Warriors own fourth quarter in comeback win over Kings

By Frank Hughes, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday January 9, 2010 2:47AM

OAKLAND (NBA.com exclusive) -- The Golden State Warriors staged a rather theatric comeback on Friday night, coming back from an 18-point deficit to hand the Sacramento Kings their fifth consecutive loss, a 108-101 decision at Oracle Arena.

In a season really going nowhere, the Warriors easily could have laid down in what for two-and-a-half quarters was a rather lackluster performance.

But whether it was because the Kings got lackadaisical or the Warriors became inspired, they outscored the Kings 50-25 in the final 18 minutes to continue Sacramento's recent string of late-game frustration.

"It was a fun game to win," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "Some games you just don't know how you do it but somehow we came back. The force was with us."

Warriors guard Monta Ellis scored 39 points to go with six assists and Corey Maggette had 24 and eight rebounds.

The Warriors' duo has each scored at least 20 points in 12 of Golden State's last 13 games, the first Warriors teammates to accomplish the feat since Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond in 1989.

Nobody is going to mistake these Warriors for that Run TMC version, but they do tend to get up and down the floor in the same fashion.

Often they are not successful. But against a young Kings team that has not yet learned how to win on a consistent basis, the Warriors' frenetic pace ultimately took its toll.

The Kings turned over the ball 10 times in the final period -- three by Evans -- and a total of 17 times for the game, which plays right into the hands of Golden State's uptempo attack.

The Warriors scored 18 of their 32 fourth-quarter points off of turnovers, more than enough to win their third straight home game.

"We just battled," Anthony Morrow said. "I was saying the whole game 'Let's just keep fighting, let's keep playing, keep grinding.' And everybody did that. Monta had a great game as usual, Corey did as well and everybody else kind of had to get in where they fit in, and everybody did their job."

The win bodes well for Golden State, which just began a massive homestand. After being on the road for most of November and December, the Warriors play seven straight and 19 of their next 25 at home.

It may not help them get back into the playoff race, but it should go a long way toward helping coach Don Nelson become the league's all-time winningest coach; he is now 13 wins away from passing Lenny Wilkens.

All did not bode well for the Warriors, however. On the final play of the first quarter, second-year forward Anthony Randolph jumped to try to block a shot by Tyreke Evans, only to land and have his ankle roll badly. He was carried off the court by two teammates and applied almost no pressure to the leg.

X-rays confirmed a sprain, and he will have a CT scan on Saturday to determine if he suffered a fracture. It was the latest in a long series of injuries for the Warrior, who have been batting around the idea of a roster exception for several weeks now.

Regardless of the length of Randolph's absence, the Warriors are going to sign Cartier Martin to a 10-day contract, perhaps as soon as Monday, when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sacramento is on the verge of getting back Kevin Martin, one of the league's leading scorers when he is at full strength.

Coach Paul Westphal said that Martin would be playing right now if medical exams weren't so advanced. As soon as Martin's scans show he is ready, he will play for the first time since Nov. 4.

The Kings could have used Martin's veteran presence down the stretch of this game because when they needed somebody to bring them together, they had nobody available.

As good as Evans -- the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year who had 25 points, six rebounds and six assists -- has been this season, he still is learning to play the game at this level. One stretch of play was the perfect example.

After Anthony Morrow hit a huge 3-pointer that put Golden State ahead 103-99, Evans lost the ball in traffic. He stole is back from Ellis, but then quickly turned the ball over again.

That effectively ended Sacramento's chances.

"We can't continue to use the excuse that we are a young team because this is the NBA and we can't have that mindset," Evans said. "We have to do better closing out games. We knew they weren't going to stop playing -- but we stopped."

• Kings: Garcia, Martin
• Warriors: Azubuike, Claxton, Wright

• Kings: --
• Warriors: Maggette

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #45 Joe Forte, #64 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 18327
• Duration: 2:21