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Warriors break out of funk with 41-point win over Wolves
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Kelenna Azubuike got a technical for hanging on the rim, but it didn't matter in a 41-point win.
The Golden State Warriors found their new offense on Monday -- find a player or two with a hot hand and keep feeding them.
Monta Ellis and Kelenna Azubuike combined for 26 points in the first quarter alone and Stephen Jackson dished out a career-high 15 assists to lead the Warriors to a 146-105 win on Monday that had to feel more like a 141-point win than the 41-point thrashing it actually was.
And just like that, the black cloud that had seemingly taken up permanent residence over this franchise was lifted -- at least for a day.
"This is the way we should play every night, this is what we're capable of doing," said Ellis, who finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three of the team's 22 steals, the most by a Warriors team since 1989. "We got a lot of deflections, got the fast break going. We did a lot of help defense, rebounded the ball and got out and ran."
"We needed that bad," Jackson said.
Not wanting to get too caught up in the excitement of just the team's second win of the year against a Timberwolves team that has lost seven straight since winning its season opener, coach Don Nelson, in his 31st year as a head coach and 45th year in the NBA overall, was quick to keep perspective.
"Our two wins were against teams (Minnesota and Memphis) that were struggling," said Nelson, who was the target off a post-game tirade by Jackson's agent following Sunday's frustrating loss to the Kings. "I wouldn't make too much out of it but we did play well. We did a lot of things we've been working on to share the ball like make the extra pass and we did that tonight."
Some of the fun stats that at least for one night allowed the team and its fans to forget about blowouts losses at the hands of the Suns, Kings and Clippers; the Jackson sideshow drama; the mounting injuries; and the imposing stretch of games against the NBA's elite that is quickly approaching:
-- The 146 points is the most by any team in the league this year and the most a Warriors team since 1994.
-- They shot 57.1 percent (52-of-91) from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from 3-point range.
-- They had 36 assists and only 12 turnovers while piling up 42 fast-break points.
-- They blocked nine shots.
-- Eight of the 10 players who got in the game scored in double figures, led by Azubuike, who scored 31 in just three quarters of play to become the first Warrior this season to top 30 points.
-- They created 28 Wolves turnovers and turned them into 47 points.
-- They outscored the Wolves 78-48 in the middle two quarters and didn't score fewer than 33 points in any one quarter.
But all of those numbers are dwarfed by the countless smiles, high-fives, good feelings and emphatic dunks, each one seemingly releasing two weeks of built up anger, frustration and embarrassment.
Azubuike, who missed his career high by two points, was called for a technical for hanging on the rim after one of his dunks as if he were savoring the view from above after being buried on the bottom for so long. Yes, the season is only six games old, but it seems like so much longer.
"We needed that in the worst way," said Anthony Morrow, who had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. "And not just a win, but a great win by a large margin."
Azubuike and Ellis got it started, combining for the Warriors' first 12 points and ending the first quarter with 14 and 12, respectively. With Azubuike and Ellis obviously feeling it, Jackson played the role of distributor and fed the hot scorers, recording five assists in a quarter that saw the Warriors score 10 of their 14 field goals on either dunks or layups.
"I just wanted to make plays," said Jackson, who added 10 points on just 2-of-8 shooting. "I know I'm one of the guys that has to make plays for other guys and not worry about my shot that much. So I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and make plays and try and get us going, and for the most part it worked.
"Some nights I may have to score, but tonight I think it was a night where I had a mismatch with the four (power forward) on me and every time I got the ball the paint just collapsed and every time I got the ball they were paying attention so the plays I made were easy, it wasn't hard plays, just basketball plays."
Corey Maggette then picked up were Azubuike left off, scoring 11 points in less than 10 minutes in the second quarter -- his only action of the night.
Azubuike, who made 13 of 19 shots, scored the team's last five points of the first half to give him 21 at intermission. He added 10 more in the third quarter that ended with a Stephen Curry 30-footer for a 111-77 lead.
The fourth quarter was just about having fun, something the last two fourth quarters haven't been as the Warriors were on the wrong ends of blowouts.
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