Jackson, Ellis Combine For 62 As Warriors Slip Past Lakers 115-111

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Main

Golden State Warriors forward Stephen Jackson shoots the ball while Los Angeles Lakers forward Vladimir Radmanovic falls in front of him during the first half of their game, played Sunday night. Jackson scored 31 points as Golden State beat Los Angeles 115-111.

Maybe it takes nearly blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter to prove the mettle of the Golden State Warriors; Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers proved to be one of the sternest tests for Golden State thus far as they nearly threw away a 26-point lead.? Thankfully for the Warriors, Stephen Jackson drained a pair of three-pointers in the final 38.5 seconds of the game, allowing Golden State to escape Staples Center with a close, 115-111 win.

As one would expect, both teams were involved in a track meet early on, with Golden State getting the better percentage shots; the Warriors’ Jackson made four 3-pointers while scoring 16 points in the first quarter to help Golden State take a 34-30 lead.? The Warriors’ Monta Ellis had 9 points during a Warriors’ 18-8 run to begin the second quarter that gave the Warriors a 52-38 lead; they would score the last 13 points of the period, giving them an even bigger lead of 72-49 at halftime.

After a trey by Golden State’s Al Harrington gave them a 26-point lead, Los Angeles suddenly got on a major roll, going on a 32-9 run to draw to within 3 points.? However, the Warriors scored the last 3 points of the period to make it 87-81.? The Lakers’ Ronnie Turiaf scored 5 straight points to knot the game at 95 with 6:48 left in the game; Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant made a pair of free throws with 5:08 left to give the Lakers a 99-97 lead.

The Warriors’ Ellis made 2 free throws?with 3 minutes to go to snap a 101-101 tie; a jumper by Davis would give Golden State a 4-point lead.? The Warriors would hold on the rest of the way.? Golden State’s high scorer was Ellis and Jackson with 31 points each - with Ellis grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, with a steal and a block while Jackson made 6 treys, grabbed 4 rebounds, dished out 5 assists with 3 steals and a block.? Davis scored 18 with a rebound, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Los Angeles (48-22) was led by Bryant with 36 points - including a trio of 3’s, 14 rebounds, 8 assists and a steal while Lamar Odom scored 19 with 22 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks; Derek Fisher and Turiaf added 16 each - with Fisher making three 3-pointers, and grabbing 3 rebounds while Turiaf grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 3 assists with a steal and 3 blocks.? Golden State (43-26) will now return home to Oakland for the rematch as they play the Lakers on Monday night.

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