• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Jackson sharp late as Warriors edge Kings

Nov 29, 2007 - 7:05 AM SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Stephen Jackson and the high-octane Golden State Warriors showed they can grind out a win when necessary.

Jackson nailed two huge 3-pointers down the stretch to highlight a decisive game-ending run as the Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings, 103-96, at Arco Arena on Wednesday night.

Monta Ellis scored 22 points and Andris Biedrins added 13 and 13 rebounds for Golden State, which held Sacramento to just 2-of-23 shooting in the fourth quarter.

"I don't think we played that well," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "But we kept running. The two threes that (Jackson) got were off the semi-break and kicked out. Finally, down the stretch, we stayed away from fouls and guarded. That was really the difference."

Jackson, who was suspended for the first six games of the season, has been a catalyst for the Warriors, who have won six of the seven games since their captain has returned.

"We're coming together as a team," Jackson said. "We've only had our whole team for two games. It definitely feels good to have our whole team. The sky's the limit with the team we can be. We've just got to continue to work and continue to support each other and we'll be all right."

"Jack made a lot of turnovers in the first half," Biedrins said. "But he came back and made those big plays at the end of the game. That's how we got that little run, and we won. He did great."

Golden State has won seven of its last eight games overall to climb to .500 after losing its first six contests to start the season.

Trailing, 96-92, with just under two minutes remaining, the Warriors scored the final 11 points of the game to pick up the win.

Jackson hit two shots from the arc on back-to-back possessions during that spurt, including one in transition that gave Golden State the lead for good at 98-96 with 1:21 left.

"We really struggled to get shots to go down," Kings center Brad Miller said of the fourth-quarter collapse. "Kevin (Martin) goes down and tries to dunk on (Biedrins) and they don't call a foul. Baron (Davis) pushes the ball and Jackson hits the three.

"You go from possibly being up six or seven to up one. Then he hits that three right after that too. That kind of swung all the momentum their way."

However, Jackson deflected the praise.

"It could have been anybody hitting those shots because we shoot them all with confidence," Jackson said. "Whether we're up two with a minute left or it's the last shot of the game, we're going to shoot them with confidence. The biggest thing is we found ways to get stops in that fourth quarter."

He scored 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-7 on 3-pointers.

But it was not that easy the whole way for the Warriors, who are one of the league's highest scoring teams. Golden State shot just 41 percent (37-of-89) in this one before Jackson found the range late.

Sacramento used an 8-1 run midway through the fourth to grab a 94-90 lead. But both teams struggled from the floor in the third as Golden State shot just 39 percent and the Kings hit 37 percent en route to an 82-82 tie heading into the fourth.

Martin scored 28 points and Miller added 10 and a season-high 18 rebounds for Sacramento.

Sacramento committed 21 turnovers to offset their most dominating performance of the season on the boards, outrebounding the Warriors by a 56-46 margin.

"Tough game, tough game," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "Down the stretch, we just didn't make our plays. We just didn't get it done."