Two huge threes from Co-Captain Stephen Jackson in the last 39 seconds of the game ended a Warriors five-year road losing streak to the Lakers.
Jackson had 31 points, Monta Ellis also had 31 points along with seven rebounds and five assists for the Warriors, who won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Baron Davis scored 18 points and Al Harrington added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors.
The Warriors completely dominated in the first half ending it with 72 points to the Lakers 49. With a 23 point lead at halftime, Golden state seemed bound to snap the losing streak early.
The 72 points matched the Warriors high for a half this season, and were the most allowed by the Lakers in a half.
However, this lead would not be Warriors like. The Warriors blew a 26-point lead in the second half. There were more turnovers by the Warriors than points scored. The Lakers outscored the Warriors 32-15 as Derek Fisher hit back-to-back threes igniting the crowd momentum in Staples Center.
A rough third quarter sequence seemed to bring back the horrors of the Staples Center to the Warriors. But there was a bright third quarter surprise to the Warriors, Kelenna Azibuke.
Azibuke served as Kobe Bryant's shadow as he successfully stopped Bryant's breathtaking offensive performance. In one moment during the third quarter, Kobe Bryant was contested enough by Azibuke that he shot an air ball.
Bryant went to the line only three times during the whole game as he constantly heard chants of "M-V-P".
Both teams used just eight players despite having to turn around and face each other again tonight at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Fourth quarter saw two ties as Bryant stole the highlight of the night dribbling past Davis and Jackson before making a spectacular no look pass to Ronny Turiaf for a slam.
Then came Jackson.
There has not been one player in this league that can be in a shooting slump a whole half and come back with two clutch threes to end a game like Stephen Jackson.
Captain Jack had not scored in the second half and with the Warriors holding a one point lead (109-108) with 39 seconds left, Jackson came out big swishing an uncontested three that put the Warriors up by four points.
Bryant answered with another three of his own bringing it back to a one point lead, before Captain Jack hit the GOLDEN three of the night to lift Golden State to a 115-111 win over the Lakers.
Golden State are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Denver Nuggets and a game behind the heart-broken Dallas Mavericks.
5 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
golden state is an inconsistent team without any fundamentals. the only way they get things done is by luck or crazy shooting sprees that only happen on good nights. that's why they'll never be a great team. to get to the next level, they need to start depending less on prayers and more on established offensive/defensive plans
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
to the guy above me, the Warriors DO have an established plan. You obviously haven't watched their game enough if you consider them depending on "prayers". Their style is ORGANIZED CHAOS. On offense, they use their speed to get in the paint, and they ALWAYS play towards mismatches in the half court game. On defense because of the size disadvantage, they play a constantly shifting zone. For a football analogy, think of it as constantly defensively audibling a zone defense depending on the opponent's offensive formation. THAT is the reason they can go to the next level. The inconsistency you talk about is probably because sometimes the Warriors rely almost too much on the jump shot and the three. They are still humans; they'll have their off nights too.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
they'll have their odd nights? you mean more often than not.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
organized chaos? that's a heck of an excuse for lack of discipline and real basketball
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Khalid Shakran about 1 year ago
Hey...what's their record right now? 43-26...one game behind..oh the so called championship contender (The Mavs) and over the big duo of the Nuggets' Carmelo and AI...When they play defense and commit themselves to it...they become on the best teams in the league combined with their offensive weapons!
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