December 20th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
You just knew that something good eventually had to happen for the Golden State Warriors, in light of the fact that coach Don Nelson handed over the defensive duties to assistant coach Keith Smart. Oddly enough, that wasn’t the “good thing” that would happen to the Warriors in their game Saturday night against the Charlotte Bobcats. Jamal Crawford finally had the offensive performance expected of him ever since he was acquired from the New York Knicks; Crawford exploded for 50 points – 2 points shy of his career high – and Golden State needed all of them as they escaped from Time Warner Arena with a 110-103 win.
Both teams shot relatively well as both teams went to their respective locker rooms at halftime tied at 56; fast-forwarding to the fourth quarter, the Bobcats cut as 12-point deficit to 95-88 on a 3-pointer by Raymond Felton with 4:53 remaining in the game; however, Crawford responded with a 3 of his own on the Warriors’ next possession then later added a pair of free throws and a jumper. golden State iced the win when Charlotte’s Emeka Okafor air-balled a free throw with his team down by 5 with 28.3 seconds left.
Golden State’s high scorer was Crawford with 50 points (including 5 three-pointers), 2 rebounds, 5 assists and a blocked shot while Kelenna Azubuike added 21 (including 3 treys) with 13 rebounds and a blocked shot. Charlotte was led by Gerald Wallace with 26 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots while Raja Bell added 21 (including 5 treys) with 6 rebounds and 3 assists; Boris Diaw pitched in, scoring 11 with 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot. Golden State (8-20) plays again on Monday when they make the short trip south to Florida to take on the Orlando Magic while Charlotte (9-19) remains at home as they host the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.
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