butler said. “Make sure I’m healthy, compete, because that’s what I love to do, and do it for the guys in the same jerseys as me.”

In this April 11, 2018 file photo, Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler (center), drives to the basket ahead of Denver Nuggets’ Paul Millsap (right), during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Minneapolis. (AP)

Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts hits an RBI double against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning in Game 2 of a baseball American League

Championship Series on Oct 14, in Boston. (AP)

BOSTON, Oct 15, (AP): David Price went home a winner in a postseason start for the first time in his career. That, he insisted, is all he ever cared about.

“This is bigger than David Price,” he said on Sunday night. “This isn’t about me. This is about the Boston Red Sox.”

Price was good enough, the Red Sox relievers were even better, and Jackie Bradley Jr delivered a go-ahead, three-run double off the Green Monster to lead Boston to a 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros and tie the AL Championship Series at one game apiece.

Price fell one out short of qualifying for the win, which would have been his first in 11 postseason starts. But it was the first time his team had won a playoff game he started, snapping a record run of October futility.

“It’s baby steps,” said Price, who entered the night 0-9 in 10 career playoff starts. “I expect myself to be great in big moments, and I haven’t done that thus far in my career. But I came here to win, period. I came here to win a World Series, and to do it multiple times. And that’s what I’m about.”

Game 3 is Tuesday in Houston, followed by two more at Minute Maid Park and a chance for the defending World Series champions to clinch a second straight AL pennant at home. Marwin Gonzalez homered for the Astros, who had won five straight postseason games dating to Game 7 of the 2017 Series.

“We came here and won a game, and they played well tonight,” Houston third baseman Alex Bregman said. “It’s going to be a fun series, so we’re looking forward to going back home.”

Price was spotted a two-run lead in the first inning and then fell behind 4-2 before Bradley clanged one off the left-field wall that Gonzalez chased helplessly as it bounced back toward the infield.

Price left leading 5-4 with two on with two out in the fifth before Matt Barnes struck out Gonzalez to end the inning and then pitched a perfect sixth to earn the victory. Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless inning and erstwhile starter Rick Porcello set the Astros down 1-2-3 in the eighth.

Closer Craig Kimbrel gave up Jose Altuve’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth before Bregman launched a high fly to left that Andrew Benintendi caught a step in front of the Monster.

“I knew I missed it,” Bregman said. “If I got it, it would have been on the street behind Fenway Park.”

Gerrit Cole, who was so dominant in his Division Series start against Cleveland, gave up a double to Mookie Betts – the first batter of the game – as Boston sent eight batters to the plate in the first and scored twice.

The AL West champs tied it in the second on George Springer’s two-run double down the rightfield line. And when Gonzalez cleared the Monster – and the seats above them – with a two-run homer in the third, it looked like Price was headed for another loss (he has won two postseason games in relief.)

But Boston, which won the AL East and a franchise-record 108 games, came back in the bottom David Price #24 of the Boston Red Sox pitches in the first inning against the Houston Astros during Game Two of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park on Oct 14

in Boston, Massachusetts. (AFP) half, starting with Xander Bogaerts’ one-out single and then a double by Steve Pearce that sent Gonzalez crashing back-first into the metal scoreboard on the left-field wall. He fell to the warning track, but after the training staff and manger A.J. Hinch went out to check on him he stayed in the game.

“The ball, the wall, he’s back-pedaling. He’s got to make a decision on whether or not to concede the wall and try to play it off the wall or try to make a catch,” Hinch said. “It’s a well-placed hit.”

Cole walked Devers on four pitches to load the bases and struck out Ian Kinsler on three before Bradley lofted one down the left-field line and off the Monster. As the ball bounced back toward the infield, it hopped on the padding along the side wall, just out of Gonzalez’s reach.

“Not really catching a break with it rolling on this awkward piece of padding all the way down was unfortunate,” Cole said. “But you put yourself in that position.”

Betts scored an insurance run in the seventh, walking to lead off the inning and coming around to make it 6-4 on a wild pitch and a pair of passed balls. He gave Boston a 7-4 lead with an RBI double in the eighth.

In all, Price was charged with four runs on five hits and four walks, striking out four in 4-2/3 innings

Price’s teams had lost all 10 of his previous postseason starts, the longest such losing streak in baseball history. He allowed three runs and got just five outs in Game 2 against the Yankees, the only Red Sox loss in the series.

As Price left the field on this night, the crowd rose to applaud the pitcher they booed off the mound in the Division Series, and he tapped the brim of his cap.

“It’s definitely appreciated,” Price said. “It wasn’t the line I dreamed up to have tonight. But our offense, our defense, everybody rallied together.”

The Red Sox said Game 1 starter Chris Sale was hospitalized with a stomach illness but Cora said he was still hoping the he would join the team in Houston.

Cora said it did not affect his performance in the series opener, which Houston won 7-2.

It was Houston’s 14th straight postseason game with a homer, breaking the major league record that had been held by the Astros from 2001-04.

Dallas Keuchel, who was 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in the regular season, will start Game 3 for Houston. He allowed two runs in five innings in the Game 3 clincher against Cleveland.