Suns-Warriors Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Feb 13 2012 1:32AM

The Phoenix Suns are carrying plenty of positive momentum into their first back-to-back-to-back stretch of the season.

A matchup with Golden State wouldn't seem likely to slow them down, but the Warriors are also playing quality basketball right now.

Phoenix looks to extend its road winning streak to four and defeat Golden State for a 12th time in the last 13 meetings Monday night.

After losing 14 of their first 22 games, the Suns (12-15) seem to have turned a corner. Phoenix has since won four of five - including three straight in opposing arenas by an average of 8.3 points.

"One thing for us lately, we've been playing a lot better," said swingman Jared Dudley, who's made 17 of 31 (54.8 percent) 3-point attempts while averaging 16.0 points over his last eight games.

"Guys know the rotation ... (we've) stuck with the same starting lineup. The bench players know when to come in so we kind of have a better chemistry because of that. We've been playing better on the road."

Phoenix typically plays quite well versus Golden State (10-14). The Suns defeated the Warriors for the seventh straight time and 11th in the last 12 meetings with a 102-91 home win Jan. 2.

Steve Nash, who led the way with 21 points in that game, scored only four Saturday but dished out 15 assists in a 98-84 win at Sacramento. The eight-time All-Star amassed those assists despite missing most of the second quarter getting stitches to sew up a wound in his lower lip.

"He can dominate a game and not have a basket," coach Alvin Gentry said. "He came back in the third quarter and helped us get separation."

While Nash paced the offense, veteran Grant Hill came up big defensively, holding high-scoring Kings guard Tyreke Evans to 1-of-9 shooting.

"I've learned to reinvent myself and try to still be productive. At times that I'm called upon I can do things offensively but you know whatever it takes," Hill said.

"We still got ways where I can help the team and that's what I try to do. Some nights it might be something different. That's just kind of what I do."

Hill and the Suns could have their hands full defensively against a Warriors team coming off back-to-back victories over opponents with winning records. Three nights after prevailing 109-101 at Denver, Golden State beat Houston 106-97 at home Sunday.

"We want to get on a little win streak here and get back in the playoff hunt," said rookie Klay Thompson, who has combined for 33 points in the last two games. "We're more than capable right now."

Thompson has gone 7 of 10 from 3-point range in his last two contests, and now has a chance to score in double figures three straight times for the first time in his career.

"He's a big-time shooter, but he's a big-time competitor and an underrated defender, underrated passer," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "It's scary to think just how good he's going to be."

Monta Ellis, who scored 33 points Sunday, is averaging 29.2 over his last five contests - including a 48-point effort in Tuesday's 119-116 loss to Oklahoma City. He's averaging 29.6 points over his last five home matchups with Phoenix.

In addition to trying to contain Nash, the Warriors could have a hard time slowing down Channing Frye. The sharpshooting big man is averaging 17.8 points in his last four games - more than double his season mark of 8.6.

Frye is shooting 60.5 percent (26 of 43) from 3-point range versus Golden State in his career - his highest percentage against any opponent.

Phoenix visits Denver on Tuesday before returning home to conclude its back-to-back-to-back set Wednesday against Atlanta. The Suns will play three consecutive games again March 14-16.

Warriors beat Suns 102-96 for 3rd straight win

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Posted Feb 14 2012 1:59AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Mark Jackson is a preacher by nature and by trade, so he knows as well as anyone that a message is often lost if there's not proof behind the process.

For the first time in his young coaching career, Jackson finally has some evidence for players that his ways might just work.

David Lee had 28 points and 12 rebounds, Monta Ellis scored 18 points and the Golden State Warriors earned their first three-game winning streak under the rookie head coach with a 102-96 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.

"It makes a big difference. When you're trying to preach winning basketball, ultimately, you want results," said Jackson, also an ordained minister. "It gets old saying the same things."

Apparently the message is starting to resonate.

Rookie Klay Thompson added 10 points and fellow reserve Ekpe Udoh had nine points, including a layup with 35.9 seconds remaining that extended Golden State's lead to five and capped a comeback from 12 points down in the second half. Golden State (11-14) also snapped a seven-game losing streak against Phoenix (12-16).

After Wednesday's home game against Portland, the Warriors will play eight of their next nine on the road.

"The significance is that we need to get back in this race, and all we can do is win games," Lee said. "We need to protect our home court better than we did at the start of the year. We've had some games that we've played that could've gone either way, teams that are around us in the standings like Houston, like Phoenix, we've got another one with Portland coming up that are really going to separate whether we can be in this thing or whether we're going to fade."

Same might go for the Suns.

Marcin Gortat had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Steve Nash handed out 14 assists for Phoenix, playing the first of three games in three nights. The Suns face Denver on Tuesday before returning home against Atlanta on Wednesday.

"You've got to finish games," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "We did a terrible job of finishing the game."

The suddenly surging Warriors are building momentum in unfamiliar fashion.

Jackson gambled with smaller lineups - reminiscent of NBA wins leader and former Warriors coach Don Nelson - for long stretches in the second half against the Suns' longer and lankier front line. The move forced Phoenix to run big men Gortat and Channing Frye out on shooters, and Golden State shot its way back despite giving away size on defense.

Jackson also leaned on his bench in the fourth quarter, and his substitutes - nicknamed the Dubstitutes for their recent contributions late - again rewarded his risk.

Thompson hit a 3-pointer in the corner and fellow reserve Nate Robinson followed with another from beyond the arc to give Golden State a 94-84 lead with 5:43 remaining.

"They just got hot right there," Frye said.

Then cold.

The Suns sliced the deficit to three after Golden State went scoreless for more than 5 minutes, getting a 3-pointer from Markieff Morris, a layup by Gortat and a jumper by Grant Hill. Phoenix still wasted several opportunities to tie or take the lead, and Golden State took advantage.

Udoh blocked a layup attempt by Morris and came up even bigger on offense. Udoh, whose minutes eclipsed struggling starter Andris Biedrins again, finished a hard-driving layup through a crowd of defenders with 35.9 seconds to play.

After a missed shot by Jared Dudley, Stephen Curry made two free throws to give Golden State a seven-point lead and finish off the franchise's first winning streak of the season.

"It's big," Udoh said, "just to show that you're making strides."

Note: The Warriors gave away a bobblehead doll of former PG Tim Hardaway to the first 10,000 fans as part of the franchise's tribute to the "Run TMC" trio of the early 1990s. The team will hand out bobbleheads of Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin at games later this season. ... Gentry joked before the game that watching budding sensation and Knicks PG Jeremy Lin, who was cut by the Warriors in December, is "like the American Idol of the NBA."

---

Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

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.

• Suns: Warrick
• Warriors: Brown

• Suns: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #59 Gary Zielinski, #65 Sean Wright, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 19106
• Duration: 2:10