Warriors guard Monta Ellis, after getting caught in the air on a drive to the basket, threw an errant pass.
Stephen Curry – fresh off a four-game injury stint on the bench – chased down the loose ball and, from right where he was, chucked a 3-pointer. Drilled it from about 30 feet.
It was that kind of night for the Warriors. Everything they threw up seemed to go in, leading to a 120-100 rout of the Washington Wizards. The win ended a two-game losing streak and ended the five-game trip on a positive not.
Golden State shot 54.2 percent from the field and even made 15 shots from behind the arc, one off the season high.
“We made shots, that’s the biggest thing,” Ellis said after totaling 25 points and eight assists. “Wish they could’ve come a little bit earlier. … It was one of those nights when the basket was big for everyone.”
Monday’s performance was the antithesis of Sunday’s loss at Toronto, when the Warriors couldn’t throw a rock into the ocean from the edge of a boat. Golden State even got a season-high 52 points from the bench, led by 18 points from rookie Klay Thompson.
Certainly, they were playing one of the league’s worst defenses. Washington came into the game ranked 29th in points allowed (101.3 per game) and 26th in field goal percentage defense (45.5 percent).
Ellis scored 14 points in the first quarter, capped with a running 3-pointer from 36-feet at the buzzer for a 41-24 lead. The Warriors made 15 of their first shots 21 shots and never looked back.
“We are not where I want to be,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said, “But I have no doubt about the mentality of this basketball team. They’re not going to quit. They’re not going to let go of the rope.”
Curry returned to action Monday and in nine minutes showed what the Warriors had been missing. He had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting while playing off the ball. Curry called it a “quick tester.”
“He looked good. If it was a closer game, I would have kept him in longer,” Jackson said. “But he jumped in the pool and got out.”
Curry said he didn’t have any setbacks and is ready for more action, but he’d happily yield to Jackson’s wisdom on the matter.
Curry checked in with 6:25 left in the first quarter and, 12 seconds later, knocked down an open 3-pointer from the top. Some three minutes later, he banked in a high-arcing shot from close range. He played just over four minutes in the first half.
He came back in late in the third quarter and scored seven points in just over three-minute span. After Washington cut the Warriors’ lead to 13 points, Curry scored five straight points, including that long 3-pointer, to send the Warriors into the fourth quarter up 89-71.
Jackson said the change in the starting lineup at center is permanent – Ekpe Udoh is the starter. That is, “unless he completely falls off the map,” Jackson said.
Udoh started his second consecutive game Monday. That means veteran Andris Biedrins is now a reserve. But Jackson said that doesn’t mean he’s giving up on Biedrins.
“He can rebound. He can defend. So I don’t think it’s a last straw,” Jackson said. “When you’re a big man who can do those things, you can help a team. We’re just trying to push buttons to get him to where he used to be.”
Biedrins is apparently taking the move in stride. Before Monday’s game, he was joking when discussing the move.
“I’ve got a big chip on my shoulder,” Biedrins said with a smile. “You see it?”
Biedrins said some changes had to be made because the Warriors had been losing. He said he didn’t mind when Jackson told him he would come off the bench because he’s willing to do what it takes to the help the team.
“If that helps our team, that’s fine with me,” he said.
Biedrins said Udoh is “playing really well.” Unlike Biedrins, Udoh is expected to give the Warriors some offense at the center position – or at least the threat of offense.
Udoh finished with 17 points Monday on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor and 7 of 7 from the foul line.
“With extended minutes, I see his confidence going up and up,” teammate David Lee said. “I don’t see him hesitating anymore.”
The Warriors will give out Mitch Richmond bobblehead dolls to the first 10,000 fans at Wednesday’s game against Memphis.
