The Warriors are fully aware that they need to share the ball to stay competitive with some of the Western Conference's better teams. But showing a certain amount of grit and determination in the lane doesn't hurt, either. Monta Ellis had 34 points and eight assists to lead the Warriors to arguably their most impressive win of the season Friday night as they beat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-94 in front of an announced crowd of 18,630 at Oracle Arena. Ellis, who now has 17 30-point games in his career, was 13 of 28 from the field as the Warriors snapped a three-game losing streak. Anthony Morrow added 23 points, hitting four of his team's seven 3-pointers.
Golden State finished with 21 assists but also had11 offensive rebounds and 44 points in the paint, as they earned their first victory this season over a team with a winning record. They have alsonow beaten the Trail Blazers nine straight times at home.
Ellis had 19 points and five assists at halftime as the Warriors rallied from a nine-point deficit with 5:32 to go in the second quarter to take a 56-52 lead at the break. Portland had made 13 of its first 19 shots, but was just 13 of 38 from the field over the next two quarters.
Despite the loss of Travis Outlaw, who is out for the next three-to-five months after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot, the Trail Blazers figured to have some sort of advantage on the inside.
Center Greg Oden finished with16 points andsix rebounds for the Blazers, but the Warriors did just enough to limit LaMarcus Aldridge and Joel Przybilla, who combined for 12 points on 4 of13 shooting.
Newly signed forward/center Chris Hunter made his NBA debut in the second half and was effective in containing Oden, who was held to five points in the second half. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Hunter played 14 minutes and had four points andthree rebounds, but was the only player on Golden State's depleted bench who could physically match up with Oden (7-0, 270).
The chants from the crowd for Anthony Randolph started early in the first quarter. Sure enough, Randolph entered the game with 6:45 left in the first quarter.
Randolph had just two points in the first quarter and had all kinds of problems trying to contain Oden, who scored seven of his 11 first quarter points after Randolph entered the game.
But Randolph found a rhythm in the second quarter. With Oden on the bench in favor of Przybilla, Randolph finished the first half with eight points and five rebounds, which included a emphatic dunk with 33 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Warriors a 56-50 lead.
Randolph's dunk was part of a 17-4 Warriors run to end the first half as they took a 56-52 lead into intermission.
Golden State then scored 13 of the first 19 points in the second half, as Morrow's 3-pointer off an assist from Stephen Curry gave his team a 69-58 lead with less than seven minutes left in the third quarter. Curry finished with eight assists.
Warriors 108, Blazers 94 ?Tuesday: at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. ?TV/Radio: CSN/KNBR (680)
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