Notebook: Warriors 102, Suns 96

Posted Tuesday February 14, 2012 2:19AM

By Geoff Lepper, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: David Lee recorded his third double-double in his last four games with 28 points and 12 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors broke a seven-game losing streak to the Phoenix Suns with a 102-96 victory Monday. Lee's 14th double-double of the season included 15 points in the third quarter, and his dunk at the 1:43 mark of the period put the Warriors ahead for the first time. Golden State's top four reserves -- Nate Robinson, Brandon Rush, Klay Thompson and Ekpe Udoh -- combined to provide 38 points on 14-for-26 shooting as the Warriors posted their first three-game winning streak of the season. Marcin Gortat had a career-high-tying 25 points and 12 boards to lead Phoenix, which hadn't lost to Golden State since Dec. 26, 2009.

QUOTABLE: "It makes a big difference. When you're trying to preach winning basketball, ultimately, you want results. Because it gets old saying the same things. . . . When you look at where we were three games ago, I've seen teams in this league fold. I've seen players and organizations make excuses. These guys continue to practice hard. They come early and stay late. And we're getting results. But we're not satisfied with three wins. That's not our goal. We want to continue to get better."
-- First-year Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, on the longest winning streak of his coaching career.

THE STAT: The Warriors came into Monday ranked 26th in offensive rebounds per game at 9.92. They grabbed 15 of them against the Suns, and converted those possessions into 21 points. All but four of those points came in the first half as the Warriors scrapped hard to stay within shouting distance of the Suns, leaving Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry with a sense of foreboding: "I said to the guys at halftime, 'You can't play around with a team like this, that have that many weapons. One of their guys is gonna get hot, and we're gonna regret it.'"

TURNING POINT: Udoh has 18 blocks in his past seven games, but none were bigger than the clean stuff he had on Phoenix rookie Markieff Morris with 2:40 remaining, sending away what seemed a sure layup from 2 feet out. Phoenix had been in the midst of mounting a charge, but Morris' miss came in the middle of a 1-for-7 stretch late in the fourth quarter that torpedoed the Suns' hopes.

QUOTABLE II: "We've got to be a lot tougher, especially when teams tighten up their defense. We've got to still be able to execute and get the ball in the basket. It doesn't do you very much good to say, 'Boy, we played really well for two-and-a-half or three quarters.' You have to play well for 48 minutes, especially to win on the road."
-- Phoenix head coach Gentry.

HOT: With Suns forward Grant Hill forcing Monta Ellis into a 5-for-20 performance from the floor and Stephen Curry similarly shackled (3-for-10), the Warriors fell behind early. But Lee responded after halftime, blistering the Suns with his third-quarter outburst, which included 11 points in the space of less than four minutes. shackled (3-for-10), the Warriors fell behind early. But Lee responded after halftime, blistering the Suns with his third-quarter outburst, which included 11 points in the space of less than four minutes.

NOT: The Suns chucked up a 5-for-25 night from beyond the 3-point line, and even accounting for the last-ditch heaves in the final minute, it was not a good night for Phoenix's shooters. Channing Frye was 1-for-8 from deep, with Jared Dudley (1-for-5), Morris (1-for-4) and Steve Nash (0-for-3) not much better.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Udoh is best known among Golden State fans for consistently having one of the team's best plus-minus ratings -- he ranks No. 1 this year at plus-112, even though the Warriors have allowed 28 more points than they've scored. Udoh gave fans a little bit of everything in the fourth quarter, including a nifty bounce pass through traffic for a Rush dunk, then delivering a running hook shot with 35.9 seconds left to ice the win. Udoh finished with nine points, four boards and three blocks.

GOOD MOVE: Jackson was willing to go small in the third quarter to get the matchup he wanted for Lee as an undersized center. But he also picked the perfect time to move off that look, bringing back Udoh with 3:22 remaining in the period. Udoh played all but the final 21.7 seconds, and the Warriors outscored Phoenix 35-22 during that run.

ROOKIE WATCH: Morris logged the most time of any Phoenix player in the fourth quarter (10:49), scoring all 10 of his points in the period.

NOTABLE: Nash had 14 assists for Phoenix, his sixth straight game in double-figures, but just seven points, the first time he hasn't scored at least 10 points against the Warriors since Jan. 7, 2004 -- when Nash was still a member of the Dallas Mavericks. . . . The Suns were 10-1 coming into the game when leading at the half. . . . Phoenix hadn't scored less than 100 points against Golden State since Feb. 11, 2004.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Wednesday vs. Portland, Friday @ Oklahoma City, Saturday @ Memphis. For the Suns, Tuesday @ Denver, Wednesday vs. Atlanta, Friday @ Lakers.