Warriors launch vociferous fourth quarter assault to topple the Hornets 110-103
On Wednesday night, the New Orleans Hornets entered the final quarter with an imposing lead of 10 points, and looked to be cruising to victory. The Golden State Warriors had been here before though.
Just when the Hornets wanted to clamp down the pace, Monta Ellis stepped up his game to spark the second largest comeback win in Warriors history.
The prolific sharp-shooter banged one in from long range, followed it with a floating jumper and then scored from downtown again to jump-start a 27-7 spurt. That allowed the Warriors to turn a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, into a 99-89
lead with four minutes left in the game.
The Warriors never looked back after that, as they inflicted an agonising 110-103 loss on the Hornets, and snapped their three-match winning streak. The match started at a furious pace as both the teams settled into their groove early. Both sides though,
were unable to take a lead of more than three points in the first nine minutes of play, and the match hung in balance. The Hornets however, finally managed to break the flow of the match with a 12-4 run, to end the first quarter at 34-29.
The Warriors came out firing on all cylinders in the second quarter, and rattled off an early 9-0 run to bust their way into the lead again. A deadlock ensued for nearly two minutes as the scores were tied three times, before the Hornets pulled away again
with a ferocious 18-4 run, to take a 58-47 lead at half time.
New Orleans continued their momentum into the third quarter, and a Chris Paul three-pointer with five and a half minutes to go in the quarter, made it 72-59. The Warriors however, pulled within four with a nine point surge minutes later, to remain in hunt.
The Hornets though, again had the better of the closing stages of the third quarter in a row, as they reeled off a 10-4 run to carry an 82-72 lead into the fourth quarter.
This was where the Warriors took over the game. Ellis provided the initial boost as the red hot Warriors ran riot over the Hornets defence. Less than five minutes after Ellis nailed a triple pointer to start the surge, Dorrell Wright ripped another to give
the Warriors a 90-89 lead. The shots from the Warriors just kept on coming, and Stephen Curry’s three-pointer made it 99-89 with four minutes left on the clock.
The Hornets, who were stung hard by the vicious Golden State onslaught however, showed some tenacity. Trevor Ariza scored six points on the trot, as the Hornets sprinted to a 12-2 run, to get to within striking distance at 95-101. Ariza scored again, and
Chris Paul fed Willie Green for a transition lay-up, which slashed the deficit to 101-99 with over two minutes left after Ellis missed from outside.
New Orleans though spurned three consecutive chances to tie or go ahead in the next few seconds as Marco Belinelli drained a three-pointer. David West then got blocked running inside the lane, and Green spooned an off-balance shot. Neither team made a field
shot for rest of the way, as the Warriors slipped nine free throws to seal the match at 110-103. Monta Ellis led with 29 points for the Warriors. Stephen Curry scored 21 while Dorrell Wright and David Lee managed 13 apiece.
Chris Paul led New Orleans with 24 points and 13 assists, but was scoreless for the first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Hornets really needed him to fire. He lamented the fourth quarter performance of his team after the match.
"We made a run, but we put ourselves in a hole," Paul said. "We just have to close out teams like that. That was a bad loss for us."
David West and Marco Belinelli added 16 points apiece while Trevor Ariza scored 15.
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