• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Jackson's late threes lead Warriors past Lakers

Mar 24, 2008 - 5:37 AM By Jonathan Raber PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - The Golden State Warriors dodged a bullet.

Stephen Jackson had 31 points and hit two key 3-pointers to help the Warriors avoid blowing a double-digit lead and defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-111, on Sunday night.

Monta Ellis also added 31 for Golden State, which snapped a nine-game road losing streak to the Lakers.

"I can't remember the last time we won here," Jackson said. "Considering what's at stake, considering that every game counts at this point, we have to be playing with a sense of urgency. We almost let it go, but we found a way to win."

The Lakers trailed 72-49 in a forgettable first half, in which they managed only 39 percent shooting, had nearly as many turnovers (14) as baskets (19), and were booed off the court by the Staples Center faithful.

"We were just getting used to their style of play," Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said. "I knew it was going to take a half to get used to it, I didn't expect to be down by that much.

"But they're so unorthodox. They're basically what Phoenix used to be, on steroids. They all just jack it up, they can all pass. It's pretty unbelievable."

Golden State, which is the league's highest scoring squad, tied a season-high in points in the half. They converted the Lakers' turnovers into 25 points and used a 13-0 run heading into the break for the comfortable advantage.

The lead ballooned to as many as 26 points on Al Harrington's 3-pointer early in the third quarter, before the Lakers came alive.

"As bad as they were in the first half, we were that bad, I thought, in the second half," Warriors coach Don Nelson said.

The Lakers outscored the Warriors, 32-15, in the quarter and got within three-points on Derek Fisher's trey from the corner, before trailing 87-81 heading into the fourth.

With the score tied, 101-101, in the closing minutes, Jackson helped seal the game down the stretch with consecutive 3-pointers, the last of which put the Warriors ahead for good after Bryant had gotten the Lakers within 112-111.

"Jackson has hit countless back-breakers for us this season," said Warriors guard Baron Davis, who finished with 18 points.

Bryant nearly had a triple-double with 36 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, but it wasn't enough for the Lakers to pull out their biggest deficit of the season.

"Stephen (Jackson) made a couple of big, big, big shots from deep," Bryant said. "You got to tip your hat to that. When you're down that many points, you want to give yourself an opportunity to win the game, and we kept ourselves in it down the stretch and he made a couple of big ones."

Pau Gasol missed his fifth consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle for the Lakers. Lamar Odom picked up some of the slack with 19 points and a career-high 22 rebounds.

The largest lead Los Angeles had previously come back from was 17 against the Nuggets.

This was the first of a home-and-home set between the teams, who will square off Monday at the Oracle Center. If the current standings hold to form, the two California rivals would square off in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Los Angeles (48-22) currently leads the West, holding a slim one-game advantage over the New Orleans Hornets with 12 contests left, while Golden State (43-26) remains entrenched in the eighth spot.

"We just wanted this game because we needed it more than they do," Jackson said.