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Jackson, Ellis lead Warriors past Grizzlies

Feb 22, 2007 - 8:05 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis had enough firepower to offset Mike Miller's awesome night.

Jackson scored 26 points and set a career high with 12 assists and Ellis and Al Harrington added 22 points each as the Golden State Warriors posted a 118-115 overtime triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Avenging a 144-135 defeat to the Grizzlies on January 3, the Warriors ended a five-game losing streak against Memphis, which lost for the 16th time in its last 17 road games.

"It's good that we're sharing the ball, showing we're playing together and I think when we're playing together, everybody (is) involved in the game," Jackson said. "I think we play harder on defense and defense is definitely the key to us winning tonight."

Miller, who scored a career-high 45 points for Memphis, opened the extra period with the first of three baskets from the arc. However, he was matched by Ellis, who hit three jumpers and made a three-point play before Jason Richardson dunked to give the Warriors a 113-111 lead with 1:31 left.

"I just felt like our team needed a lift and I just needed to step up and I did," Ellis said. "I made some big shots and we got some key rebounds, ran the ball and we got the win. I was just doing everything to help my team win."

"Just like we had a hard time with (Pau) Gasol, we created problems for them with Ellis," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "They had a hard time with our screen and roll because Andris (Biedrins) was getting open and they were leaving early. This left a lot of jump shots available and Monta did a really good job hitting his shots."

After Hakim Warrick hit a pair of free throws for the Grizzlies with 1:15 to play, Harrington nailed a straightaway jumper with 61 seconds remaining as Golden State took a 115-113 advantage.

Gasol missed two foul shots with 44 seconds to go and Rudy Gay failed to make a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left before Sarunas Jasikevicius and Jackson combined to make 3-of-4 from the charity stripe in the waning seconds for Golden State.

"I had a chance to tie the game and I missed those free throws which could have given us a better chance to win the game," Gasol said. "Not guarantee it, but we had a chance to tie it with a fast break and we took a rushed shot. We found different ways to put ourselves in a bad situation to lose the game."

"It really doesn't matter anymore," Miller said. "Bottom line, I didn't have enough at the end. We came up short and that's the most disappointing thing. We just got to find ways to win games and continue to plug away with that."

Biedrins scored 21 points with 14 rebounds and Richardson overcame a sluggish start to finish with 19 points and 10 boards in his return after missing 22 games with broken right hand.

"You know my legs weren't there and I just felt like I had to do whatever it takes to win some games," Richardson said. "I got some good rebounds and played pretty decent defense so I just try to do whatever it takes to help this team win some games."

Richardson shot 3-of-15 from the floor in the first three quarters before scoring nine points in the fourth. After nailing a 3-pointer with 8:07 to go, he dunked off an alley-oop pass from Jackson to give Golden State a 90-89 lead with 7:13 left in the period.

"We needed that," Ellis said. "(Richardson) came up with some big shots, big rebounds, some big steals, and I'm just glad to have him back. Once we get everybody back, who knows what this team can do. We're just going to continue to fight."

After Damon Stoudamire buried a 3-pointer to tie the score at 98-98 with 2:35 to play in regulation, Jackson hit a short one-hander with 1:45 to play in the fourth to give the Warriors the lead.

Gasol answered with a bank shot and a baby hook sandwiched around another basket by Jackson, tying the score, 102-102, with 27 seconds remaining in the period.

Miller, whose previous season high of 33 points came against Golden State on January 3, scored 17 in a row for the Grizzlies in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers. He had 18 points in the period and 24 at the half.

"Mike (is) an excellent shooter and when he gets hot like this, it's extremely hard to stop (him)," Gasol said. "So I'm really proud of the way he played tonight. Obviously, he's not going to play like that every night but it took that (game) from him for us to have a good chance to win a game, which tells you a few things."

Memphis made 14-of-34 shots from the arc, highlighted by Miller, who hit 9-of-17 3-pointers. Overall, he sank 16-of-27 shots and added six assists.

"I needed to make more shots and (we) needed to execute a little better," Miller said. "It was one of those games. Back and forth and whoever was going to make plays at the end. Unfortunately, they made more than us."

Gasol scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Gay had 17 and 10 for the Grizzlies, who are 3-25 away from home this season.

In the first game after the All-Star break for both teams, the contest was tied 11 times and there were 23 lead changes.