Oracle Arena had fireworks Monday night. Guard Monta Ellis
provided much of them, scoring 44 points on 20 shots. Rookie
forward Ekpe Udoh added to the ambience with his best game as a
pro, including a couple highlights. The Warriors shot 51.2 percent
and racked up 31 fast-break points. It was exciting stuff. But
there was no cherry on top in the form of a victory. The Warriors
left the gym with a 121-112 loss to the Houston Rockets.
OAKLAND
Oracle Arena had fireworks Monday night.
Guard Monta Ellis provided much of them, scoring 44 points on 20 shots. Rookie forward Ekpe Udoh added to the ambience with his best game as a pro, including a couple highlights. The Warriors shot 51.2 percent and racked up 31 fast-break points.
It was exciting stuff. But there was no cherry on top in the form of a victory. The Warriors left the gym with a 121-112 loss to the Houston Rockets.
Ellis was 15 for 20 shooting and had seven assists and three steals. It was his third 40-point game this season. No other player in the league has more than one.
David Lee had 19 points and six rebounds. Guard Acie Law had his best game as a Warrior, totaling eight rebounds and four assists.
But the story of the night was Udoh.
He had been mostly a bench rider since making his debut on Dec. 10 following offseason surgery on his left wrist. Monday, he played 25 minutes. He finished with five points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Four of his rebounds were offensive.
But the breakout game for Udoh couldn’t overcome the Warriors being outrebounded by 10, or their inability to contain Kevin Martin, who finished with 30 points.
Houston’s lead was up to five early in the fourth quarter, 85-80, after a pair of free throws by Martin. But the Warriors went on a dramatic run to take control of the game.
Law started it with a pull-up jumper. Then Udoh, in a five-second sequence, sent Oracle Arena into a frenzy. He dunked home Ellis’ missed jumper with his left hand, then hustled down court and swatted a layup by Courtney Lee into the crowd.
Ellis then took over. He nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 87 with nine minutes left. After a stop, Ellis connected on a pull-up jumper. On the ensuing defensive sequence, he intercepted a Luis Scola pass and turned it into a breakaway dunk. The Warriors led 91-87 with 8:05 left.
But the Warriors eventually went cold. A layup by Jeremy Lin at the 6:51 mark had the Warriors ahead 95-92. Golden State managed just one point the next three minutes, 12 seconds. It turned out to be a 7-1 run by Houston, capped by a Scola hook to put the Warriors down five.
A three-point play by David Lee cut the Warriors’ deficit to 103-101. But Rockets forward Shane Battier knocked down two 3-pointers down the stretch to end any chance of a last-minute comeback.
Ellis got off to a hot start, scoring 11 points in 10-plus minutes. He made his first four shots. He also had two of the Warriors nine assists in the first quarter.
The game was tied at 26 entering the second quarter, but the Warriors offense sputtered. Golden State missed 14 of its 23 attempts in the period. Defense kept Houston from taking advantage — the Warriors forced eight turnovers in the second quarter — and the Rockets never led by more than five.
The lead changed five times in the second quarter, but the Warriors went into the locker room trailing 50-46. Scola knocked down a jumper at the buzzer.
— Story by Marcus Thompson II, Contra Costa Times
