Warriors-Suns Preview

By JUSTIN EINHORN
Posted Feb 21 2012 6:33PM

The Phoenix Suns are finally about to get the rest they probably need despite playing some of their best basketball of the season.

The Suns are coming off a pair of easy home victories and should have a good chance for another one Wednesday night before getting a week off, facing a Golden State Warriors team which hasn't won in Phoenix nearly seven years.

No team has played more this month than the Suns (14-19). This will be their 14th game of February, but they don't play another one until hosting Minnesota next Thursday thanks to having an extra two days off following the All-Star break.

"We haven't had a couple of days off in it feels like forever," said Steve Nash, Phoenix's lone All-Star.

The Suns haven't won more than three in a row all season but could match that streak Wednesday. After leading by as many as 27 in a 102-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Phoenix built a 26-point lead against Washington the following night en route to a 104-88 victory.

"It's been a difficult season for us," said Nash, who has reached double figures in assists in 10 straight games. "We haven't quite turned the corner - we've been close a couple times to getting back to .500 and gone on a couple little losing streaks. But hopefully if we continue to play the way we've played the last couple games we can find our way back in there."

Phoenix had surpassed 100 points just twice in 22 games before doing so in its last two.

The Suns have reached the century mark the last 16 times Golden State has come to town and have won the last 13 dating back to March 18, 2005. The Warriors lost 102-91 in Phoenix on Jan. 2 as Nash scored a game-high 21.

Monta Ellis is among the Warriors to have never won at US Airways Center. He's appeared in 11 games there and shot 37.8 percent - his worst in any arena - and his 14.6 scoring average at Phoenix is five below his career mark.

However, Golden State (12-17) did snap a seven-game losing streak in this series in the most recent meeting, winning 102-96 on Feb. 13 despite Ellis and Stephen Curry shooting a combined 8 for 30. David Lee had 28 points and 12 rebounds after missing the first meeting with an illness.

The Warriors snapped a three-game losing streak Monday with a 104-97 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Ellis scored 32 points while Lee had 24 with 13 rebounds.

The victory marked a breakout game for center Ekpe Udoh, who started for an ill Andris Biedrins and had a career-high 19 points with eight rebounds. It's possible Udoh will keep the starting spot considering Biedrins has struggled, averaging 1.1 points and 3.6 boards over his last 14 games.

"The way he played tonight, he gives us something totally different," coach Mark Jackson said of Udoh. "I will take my time and assess our basketball team and we'll move forward. But he certainly is a guy, when the opportunity presented itself, to command more minutes."

Udoh could face a tough matchup with Marcin Gortat, who has averaged 20.7 points and 12.7 rebounds over the last three games while shooting 60.0 percent.

Golden State, 3-8 away from home, is playing the first of six consecutive road games.

Ellis' jumper lifts Warriors past Suns, 106-104

Posted Feb 23 2012 12:20AM

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.

"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.

"I'm disgusted with the way we played and I'm disgusted with the fact that we got a chance to enter the break on something upbeat and positive and instead we just walk through the first 10 minutes of the game."

Phoenix, behind for only 97 seconds in its previous two games, trailed the Warriors until the final 3:50 when Dudley scored on a layup off a lobbed inbounds pass to give the Suns a 96-94 lead.

Dudley also gave Phoenix its final lead, 100-99, when he scored off an offensive rebound with 2:26 to go.

The Warriors scored five straight to go back ahead 104-100, the last on Nate Robinson's basket with 1:23 to go, only to see the Suns tie the game again on a dunk by Frye with 1:03 left and Grant Hill's layup with 11.6 to go.

"We were panicking," Lee said. "We just didn't show it. We really didn't want to lose this one especially because we've lost 13 in a row here. We held down the fort, got a few stops and some good shots on offense."

Golden State scored the game's first seven points and ran out to a 39-22 lead after one. The Warriors stretched the lead to as many as 21 points, 59-38, before settling for a 59-45 halftime lead.

"We can't have those dry spells and defensively we were bad," Dudley said. "I can't quite put my finger on why we played bad in the first quarter. It wasn't just one thing. Even with that, we got back in the game and battled out way back."

NOTES: Curry jogged out of the locker room with a minute left in the first half and checked in for the final 18 seconds of the half, but sat out the remainder of the game. . Warriors F Ekpe Udoh was limited to one shot in 21 minutes by a left knee contusion. ... Golden State's 39 first-quarter points were a season high. . The Warriors won the season series against Phoenix for the first time since 1994-95.

Notebook: Warriors 104, Suns 102

Posted Thursday February 23, 2012 12:41AM

By Mike Tulumello, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Rain or shine, good season or bad, the Phoenix Suns could almost always count on one plus: They could beat the Golden State Warriors.

But not this season.

For the second time since Feb. 13, the Warriors pulled out a win over the Suns. On Wednesday night in Phoenix, Monta Ellis buried a 15-foot, turn-around jumper with Grant Hill draped all over him with one second left, lifting the Warriors to a thrilling 104-102 win.

"Coach [Mark Jackson] told me to go at five seconds and get a good shot," Ellis said. "It was a tough shot, but I was locked in and focused."

Channing Frye then got a good look on a potential game-winning 3-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer, but his shot banged harmlessly off the rim.

Thus the Warriors (13-17):

• Won the season series over the Suns (2-1) for the first time since 1994-95.
• Broke a 13-game losing streak in Phoenix.

For the Suns (14-20), Frye had 22 points and nine boards for the Suns. Marcin Gortat added 21 points and 15 rebounds.

Steve Nash, though, had just seven points, nine assists, five rebounds plus five turnovers.

For the Warriors, Ellis had a game-high 26 points.

The Warriors raced out to a 21-point lead (59-38) late in the first half. The Suns made a frenzied rally, even pulling ahead three times in the closing minutes.

The last time came when Jared Dudley's follow shot gave the Suns a 100-99 lead with 2:26 left. Then a David Lee free throw, a 20-footer by Ellis and a steal of a Hill pass by Nate Robinson -- which led to two Robinson free throws -- gave the Warriors a 104-100 lead.

A spectacular putback dunk by Frye and a short banker by Hill tied it up at 104 with 11.6 seconds left.

That set up Ellis.

"Great players make big-time plays," Jackson said.

QUOTABLE: "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. It was a great victory, an absolutely great victory."
-- Warriors coach Mark Jackson.

THE STAT: The Warriors hit 9-for-20 on 3-pointers. The Suns were just 4-for-19.

TURNING POINT: Ellis' big shot.

QUOTABLE II: "The game was lost in the first 10 minutes...I am disgusted with the way we played and I'm disgusted with the fact that we got a chance to go into the break on something upbeat and positive. Instead, we walk through the first 10 minutes, and that cost us the game."
-- Suns coach Alvin Gentry.

HOT: The Warriors Dorell Wright hit 7-for-11, including 3-for-5 on 3-pointers.

NOT: Suns rookie Markieff Morris shot 1-for-6.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: This was Gortat's fourth straight 20-point plus game, a career first for him.

ROOKIE WATCH: The Warriors Klay Thompson had four points and four rebounds in 11 minutes.

NOTABLE: The Warriors went 5-3 heading into the break.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Tuesday @ Indianapolis, Wednesday @ Atlanta and Friday, March 2 @ Philadelphia. For the Suns, Thursday, March 1 vs. Minnesota, Friday March 2 vs. L.A. Clippers and Sunday, March 4 vs. Sacramento.

• Warriors: Brown
• Suns: --

• Warriors: Lee
• Suns: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #63 Derek Richardson, #33 Zach Zarba
• Attendance: 14558
• Duration: 2:10