Monta Ellis leads Golden State Warriors past Memphis Grizzlies
Monta Ellis had another big night as he led the Golden State Warriors to a thrilling 115-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday 3 November at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
The 25-year old guard, who erupted for 46 points in their season-opener against the Houston Rockets on 27 October, racked up 17 of his 39 points in final period, and also had nine rebounds
and eight assists, leading the Warriors to their third win of the season.
"That's why he's one of the elite players," said teammate Dorell Wright, who had 25 points on 7-13 clip from beyond-the-arc. "He's the face of this organization because he can get going any
time he wants to. He reminds me of Dwyane Wade. It was impeccable."
Warriors head coach Keith Smart opted to give his high-scoring guard and rested him with 37 seconds left in the third quarter, and was inserted after sitting out the first 4:48 of the final
period, making an immediate impact by scoring five-straight points.
"He could have gone 48; he wanted to play 48 minutes," Smart said. "But I knew he had to get some rest time of about 15 minutes. They were chipping away, but I knew we had him to come back
in the game and make some plays."
Reggie Williams also had an outstanding game as the second-year guard scored 16 points and dished out eight assists, while David Lee tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Warriors, who
had a sloppy offensive night and committed 20 turnovers.
"We scrapped to the end," Ellis said. "Pretty much everyone that came off the bench played well. That's what we needed. Guys stepped up where we needed them."
The Grizzlies, who played without big man Zach Randolph, pulled within four points, 110-106, after falling behind by 18 points in the third period, but they couldn’t get any closer and absorbed
their third defeat of the season.
Rudy g*y led his team in scoring with his 35 points to go with seven boards, while Michael Conley, who is looking to prove that he’s worthy of the contract extension he signed, had 18 points,
13 assists, and seven rebounds, but their defence failed to stop the Warriors’ offensive attack.
"We really need to help out on defense and rebound better," said Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo, who had 23 points on 9-for-20 shooting from the field. "We just have to get back to the drawing
board and get back to defending. There's no need to panic, but at the same time we need to step it up."
The Warriors played without starting point guard Stephen Curry for the second-straight game because the second-year guard is still recovering from an ankle sprain, and will remain on day-to-day
status when Golden State face the Utah Jazz on Friday 5 November.
Tags: