Kerr returns with win
Steve Kerr had butterflies Friday night for his long-awaited season debut coaching the defending NBA champions. Then, he got right back to winning.
Golden State’s second-year coach came back to the Warriors’ bench Friday night following a long leave of absence dating to the first week of training camp in October as he recovered from complications following two back surgeries — and host Golden State delivered with a 122-110 win against the Pacers behind Stephen Curry’s triple-double.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time ... I really missed the routine,” Kerr said. “It feels like the first game of the season, which it is for me. Fortunately our team’s in a pretty good groove and hopefully we can keep going. "
The defending champion Warriors won their 38th straight regular-season home game to tie the 1985-86 Celtics for third place on the all-time list for such unbeaten streaks. The Warriors went 39-4 in Kerr’s absence.
l Josh Smith is headed back to Houston after the Los Angeles Clippers traded him to the Rockets on Friday.
Smith finished last season with the Rockets before signing with the Clippers in the offseason. Houston also received the draft rights to forward/center Sergei Lishouk and cash considerations in the deal that gave Los Angeles draft rights to forward Maarty Leunen.
IONA WINS
Isaiah Williams scored 19 points, Deyshonee Much had 17 and both hit five 3-pointers to lead host Iona to a 64-58 win over Saint Peter’s.
l Carson Puriefoy scored 20 points and host Stony Brook closed on a 7-0 run to beat Albany, 69-63.
MILESTONE FOR BC COACH
Jerry York of Boston College got his 1,000th career victory, becoming the first coach in NCAA Division I men’s hockey to reach the milestone.
York reached the mark with BC’s 8-0 win over Hockey East rival UMass in Amherst. York, in his 44th season on the bench and 22nd at Boston College, has compiled a 1,000-595-108 record.
SNOW GO
Because of the huge snowstorm expected to move up the East Coast, two NBA games and one in the NHL were postponed, as were several college basketball games and NASCAR’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The NBA said Boston’s game at Philadelphia scheduled for Saturday night will be made up on Sunday at 7 p.m. The Utah Jazz’s game at Washington, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, will be reset at a later date.
The NHL initially shifted the starting time of Friday’s game between the Washington Capitals and Anaheim, moving it up two hours to 5 p.m. The league then postponed it on Friday but did not yet have a makeup date. A decision regarding Sunday’s game between the visiting Pittsburgh Penguin sand Capitals will be announced Saturday morning.
NASCAR called off Friday night’s ceremony in Charlotte honoring Terry Labonte, Jerry Cook, Bobby Isaac, Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner until Saturday afternoon.