Hornets-Warriors Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Dec 17 2012 2:12PM

Following one of the most successful road trips in team history, the Golden State Warriors are eager to keep proving they're one of the elite teams in the Western Conference.

The Warriors will try to avoid losing their edge during a home-heavy stretch that begins Tuesday night against the conference's last-place team, the New Orleans Hornets.

After losing to Orlando on Friday, Golden State (16-8) bounced back the next day with a 115-93 victory over Atlanta to cap a 6-1 trip. The Warriors won six games on a road trip for the first time in franchise history and finished above .500 on a trek of seven games or longer for the first time in 42 years.

"It was important for us to do that to show that we're for real and we're going to be here for the long haul," coach Mark Jackson said.

David Lee had his seventh consecutive game Saturday with at least 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Stephen Curry had 18 points, 11 assists and eight boards.

"It was a big win for us," Curry said. "We're excited to get home and looking forward to Tuesday when we play New Orleans. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum rolling.

The Warriors will play eight of their next 11 at Oracle Arena and would appear to have a good chance to get that stretch off to a winning start as the Hornets (5-18) arrive in Oakland having lost 16 of 18 and seven in a row.

They missed an opportunity to end that skid Sunday after Portland rookie Damian Lillard hit a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to put the Trail Blazers up by three. New Orleans curiously didn't let Ryan Anderson try for a career high-tying eighth 3-pointer and instead had him pass to Lance Thomas for an alley-oop layup to end a 95-94 defeat.

"You need .04 to get the shot off, so we just ran a play for execution. There was not time for us to get a shot off, with them grabbing and holding Ryan it was going to be tough for him to get a shot off, so we were working on execution," coach Monty Williams said. "It was a situation where we worked on something we would need in the future."

Anderson finished with 26 points. Greivis Vasquez had 23 points and 11 assists, but No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Davis was the only other player in double figures. Davis had 15 points, his best showing in four games since returning from an ankle injury.

Davis, who has been playing exclusively off the bench since coming back, will next try to help the Hornets avoid a season-high eighth straight defeat by leading them to their third win in a row over the Warriors.

Curry, though, missed both of those games because of an ankle injury, and Lee had to sit out an 83-81 loss April 24 with a strained groin and stress reaction.

Two New Orleans players who scored 20 points in a 102-87 win at Golden State on March 28 now play for the Warriors. Jarrett Jack is averaging 13.8 points and 5.3 assists off the bench over the last 10 games, while Carl Landry scored 19 points as a reserve Saturday.

The status of Golden State's starting center Festus Ezeli is unknown for this game because of a bruised knee, and Andris Biedrins could start in his place again.

Warriors hold off Hornets 103-96 in return home

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Posted Dec 19 2012 2:22AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Mark Jackson received a congratulatory text message from Hall of Famer Reggie Miller that might have seemed a bit strange after his Golden State Warriors grinded out a win against the Western Conference's worst team.

Big or small, no Warriors win goes unnoticed or is insignificant these days.

David Lee had 26 points and nine rebounds, Klay Thompson scored 19 points and Golden State brought its surprising road run home with a 103-96 victory over the struggling New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night.

"He congratulated us on the win, but he also said how impressive it was because of the first game being back at home after success for a young team," Jackson said of Miller, a longtime NBA friend and former broadcasting colleague. "For us, it could've been a setup game. But I've got a different group in there. They deserve a whole lot of credit."

After going 6-1 on the season's longest road stretch, the Warriors built a 14-point lead in the second quarter and held off the Hornets late. Golden State (17-8) is off to its best start since the 1991-92 season, when the team began 21-8.

A franchise that has missed the playoffs 17 of the last 18 seasons is suddenly starting returning to its winning ways.

"One of the hardest games in the NBA to play is your first game back at home after a road trip," Lee said. "I've been through too much losing to be disappointed in a win."

Ryan Anderson scored 28 points off the bench and Anthony Davis had 15 points and 16 rebounds in his first start in a month for the Hornets, who lost their eighth straight to fall to 5-19 this season.

Carl Landry and Jarrett Jack each scored 16 points to help Golden State hold off their former team, with each making a pair of free throws in the final minutes. New Orleans sent Jack to Golden State as part of a three-team deal with Philadelphia, and Laundry signed a free-agent deal with the Warriors.

While Jack called facing the Hornets "just another game," Landry laughed off that notion.

"Not for me. And I don't think it was for him. Not at all, man," said Landry, who added nine rebounds. "Jarrett was extra amped-up and I was too, man. We didn't need a 5-hour (energy drink), we didn't need a speech, we didn't need nothing like that. We were ready to play yesterday."

The Warriors hadn't played at Oracle Arena since Dec. 3 and treated fans to a video montage of the road trip during pregame introductions. They controlled the pace for most of the game, but the Hornets almost erased all the good vibes with a frantic fourth quarter rally.

Davis caught a half-court pass from Greivis Vasquez and converted a layup over Landry for a three-point play that capped a 14-4 Hornets run to tie the game at 92. Landry answered with two free throws, Stephen Curry made a pull-up jumper and Jack added another pair from the line to put the Warriors ahead 98-92 with 1:24 remaining.

"It's just a tough loss for us, especially when you tie it up, you have a chance to win. All you need is a couple stops and a couple of buckets," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "We just haven't found that closing mentality, a couple guys who can knock down a shot or even get to the free throw line."

The Warriors extended the momentum from their East Coast trip - which included a win at defending champion Miami - and added some style points, too.

Curry's left-handed pass off the dribble split two defenders en route to rookie Festus Ezeli, who tapped the ball to Lee for a dunk. And on the last play of the first quarter, Charles Jenkins brought an announced sellout crowd of 19,596 roaring to its feet with a buzzer-beating baseline jumper.

Landry kept the surge going in the second quarter when he started a three-point play with a reverse layup over Roger Mason. He flexed his biceps in celebration and made the free to give Golden State a 38-24 lead.

Williams had restructured the Hornets' starting lineup in hopes of shaking the losing streak. Anderson came off the bench and Robin Lopez moved from center to power forward to make room for Davis.

Davis, the top pick out of Kentucky in June's draft, started for the first time since Nov. 17 at Milwaukee. He had come off the bench the previous four games after sitting out 11 games with a left ankle injury.

The result remained the same.

"They just had some great plays at the stretch," Anderson said. "We were getting stops but we made some mistakes down the stretch, and we weren't running the plays right at the end. Just little things, a little slippage."

NOTES: Lee's streak of consecutive double-doubles ended at seven games. ... Williams said he's still not sure when PG Eric Gordon will return from a right knee injury that has sidelined him all season. For now, he's trying to stay patient. "My pastor taught me something a long time ago called present discomfort for future gains," Williams said. "And that's what we're kind of going through as a team." ... A moment of silence was held before the game for the victims of the Connecticut elementary school shooting last week.

Notebook: Warriors 103, Hornets 96

Eric Gilmore, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:03 AM - Updated Wed Dec 19, 2012 2:03 AM

THE FACTS: After going 6-1 on the road, the Golden State Warriors returned home Tuesday night and stayed hot, beating the New Orleans Hornets 103-96 at Oracle Arena.

Warriors forward David Lee, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Klay Thompson added 19 points, while former Hornets Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry came off the bench to score 16 apiece for the Warriors (17-8). Jack added 10 assists for his first double-double of the season, while Landry had nine rebounds.

Forward Ryan Anderson had 28 points off the bench for the Hornets (5-19), who lost their eighth straight game. Rookie forward Anthony Davis, who returned to the starting lineup, had his third career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Guard Greivis Vasquez had 20 points.

The Warriors took a 90-78 lead with just over seven minutes left on Landry's 15-foot jump shot, but New Orleans went on a 14-2 and tied the game 92-92 when Davis scored inside, drew a foul and completed a three-point play with 4:07 left.

Golden State, however, regained the lead for good on a pair of Jack free throws at the 3:25 mark, making it 94-92. After Vasquez was called for traveling, Stephen Curry hit a jump shot then Jack made two more free throws, putting the Warriors ahead 98-92 with 1:24 left. New Orleans never got closer than four points again.

The Warriors had built a 59-50 halftime lead as Lee poured in 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Thompson scored 14 and Jack 10. Anderson countered with 14 first-half points for New Orleans.

The Warriors extended their lead to 82-72 after three quarters with Thompson scoring five more points and Lee four. By that point in the game, Davis already had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "We had a lot of confidence tonight, a lot more confidence than in the past. It's no fun when a team's catching up on you like that, but I think we had confidence we could make plays down the stretch. And we found a way to do that by getting stops."
-- David Lee

THE STAT: Jack and Landry combined for 32 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds.

TURNING POINT: The Hornets trailed just 94-92 and appeared ready to tie the game, but Vasquez was called for traveling before he was able to dish to a wide-open teammate with 2:32 left. Curry quickly popped a jumper. Then after Anderson and ex-Warrior Dominic McGuire missed, Curry rebounded for the Warriors. Thompson missed from outside, but rookie Draymond Green rebounded. Jack then drew a foul from Austin Rivers and sank both free throws with 1:24 left.

QUOTABLE II: "It's just a tough loss for us, especially when you tie it up, you have a chance to win. All you need is a couple stops and a couple of buckets. We just haven't found that closing mentality, a couple guys who can knock down a shot or even get to the free throw line."
-- Hornets coach Monty Williams

ROOKIE WATCH: Rivers had 12 points on 6-for-11 shooting, but he was 0-for-3 from long range.

GOOD MOVE: Hornets coach Monty Williams shook up his starting lineup, inserting Davis and forward Lance Thomas for Anderson and Al-Farouq Aminu. Davis, the no. 1 overall pick in the 2012 Draft, came off the bench the previous four games after missing 11 straight games with an ankle injury. He made his seventh career start. Anderson scored 28 points, well above his average of 18.6 coming into the game. Davis had a double-double with 16 rebounds and 15 points, to go with four steals and a block.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Lee's career-high streak of games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds came to an end at seven -- he was one rebound short -- but he remained red hot. He scored 26 and cracked the 20-point mark for a career-high ninth straight game,

INSIDE THE ARENA: It was Andrew Bogut Bobblehead night at Oracle Arena, but the 7-foot center was on the bench in street clothes again as he continues to rehab his surgically repaired left ankle. Bogut has appeared in only four games and hasn't played since Nov. 7 against Cleveland.

NOTABLE: Anderson scored 28 points but didn't have a single rebound or assist. ... The Warriors are now 12-4 when Landry scores in double-digits. ... The Warriors are off to a 17-8 start for the first time since the 1991-92 season. .... Golden State improved to 7-3 at Oracle. ... Warriors rookie center Festus Ezeli returned to the starting lineup after missing one game with a bruised right knee.

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Wednesday at L.A. Clippers, Friday at San Antonio, Saturday vs. Indiana. For the Warriors, Wednesday @ Sacramento, Friday vs. Charlotte, Saturday vs. L.A. Lakers.

• Hornets: Gordon, Smith
• Warriors: Bogut, Rush

• Hornets: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #45 Brian Forte, #29 Mark Lindsay
• Attendance: 19596
• Duration: 2:10