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Jackson, Belinelli help Warriors top Raptors

Dec 30, 2008 - 7:16 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Golden State Warriors live and die by the 3-point shot. On Monday, they thrived from the arc.

Stephen Jackson scored 19 of his 30 points in the first half and Marco Belinelli added 23 points, including a career high-tying five 3-pointers in a 117-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night.

"I didn't know I would get more opportunity, but I know I can help this team," Belinelli said.

"I try to do my best. Everybody knows now we are a different team, we play together like never before. It's very good for us to play like this, and it's good for the fans, too."

Toronto finished its West Coast trip with a 2-4 record, dropping the final two games. Chris Bosh had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Jose Calderon had 21 and 16 assists for the Raptors, who have lost their last five games at Golden State.

"You can shoot at shootaround and you can shoot on an off-day between games but it's not the same," Toronto interim coach Jay Triano said. "We have good shooters and we've just got to start making them. I feel confident.

"Our guys are feeling bad they missed shots and I'm telling them you're shooters and you've got to keep shooting it and there's going to be nights when we make them."

Golden State shot 50 percent (38-of-76) from the floor, including 12-of-24 from the arc to help hold off Toronto down the stretch.

"We've got to hit shots to win, that's how we play," Jackson said. "We play fast, we get a lot of open shots, we drive and kick and that's our style of game. When we're knocking down shots and getting a high number of assists, we have a better chance to win."

Toronto closed within four early in the fourth quarter before Belinelli drained a triple to put the Warriors up by a 91-84 score. Ronny Turiaf added a two-handed slam but then was assessed a technical foul for taunting.

The Raptors used a 9-2 run to get within 106-104 after Chris Bosh's 3-pointer from the right wing 3:29 to play.

But that would be as close as Toronto could get as Jason Kapono missed from the baseline and, although the Raptors got the rebound and passed the ball around the perimeter, Calderon missed his 3-pointer as well.

The Warriors later scored on a putback layup from Andris Biedrins to give the Warriors a four-point edge with 2:05 left.

The Raptors got a turnaround hook shot in the lane by Kapono to again make it a two-point game but C.J. Watson's pull-up jumper made it 110-106 Warriors with 52.6 seconds left.

"The play wasn't drawn up for me, I just took what was given to me by the defense, made a play, and made a shot," Watson said. "I was actually thinking to throw it back to the big man, swing it, and they switched. I saw Bosh on me, so I took advantage and made a big shot."

After Toronto called a timeout, Jamal Crawford was quickly fouled when play resumed and he only made one free throw.

On the ensuing inbounds play, Watson stole the ball and Belinelli made two free throws. Toronto's Anthony Parker made a 3-pointer but two more free throws from Belinelli was the nail in the coffin with only 18 seconds left.

"I think with the team that we have in being so young we have to have guys off the bench to step up," Jackson said.

"And Buike (Kelenna Azubuike) and C.J. have been doing that, especially C.J. the last two games. I think C.J. hit the biggest shots in the fourth quarter to win games against Boston and tonight. If those guys continue to be successful and our bench plays as well as our starters, we've got a good chance to win."

Golden State led, 60-52, at the break and opened the third quarter with a pair of long range shots to take a 12-point lead.

The Raptors chipped away, outrebounding the Warriors 8-0 in a stretch where they went on a 7-0 run and eventually cut the deficit to 86-79 after three quarters.

"Its frustrating but that's part of the game," Kapono said. "Sometimes they go down, sometimes they don't but we did a good job of fighting back. We were down double digits there at the end of the third and the fourth quarter but to fight back, give ourselves a chance to win, if one of those threes goes down, we're plus-one with a few minutes to play.

"That's the game of basketball, its a game of inches, a game of one shot or two shots it totally swings the final (score) of the game."