NBA Recap: Golden State Warriors 109- Portland Trail Blazers 102
Date: Saturday, December 25, 2010
Venue: ORACLE Arena, Oakland
Attendance: 19,596
Duration: 2:29
Prominent player for Warriors: Batum (18 Points, 10 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steal)
Prominent player for Portland: Ellis (39 Points, 2 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steal)
Status of Teams: Warriors (11-18) – Portland (15-15)
Golden State Warriors make it two in a row with a thrilling 109-102 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the first winning streak of Washington since early November, 2010. Warriors won both of their previous games in almost the same manner with fantastic
fourth-quarter comebacks.
Monta Ellis played one of his best games, scored game-high 39 points, and added seven assists in the Golden State’s eleventh victory of the season. David Lee provided 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, while Dorell Wright contributed 16 points,
8 boards, 4 assists, and three steals in Warrior’s victory.
Wesley Matthews scored team-high 25 points while Nicolas Batum registered 18 points and 10 rebounds in the season’s fifteenth defeat of Portland. LaMarcus Aldridge tallies 15 points and 8 rebounds in the defeat.
Game Story
The ball was protected at every moment. There were quality shots played. There was good defence and a thrilling victory for the Golden State.
The Warriors wore red shoes with green socks on Christmas occasion and rocked the court playing tenacious shots and limiting turnovers.
Both teams played the first two quarters with almost the same velocity as neither team leading by more than five points at any point.
Ellis played the first half fantastically and kept the Warriors close. He scored 18 of his 24 first-half points in the second quarter.
With a dazzling left-handed reverse, Ellis cut Portland's lead to 49-48, bringing a cluster of 19,596 basketball fans to his feet who crooned "MVP (Most Valuable Player)" repeatedly late in the half.
"He's very aggressive," "He can flat out score. He is fearless going to the basket. When he has his jump shot going it's very tough to defend him, and he had it going early,"
- - Portland Coach Nate McMillan said.
However, Wesley Matthews fouled Ellis on a 3-pointer. Wright then stole a pass smartly from Rudy Fernandez and quickly went the other way for a dunk that provided the Warriors their first lead of the quarter.
Reggie Williams had another 3-pointer that made it 102-97 for Golden State. Ellis put the game out of Portland’s reach with a long jumper, capped by a steal and a layup that gave the Warriors a 106-99 lead with 1:04 to go in the final stanza.
"They've shown that they can get back into games, make the right plays. You do not want to be down, but sometimes the game is going to dictate that you will be down. In addition, what you have seen is a lot of character. . . . Being here so long, we
have a tendency to focus on the negative and the bad that is going on with our organization, our team. That's not my style."
-- Warriors coach Keith Smart.
Interesting Facts
It was Golden State Warriors tenth consecutive victory in its last 11 games at home against Portland.
It was Monta Ellis’ third straight game scoring at least 36 points for Warriors.
The Trail Blazers lost for only the third time in seventeen Christmas Day games.
The defeat snapped Portland's three-game winning streak and extended its road-losing streak to four games.
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