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Warriors use balanced attack to beat Wizards

Mar 6, 2012 - 5:42 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Monta Ellis poured in 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting and dished out eight assists, as the Golden State Warriors thumped the Washington Wizards, 120-100, at Verizon Center on Monday.

Klay Thompson drained four three-pointers en route to 18 points and Ekpe Udoh donated 17 points and six rebounds for the Warriors, who wrapped up a six-game road trip with a 3-3 mark.

David Lee contributed a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Stephen Curry and Brandon Rush rounded out the Warriors' double-figure scorers with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

"There's no secret to winning is this league as long as you put in the effort," Warriors head coach Marc Jackson said. "We made shots inside and outside, we defended and paid attention to the script. This was a much-needed win for us."

Nick Young paced the Wizards with 25 points, while John Wall finished with 20 points and 14 assists. JaVale McGee ended with 10 points and 10 boards and Trevor Booker donated 14 points in defeat for the Wizards, who have dropped seven of their last eight games.

Washington kept it close early, trailing by just four, 16-12, with 7:45 to go in the first quarter, but the Warriors simply couldn't miss in the first frame and slowly began to pull away.

They used a 13-7 burst to extend their lead to double digits for the first time, 29-19, with 3:17 left in the quarter.

Maurice Evans drained a three-pointer to pull the Wizards within seven, but the Warriors closed the quarter on a 12-2 flurry to take a comfortable 41-24 lead after one.

Ellis had 14 points in the quarter to lead a hot Warriors team, who shot 71 percent from the floor in the first.

Golden State continued play well throughout the second quarter as a deep three-pointer by Rush gave the Warriors their largest lead of the game at 51-26. Golden State led 65-51 heading into the third quarter.

The Warriors cooled off in the third quarter, shooting 42 percent (9-of-21) from the floor, but led by double digits throughout the frame.

Curry netted seven points in the third, and capped the frame with a 27-foot trey with 1.8 seconds left to put Golden State ahead, 89-71, after three.

The Warriors cruised through the fourth for the easy win.

"We have a team coming in that's on the end of a road trip and on a back-to- back, and we just didn't have the effort to start the game," Wizards head coach Randy Wittman said. "It's inexcusable, and that's on me."

Game Notes

41 points was the highest first quarter offensive output of the season for Golden State...The Warriors shot 54 percent overall, while holding the Wizards to 42 percent...Golden State also finished 15-of-23 from three-point range...2011 first-round draft pick Jan Vesely finished with seven points and nine rebounds for Washington...Golden State has won the last three meetings with the Wizards...The Warriors turned 15 Washington turnovers into 20 points.