• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Balanced attack leads hot-shooting Warriors past Jazz

Feb 9, 2009 - 5:33 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Golden State Warriors quickly turned a close game into a laugher.

Corey Maggette scored 24 points off the bench and Stephen Jackson added 20, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Warriors blew past the Utah Jazz, 116-96, on Sunday.

Kelenna Azubuike added 16 points and C.J. Watson chipped in 14 for Golden State, which shot 52 percent (41-of-79) from the floor.

The Warriors had seven players score in double figures and only committed eight turnovers.

"I think our team is finally getting some chemistry," Maggette said. "By having Monta (Ellis) back, it adds so much more to our team. The speed, the level of play, it is really helping out each and every player on this team. We just want to keep it up, keep everybody together and just stay healthy."

The contest was tied at 58-58 early in the third quarter, when the Warriors took control of the game.

Jamal Crawford made back-to-back 3-pointers and scored 11 points during an 18-2 run that gave the Warriors a 76-60 lead with 3:24 left in the session. Golden State held an 86-69 lead entering the final quarter after shooting 11-of-16 (69 percent) from the floor in the third.

"We always give effort, you guys don't ever question our effort out there on the basketball court," said Warriors forward Ronny Turiaf, who scored 13 points. "We're always trying to do the best thing that we think and sometimes we're not on the same page. It's practicing the right stuff and practicing the wrong stuff we did on film."

Utah came within 13 points midway through the fourth, but Golden State put the contest away with an 11-0 burst to take a 105-81 bulge with 5:25 remaining.

Azubuike tipped in a miss on the Warriors' third offensive rebound of a sequence and Watson had a 3-pointer during the run.

"They beat us every quarter and it went wrong every quarter," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said angrily. "They just went out and annihilated us. Every time we tried to do something they got after us defensively. We couldn't handle the basketball. We had 18 turnovers and 34 points (given up).

"They're that quick to the basketball, and we're that slow trying to make a decision, you're not going to have a chance to win that's pretty obvious."

Deron Williams had 31 points and 10 assists to pace Utah, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. It was the third straight 30-point game for Williams, who also had six of Utah's 17 turnovers.

"I just think as a team we need to play better defense and the way I've been taking care of the ball doesn't help either," Williams said. "The last four games have been pretty disgusting to me. The thing I look at first is turnovers and I've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball and as a team we do too.

"The defense wasn't there, that's what it comes down to. Getting to the lane too easy, too many second chance points, and they just outplayed us tonight. They were the better team."

In an evenly played first half, Maggette scored eight straight points for the Warriors late in the first quarter, and Jackson's two free throws gave Golden State a 23-21 lead after one.

Neither side led by more than four in the second but the Warriors again finished the quarter stronger, taking a 48-45 edge into the locker rooms on Azubuike's runner with 14 seconds left in the period.

The win was Golden State's second straight at Oracle Arena. The Warriors are 12-12 at home compared to 5-23 on the road.