• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Davis, Richardson shoot Warriors back in series, defeat Jazz

May 12, 2007 - 7:01 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Baron Davis, Jason Richardson and the Golden State Warriors had their 3-point mojo working early to put the Utah Jazz away in a hurry.

Davis had 32 points, nine assists and a playoff career-high six steals and Richardson added 25 points, including five shots from the arc, as the Warriors bombed the Jazz, 125-105, in Game Three of the Western Conference semifinal series on Friday.

"We just wanted to win," Richardson said. "We weren't trying to make a statement. We just won in a big way tonight."

Game Four is in Oakland on Sunday.

"We just wanted to go out there and win," Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson said. "We definitely didn't want to come back Sunday down 3-0."

The Warriors, who shot 53 percent (41-of-78) for the game, tied an NBA playoff record with 11 baskets from the arc in the first half to help end the competitive nature of this contest. The 3-pointers by halftime were matched on four other occasions in playoff history, last by Dallas vs. Sacramento on May 8, 2003.

"We did have a hot hand tonight and made shots," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "For a change we had eight guys who all made contributions."

It was the sixth straight game the Warriors have attempted at least 30 3-pointers.

Al Harrington scored 15 points, reserve Mickael Pietrus scored 14 and Andris Biedrins added 13 and 13 rebounds for Golden State, which made 15-of-32 from 3-point range to earn its first victory in the series.

Golden State came into this contest knowing it blew two chances to be in a different position in this series. The Warriors had leads with under 90 seconds left in both Game One and Two in Salt Lake City, only to let the Jazz escape to win, 116-112, in the first game 127-117, in overtime in the second on Wednesday.

"When we lost Game Two, it really hurt us," Davis said. "We are learning through this series. To come back after being down, 2-0, it shows a lot of heart."

After the Jazz took an early 7-4 lead on a 14-foot jumper by Deron Williams, Golden State exploded for a 15-0 run, capped by a 26-foot 3-pointer by Davis - the fourth shot from the arc in the spurt - from the right corner with 6:50 left in the first quarter.

"Baron was so consistently dominant tonight with how they were playing him," Nelson said. "He was also a tremendous defender tonight and got his hands on their passes."

"I think our captain, our franchise player put this game on his back and made sure we won," Jackson added.

After the Jazz used a 20-7 run of their own to take a 27-26 lead on a 10-foot jumper by Andrei Kirilenko with 29 seconds left, Golden State closed out the period when Richardson's second 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Warriors a 30-27 lead. Davis had nine points while Richardson finished with eight in the quarter.

"We believe we can beat anybody on any given night," Davis said. "I just wanted to come out aggressive and head to the rim."

Golden State began the second period on a 17-6 run to take a 47-33 lead with 5:58 left in the half, thanks to seven points by Davis and five by Pietrus.

"Davis was terrific," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "As a point guard he had as great a game as you could have. He's that kind of player and I've never seen him any better."

After layups by Carlos Boozer an Matt Harpring cut Utah's deficit to 48-37 just 35 seconds later, the Warriors ran off a 12-3 burst, capped by Pietrus' shot from the arc to take a commanding 60-40 lead with 2:39 left in the period.

"We started shooting outside shots," Sloan said. "We can't make a track meet out of it. We can push the ball but can't make it a track meet."

3-pointers by Matt Barnes and Richardson helped Golden State take a 70-49 lead into halftime.

"Guys were hitting 3-pointers all night," Richardson said.

In the third quarter Golden State opened its largest lead, 92-62, after Harrington split a pair of free throws with 5:45 remaining before cruising the rest of the way.

"We turned the ball over way too much," said Jazz guard Derek Fisher of his team's 23 turnovers, including 14 in the first half. "Sometimes when you turn the ball over at home, you can get away with it, but not here. We just need to play smarter and more efficient."

Boozer finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds but took just 10 shots while Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur each had 15 points for the Jazz, who are 1-4 on the road in the 2007 playoffs.

"We are fine, we know they won this game big," Boozer said. "We are still up 2-1 and know that we want to take Sunday's game so we can go home up 3-1. We just need to be a little more patient with the ball."