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Warriors set blistering pace, cruise past Cavs

Dec 24, 2007 - 3:34 AM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- When the shots are falling, the Golden State Warriors are one of the toughest teams in the NBA to beat.

Stephen Jackson scored 29 points and Baron Davis chipped in 27 to lead the Warriors to a 105-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

Monta Ellis added 19 points and Al Harrington 16 for Golden State, which wrapped up a five-game road trip with three victories and now heads home for a two-day break.

"It was a very nice win for us," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "That's my Christmas present."

Prior to the game, both Jackson and Davis were questionable with nagging injuries, but each decided to play.

"I didn't think I'd have either Baron (Davis) or Jack (Stephen Jackson)," Nelson said. "I thought they both probably would not be able to play. It shows you what I know."

"I knew that I was probably not going to play today," Davis said. "(Coach Nelson) came in and told me to take the day off. I felt like we had at least a chance to give ourselves a chance of keeping it close. I went out there and felt alright and I got into a good groove and we had a lead and sustained it."

The Warriors set a blistering pace in the first quarter, running out to a 38-22 lead after the first quarter. By the time Golden State reached the half-century mark in scoring, the team had connected on 27-of-33 attempts from the field and owned a commanding 50-31 lead with 8:56 remaining in the opening half.

"We've been shooting poorly the last couple of games, and we were bound to have a game where everybody was clicking," Jackson said. "I just thank God it was tonight. The biggest thing was that we got off to a good start.

"As our shots stared falling, it picked up our defense. When we hit shots, it's going to be hard to beat us because we're playing better on both ends."

The Cavaliers closed the first half on an 18-8 run to close the gap to 63-50 at the break, but the deficit proved to be too large.

Davis scored 17 of his points in the opening half, with Ellis adding 15 and Jackson chipping in 14.

Cleveland cut it to as little as 65-54 with 10:11 remaining in the third quarter, but Golden State put the game away with an 18-4 run over the next seven minutes, capped by Jackson's driving layup with 3:27 left in the third.

"Actually, my mom told me not to play because I hyper-extended my knee in the last game," Jackson said. "I couldn't even bend it this morning. There's something about a person who loves the game. Once I walk in this gym I felt no pain."

LeBron James showed some pride at the end of the game, scoring seven of his team-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, but the hole was too big.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 20 for the Cavaliers, who have lost 10 of their last 13 games.

"Defensively we're going through the motions," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "When we contest shots we have our hand up but it's really no true contest to make them feel us, like we have in the past. That's something we have to keep preaching until we find it. Last year I thought we played with more energy, more passion."