Bay Area Buzz 12/17: Warriors’ Streak Ends, Chris Mullin, Michael Morse
Bay Area Topics
Warriors’ Streak Ends
"Without Andrew Bogut and David Lee, the Warriors put up a worthy fight against the Grizzlies on the road, but it just wasn’t enough as their 16-game win streak was snapped with a 105-98 loss in Memphis on Tuesday night.On a night where Stephen Curry shot 1-of-10 from three-point range, he still finished with 19 points and played a role in keeping the Warriors in the game.Down 80-69 entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors opened on a 17-6 run to trim the lead to two. But every time the Warriors threatened to close the gap, the Grizzlies responded, whether it was Tayshaun Prince hitting a three-pointer or Mike Conley making a driving layup.The game’s most controversial play came when Conley traveled to make the aforementioned layup that put the Grizzlies up 95-88 with 3:05 to play, but the referees did not call it. Both Steve Kerr and Andre Iguodala earned technicals for arguing, resulting in a four-point possession that altered the momentum of the game.Despite that, the Warriors managed to cut the lead to 99-96 with 38 seconds on the clock after a Curry driving layup. But eight seconds later, it was Conley who responded with a floater that left the Warriors with too much ground to make up in too little time."
Chris Mullin
"Chris Mullin is resisting the invitation to make an in-season move from an advisory role to the bench of the Sacramento Kings, according to NBA coaching sources.Sources told ESPN.com that Kings owner Vivek Ranadive has spent much of the past 24 hours lobbying Mullin to replace the fired Mike Malone despite his lack of NBA coaching experience. But sources say Mullin has reservations about making such a leap in the middle of the season, without the benefit of training camp or the time to assemble a veteran-laden coaching staff like Steve Kerr has as a rookie head coach at Golden State.Sources say that Mullin, in recent months, has expressed some interest to associates about trying his hand at coaching down the road. But if he can ultimately be persuaded to take the Kings job, sources say, chances are far greater that it would happen going into next season.…Sources told ESPN.com on Monday that the Kings are determined to give interim coach Ty Corbin “a shot” for the rest of the season to see if he can manufacture a more up-tempo style to suit the wishes of Ranadive and the Kings front office."
–Chris Broussard and Marc Stein, ESPN
Michael Morse
"After reaching an agreement to join the Miami Marlins, Michael Morse tweeted out a few farewell messages Wednesday, designated to the fans he gained with the San Francisco Giants.Morse agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract plus performance bonuses with the Marlins, according to multiple reports."