BRANDAN WRIGHT one of the fastest rising stars in the basketball scene.
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Resurgent Warriors beat Rockets 113-94
Baron Davis scored 27 points and the undersized Golden State Warriors held Yao Ming in check, beating the Houston Rockets 113-94 on Thursday night for their eighth win in nine games after an 0-6 start. Stephen Jackson added 19 points and Al Harrington had 18 for the Warriors (8-7), who became the fastest team in NBA history to post a winning record after losing its first six games. Cleveland took 23 games to do it in 1995-96. Jackson's return from a season-opening seven-game suspension has played a big part in Golden State's resurgence, but coach Don Nelson wants to spread the credit around, saying before the game he was "tired of talking about Steve Jackson." There were plenty of other Golden State players to talk about this night. Davis controlled the game with his scoring and eight assists, Monta Ellis and Matt Barnes keyed a third-quarter run that opened the game up and Harrington and Andris Biedrins helped shut down the 7-foot-6 Yao. Even though Yao had a decided size advantage over Harrington (6-9) and Andris Biedrins (6-11), he was unable to convert that into success on the court. He shot 4-for-12 and had five turnovers, finishing with a season-low 10 points. Golden State even held its own on the boards against the taller Rockets, outrebounding them 45-41. Ellis and Biedrins led the way with 10 boards apiece. Houston had outrebounded its last three opponents by at least 10 each game. After the teams traded runs in the first half, Golden State opened the game up early in the third quarter. Barnes hit a 3-pointer, a driving layup and fed Ellis on an alley-oop during a 15-2 run that gave the Warriors a 74-55 lead midway through the third. Ellis had six points during the spurt, capping it with the alley-oop and a fast-break basket off a feed from Davis. Ellis finished with 18. The Rockets never got the deficit into single digits after that. Reserve Mike James led Houston with 19 points. Tracy McGrady was held to 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting. The Rockets, who had won three straight, missed 13 of 30 free throws, including a 1-for-5 performance by Steve Francis. Golden State scored the first eight points of the game and led 18-3 midway through the opening quarter as Houston made only one of its first 10 shots and turned the ball over three times. The Rockets fought back with a 14-3 ruin later in the quarter and trailed only 29-24 after one. Houston scored nine straight early in the second quarter to take its first lead of the game before the Warriors responded with a 14-2 run to help take a 59-50 lead at the break. Notes:@ Both teams were on the back end of back-to-backs, with Houston having won at Phoenix and Golden State winning at Sacramento on Wednesday. ... Official Scott Foster called technicals on McGrady and Jackson for arguing in a span of 1:07 late in the second quarter. ... Golden State's three rookies, G Marco Belinelli and Fs Kosta Perovic and Brandan Wright were inactive. Belinelli, the 18th pick out of Italy, is shooting 23 percent in 10 games. "I love him. I think he can be really good. Not yet however," Nelson said. "He has a lot of work to do in practice."
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