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Jackson's triple-double helps Warriors scorch Suns

Feb 5, 2009 - 7:12 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Golden State Warriors exploded out of the gate and never looked back.

Stephen Jackson recorded his first career triple-double, pacing the Golden State Warriors to a 124-112 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.

Jackson poured in 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in 45 minutes, leading five players in double figures for the Warriors, who rebounded from back-to-back losses with a dominant offensive performance.

"Congratulations to Jack on a triple-double, his first one so that's pretty nice for him," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "I just loved the ball movement, the way we shared it tonight. We were a hot team we made shots and we made them all game."

The Warriors hit their first six shots from the field, five from the arc, jumping to a 17-2 lead 2:37 into the game.

"That was definitely Warriors basketball, what we've been looking to play all year," Jackson said. "We've had a lot of games where we've been right there but couldn't get it. But it shows we continue to play hard and not give up."

Kelenna Azubuike hit a trio of 3-pointers and added a dunk while Jackson contributed two threes over that span.

Azubuike scored 19 of his 25 points in the first quarter, pacing Golden State to an insurmountable 13-point advantage after the opening 12 minutes.

"It felt good," Azubuike said. "I just wanted to keep the same intensity the whole game. We were able to get the win, the guys kept it going and we were able to come away with a win."

The Warriors stretched the lead to 72-55 entering the locker rooms, recording their highest scoring first half of the season. They finished the opening 24 minutes shooting 52 percent (25-of-48) while hitting 9-of-14 (64 percent) from 3-point range.

The Suns closed within 90-79 with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter when former Warrior Jason Richardson drained a three.

But Jackson hit a jumper on the other end, extending the bulge back to 13 points and Phoenix never got any closer.

"We just never really recovered from that first quarter," Suns coach Terry Porter said. "They just came out and just gave us a TKO punch.

"They were knocking down everything from the perimeter, hitting threes and whenever we did have a chance to cut it (the lead) we would miss a shot or make turnovers. They would come back and make a play and we were never in the game."

Jamal Crawford had 27 points, Corey Maggette added 18 off the bench and Andris Biedrins contributed 10 for Golden State, which finished the contest shooting 53 percent (47-of-90) from the field and drained 13-of-28 (46 percent) from the arc.

"We can't expect to shoot like this every night," Crawford said. "We understand that but we think with coach we have a great game plan.

"We'll take the energy from tonight and see what we can do Friday (at Phoenix)."

Richardson scored 24 points and All-Star Shaquille O'Neal contributed 17 and 12 rebounds for the Suns, who endured their eighth loss in 12 games.

"(The Warriors' outburst is) not surprising to me - they're an NBA team," Richardson said. "If you don't come out and play, any team can do that to you. Not taking anything from them but they just wanted the game more."