SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors have made another move in hopes of finding a reliable backup to point guard Stephen Curry. The Warriors acquired Steve Blake from the Los Angeles Lakers for reserve guards Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks on Wednesday night, adding a veteran ball-handler to their beleaguered bench. Word of the deal started to spread just before the Warriors played in Sacramento and the Lakers hosted Houston, with the three players involved saying goodbye to teammates and coaches in the locker room. Both teams confirmed the trade before halftime of their games. "We think this just bolsters the bench and gives us some more options, some more weapons and a player when you give him the ball you know you can trust him," Warriors general manager Bob Myers said during intermission in Sacramento. "We just think it was a chance to improve our roster and that was our justification." The trade gives Golden State a savvy veteran off the bench without sacrificing any of its core players or moving into the leagues luxury tax. The Warriors used a $4 million trade exception they got in the deal with Denver that landed free agent Andre Iguodala last summer. The team is about $400,000 under the luxury tax, Myers said. The Warriors were hoping Blake would be uniform when they host Houston on Thursday night in Oakland. Blake, who is making $4 million in the final year of his contract, averaged 9.5 points and 7.6 assists while starting all 27 games he played for the injury-depleted Lakers this season. The Warriors are counting on the 33-year-old veteran to improve a bench that has been searching for a solid ball-handler since Jarrett Jack left for Cleveland in free agency last summer. The Warriors acquired Jordan Crawford and Brooks from Boston in a three-team trade on Jan. 15. Golden State sent struggling backup Toney Douglas to Miami in that deal. Crawford has been, at times, a prolific scorer but is still learning how to be a better distributor and playmaker on a Warriors team that has plenty of shooters. He entered Wednesday averaging 6.3 points and 2.2 assists in his first 13 games with the Warriors after starting for the Celtics while Rajon Rondo was injured. "We like our core, and I think our core likes each other. I think its a core that can win," Myers said. "And our bench, for whatever reason, struggled early on. Anything we could do to fortify it, we tried to do without removing what we consider our core." The Lakers received some salary cap relief and a pair of young and unproven players in the deal. Brooks appeared in just seven games with the Warriors and never caught on in Mark Jacksons rotation. Bazemore, best known for his animated cheering on Golden States bench, also struggled in limited action the past two seasons. 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Jonathan Quick, who finishes the tournament today as the U.S. starting goaltender, was solid in net for the U.S. and posted 36 saves, but an offense that tied Finland for the most goals in the preliminary round (15) failed to get a shot by Canadian netminder Carey Price. Price ended with 31 saves to advance Canada into the gold medal game against Sweden. The only goal allowed by Quick came at 1:41 of the second period as Canadas Jay Bouwmeester unleashed a low, hard shot from the left point that was redirected into the net by Jamie Benn. The defeat dropped the U.S. to 1-4 in Olympic action against Canada since NHL players began competing in 1998. That includes an overtime setback four years ago in Vancouver.dddddddddddd Looking to secure a chance at winning its first Olympic gold medal, Finland instead saw its offense struggle as well in a 2-1 setback to Sweden on Friday. Without goaltender Tuukka Rask due to illness, Finland got 23 stops from Kari Lehtonen. Olli Jokinen was the lone Finn to beat Swede goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 25 saves. Rask will get the start in goal for the medal game. Jokinen was in the penalty box when Sweden netted its game-winning goal in the second period as Erik Karlsson scored on a one-time blast with 3:34 on the clock. The Finns had a power-play opportunity midway through the third, but failed to cash in and didnt have many good scoring chances the rest of the way. Finland is looking to secure an Olympic medal for the fifth time in the last six Olympic Games. The Finns won bronze in 2010 after taking silver four years prior. The U.S., which has not won gold since the 1980 Games in Lake Placid, won silver in 2002 and four years ago in Vancouver after being held without a medal in 2006. The last time the Americans won a bronze medal was in 1936. ' ' '