NBA Finals<\/a>.<\/p>\nRockets agree to a long-term extension with head coach Ime Udoka, according to ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania.<\/p>\n
Caitlin Clark\u2019s first professional game at the Chase Center didn\u2019t end in victory, but it still carried personal significance for the Indiana Fever superstar.<\/p>\n
Playing against the Golden State Valkyries in front of a packed crowd at the Chase Center wasn\u2019t lost on Clark, whose long-range shooting and dynamic playmaking continues to draw comparisons to Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.<\/p>\n
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Following the Fever\u2019s 88-77 loss, Clark reflected on what it meant to play on the same floor that Curry calls home.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the most efficient outing for Clark, however, as she struggled from the field, shooting just 3-of-14 overall and 0-of-7 from three-point range. She finished the night with 11 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, and one steal as the Fever ultimately fell to the Valkyries who are now 6-6 on the season.<\/p>\n
For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Friday, June 20th:<\/p>\n
Warriors News:Fever star Caitlin Clark praises idol Steph Curry before WNBA Bay Area debut | NBC Sports Bay Area<\/p>\n
As Clark and the Fever wrapped up morning shootaround Thursday, video showed her shouting, \u201cCurry!\u201d before sinking a 3-pointer. Clark later discussed that moment during a pregame media availability when she was asked if she hopes she\u2019ll get a friendly shooter\u2019s bounce given the kind of success players such as Steph Curry have had in the arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope so. It\u2019s my first time here,\u201d Clark said. \u201cI told Kate [Martin] this after shootaround: this arena is absolutely incredible. So I\u2019m excited to play here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warriors must de-emphasize small ball, prioritize adding center this offseason | NBC Sports Bay Area<\/p>\n
The Western Conference is overrun with imposing big men: Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren in Oklahoma City, Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn in Houston, Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle in Minnesota. There are Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II in Dallas, Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey in Memphis and Ivica Zubac with the Clippers. And, at the top of this mountain range is three-time MVP Nikola Joki\u0107 in Denver.<\/p>\n
Those 12 players \u2013 eight of whom are under age 30 \u2013 compose a smorgasbord of skill, length and athleticism. They all bring something to the paint. Joki\u0107 is transcendent, and Wembanyama is pointed toward that direction.<\/p>\n
Draymond Greens explains why all the pressure is on the Thunder for Game 7Siegel\u2019s Scoop: How Kevin Durant trade saga impacts draft, free agency rumors | ClutchPoints<\/p>\n
Whether or not this is all a ploy to increase Kuminga\u2019s overall value or get him on a contract that could be traded down the line for another star-level talent is the ultimate question many around the league are pondering. If the right sign-and-trade opportunity presents itself, Golden State\u2019s front office will have Lacob\u2019s support, and they won\u2019t be afraid to move on from Kuminga. But with free agency less than two weeks away, eyes are on Kuminga and whether he truly wants to return to the Warriors.<\/p>\n
Head Coach Steve Kerr and former Warrior Juan Toscano-Anderson in attendance for the Valkyries gameNBA News:OKC flops in \u2018uncharacteristic\u2019 dud in Game 6 of NBA Finals | ESPN<\/p>\n
With a chance to clinch a championship, the Oklahoma City Thunder turned in a clunker of a performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way I see it is we sucked tonight,\u201d Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after the 108-91 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Thursday\u2019s Game 6 of the NBA Finals. \u201cWe need to learn the lessons, and we have one game for everything we worked for, and so do they. The better team Sunday will win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finals Film Study: Pacers shut Thunder down in Game 6 | NBA<\/p>\n
Through the first five games, the Thunder scored a fairly efficient 1.14 points per chance (82 on 72) whenever the Pacers double-teamed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Indiana continued to send doubles whenever the reigning Kia MVP took Andrew Nembhard into the post on Thursday and swarmed Gilgeous-Alexander on some drives, but the Thunder couldn\u2019t make them pay.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City missed a couple of decent shots when Gilgeous-Alexander passed out of a crowd. But often, the ball never escaped.<\/p>\n
Rockets agree to a long-term extension with head coach Ime UdokaIn case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:31 Warriors offseason scenariors part 2: The case for a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade<\/p>\n
There are non-Vu\u010devi\u0107 sign-and-trade scenarios that could send Kuminga to the Bulls. Coby White is another obvious one. However, Lonzo Ball is another player that would make a lot of sense in Golden State. His defensive potential and elite passing ability would be easy to fit in Kerr\u2019s system. Moreover, his new deal, which pays him $10 million a year for the next two seasons, would easily fit in the Dubs limited sign-and-trade flexibility.<\/p>\n
A tweet to end the week:<\/p>\n
Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n
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More from goldenstateofmind.com:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In today\u2019s Dub Hub: Caitlin Clark praises Steph Curry, calling him her idol after playing her first game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3786],"tags":[1784,495,7,920,455,6675,366,559,963,686,2619,301,1264,200,479,4705,164,4025,4024,292,1272,113,459,126,949,532,496,867,376,938,4442,307,6,1220,253,475,179,211,373,969,209,567,932,693,255,1083],"class_list":{"0":"post-113971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-andrew-nembhard","9":"tag-anthony-davis","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-bulls","12":"tag-caitlin-clark","13":"tag-chase-center","14":"tag-chet-holmgren","15":"tag-clippers","16":"tag-coby-white","17":"tag-dallas","18":"tag-daniel-gafford","19":"tag-denver","20":"tag-dereck-lively-ii","21":"tag-draymond-green","22":"tag-golden-state","23":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","24":"tag-golden-state-warriors","25":"tag-goldenstate","26":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","27":"tag-houston","28":"tag-ime-udoka","29":"tag-indiana","30":"tag-indiana-fever","31":"tag-indiana-pacers","32":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","33":"tag-ivica-zubac","34":"tag-jaren-jackson-jr","35":"tag-jonathan-kuminga","36":"tag-julius-randle","37":"tag-kevin-durant","38":"tag-lonzo-ball","39":"tag-minnesota","40":"tag-nba","41":"tag-nba-finals","42":"tag-nikola-jokic","43":"tag-oklahoma-city","44":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","45":"tag-rockets","46":"tag-rudy-gobert","47":"tag-san-antonio","48":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","49":"tag-shams-charania","50":"tag-steph-curry","51":"tag-victor-wembanyama","52":"tag-warriors","53":"tag-zach-edey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}