Ellis’ jumper lifts Warriors past Suns, 106-104

PHOENIX (AP)—Dorell Wright had no doubt of the outcome when Monta Ellis rose to take Golden State’s final shot.

Ellis hit an 20-foot fadeaway jumper with 1 second remaining and the Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns 106-104 on Wednesday night.

“I knew it was going in,” Wright said. “That’s what he’s about. He’s a gamer.”

Ellis shared Wright’s confidence.


Golden State Warriors guard Mo…
AP - Feb 23, 12:05 am EST


“It looked good and felt good,” Ellis said. “It was a tough shot but I was locked in and focused on it and it went down for me. Coach just told me to go with 5 seconds and get a good shot and I thought I did that.”

Channing Frye’s 3-point attempt rolled off the back of the rim at the buzzer, giving the Warriors their first win in Phoenix since March 18, 2005.

Ellis finished with a game-high 26 points, Wright had 23 and David Lee added 22 for the Warriors, who squandered a 21-point lead before rallying in the final 2:16.

“I feel like we executed on both sides of the basketball when it matters most,” said Warriors coach Mark Jackson. “If I had to design a win, I would have designed it this way. It was much better for our future to grind out a win.”

Golden State played all but 1 minute of the final three quarters and the entire second half without Stephen Curry, who strained a tendon in his right foot with 2:19 to play in the first quarter.

Frye had 22 points, Marcin Gortat scored 21 and Jared Dudley finished with 17 for the Suns, whose two-game winning streak was snapped.

“The way we approached the game sucked,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. “We end up defending the hell out of the guy and he makes the shot. But that’s not the difference in the game. The difference in the game was the first 10 minutes of the game.


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Warriors Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

As its players kicked off their sneakers to begin a relaxing five-day All-Star break, no NBA organization was more conflicted than that of the Warriors.

The Warriors entered the break a very disappointing 13-17, yet very much still in contention for a playoff berth in the Western Conference.They had every reason to rejoice Monta Ellis’ game-winning jumper in their 106-104 win at Phoenix on Wednesday, yet they also had to be concerned about a foot injury that forced Stephen Curry to sit out the second half of the game.

The Warriors will lose their first-round draft pick to Utah if they don’t finish in the top seven in the lottery. So the incentive to lose is, in some minds, at least equally as great as the incentive to make the playoffs for just the second time in 18 years.

The Warriors have some assets that could be intriguing to title and playoff contenders at the upcoming trade deadline. But what should the Warriors ask for in return: players who could help in their own playoff run this season, or expiring contracts of lesser players that could help assure a bottom-seven finish while creating more salary-cap space for next offseason?

The Warriors will have five days to ponder their plans for the immediate future. Interestingly, those plans might have been different had Ellis’ shot not fallen in his first-ever win at Phoenix.

Such is the current state of Warriors basketball. Even good news isn’t always comforting.

The Warriors start the second half on Tuesday at Indiana.

NOTES, QUOTES

• The Warriors were downplaying Stephen Curry’s injured right foot after Wednesday’s win at Phoenix.

The standout point guard, who had surgery on his right ankle during the offseason, landed awkwardly after a layup late in the first quarter and hobbled to the bench.

He re-entered the game in the second quarter but was noticeably limping and basically pulled him out of the action almost immediately.

Curry went to the locker room and had X-rays, which were negative.

He was scheduled to be re-evaluated in the San Francisco Bay Area upon the Warriors’ return Thursday morning.

“He just tweaked his foot a little bit. He’s going to get checked out,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said after the game. “I’m not an expert, but the right thing to do was shut him down, take advantage of the rest (over All-Star Weekend).”

Curry is scheduled to defend his title in the Skills Competition this weekend in Orlando, but that now is very much in question.

• The Andris Biedrins-Ekpe Udoh debate took two more very interesting twists Wednesday night.

First off, Warriors coach Mark Jackson elected to start Biedrins at center even though Udoh scored a career-high in Biedrins’ illness-related absence Monday against the Clippers.

Biedrins was his usual quiet self in the game (two points, three rebounds, four fouls in 18 minutes), but Udoh failed to take advantage.

In fact, he might have taken a step backward, banging his sore left knee early in the game and then being even less effective than Biedrins, playing a scoreless 22 minutes in which he had four rebounds and three fouls.

Quote To Note:   “If I had to design a win, I would have designed it this way. It was much better for our future to grind out a win.”—Warriors coach Mark Jackson.

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