 Larry Hughes passes the ball between Nets in Golden State. Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images from Nets-Warriors: 56k | 300k |
Antawn Jamison scored 22 points to lead six players in double figures for the Warriors, the NBA's best rebounding team which enjoyed a night off on Saturday.
The Nets were coming off a 98-97 loss at Sacramento on Saturday that dropped them to 2-2 on their trip. They opened a 50-45 halftime lead but appeared to run out of gas in the second half.
"I think we got a little tired going into the second half and their big men took over the game and we were playing uphill," Nets guard Jason Kidd said. "Anytime you're on the road, and we know about playing catch-up, it takes a lot out of you."
"You can't fight an uphill battle every night," Nets forward Kenyon Martin said. "Sometimes you're going to fall or break down. And that's what happened, I think."
New Jersey made just 12-of-40 shots after halftime. It scored just 13 points while allowing 30 in the pivotal third quarter, when Golden State took the lead for good.
"They just beat us up. We didn't handle it well," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "You can use all the excuses you want, the fourth game in five nights, but that's (bunk). We just gave in to it. It's the first time I've seen that all season with this team, that we let them do anything they wanted to do."
Martin scored 19 points and Kidd added 16 for the Nets, who had losses of three and one points on their trip before being blown out in this one.
"It was a very disappointing road trip as far as I'm concerned," Scott said. "We took some steps to make our team better, but tonight we took another step back. We're nowhere near where our guys think we are. Right now, we don't know how to handle success."
Warriors coach Dave Cowens, whose club beat a foe with a record above .500 for the first time since January, thought Scott was being a bit tough on his team.
"We beat a good team today," Cowens said. "This team (Nets) is for real. I thought our guys rose to the occasion tonight."
Danny Fortson had 16 points and eight rebounds and Erick Dampier added 11, 14 and four blocks for the Warriors, who held a 51-41 advantage on the boards. Golden State has been outrebounded just once this season.
"I just took anything that they gave me," Dampier said. "Whether it was a drive or a post move. I was able to get a couple of blocks; we converted those into points."
The Nets still held a 57-53 lead on Todd MacCulloch's basket with 7:49 left in the third quarter before the Warriors ran off 15 straight points to take control. Rookie Jason Richardson scored five points and Fortson added four before a basket by Larry Hughes made it 68-57 with 3:36 to go.
"We knew they were tired because they played a tough game against Sacramento," Cowens said. "So we knew we had to push the pace on them."
Golden State took a 75-63 advantage into the final period and opened its largest lead at 97-77 on a basket by Cedric Henderson with 2:40 to play.
"I don't know if the weariness caught up to us," Nets forward Keith Van Horn said. "I think early on, we had our legs in the game. I think in the third quarter, we weren't as physical as we should have been or aggressive on either end of the court. They took their aggressiveness to the next level and we didn't do that and that's what really cost us the game."
Mookie Blaylock scored 13 points, Richardson added 12 and Hughes 11 for the Warriors, who shot 49 percent (41-of-83).
Van Horn scored 13 points and MacCulloch added 12 for the Nets, who shot 40.5 percent (34-of-84).