With 8 minutes left to go in the game, the Warriors finally made the game interesting. And in large part, it was attributed to Vladimir Radmanovic tying his season high of 9 points and Rodney Carney’s 10 point on 4-6 shooting. But even with the bench support, totaling 25 points, the Warriors couldn’t come back from the third quarter 16 point deficit, losing by 1 on a last second fadeaway by Monta Ellis.
Wesley Matthews errant pass to Dante Cunningham, which David Lee picked up and tossed to a sprinting Ellis on the other end of the court, allowed the Warriors to creep within 1 after Cunningham fouled Ellis on his layup.
All five Trailblazer starters finished in double digits, led by Andre Miller’s 17 points and 8 assists. LaMarcus Aldridge also finished with 17 points, but led all players with 12 rebounds.
After sitting out a bulk of the second and fourth quarters, Ellis recovered from his poor ballhandling (7 turnovers) to finish with 26 points on 9-20 shooting. Reggie Williams finished with 16 points and also helped jump start the 4th quarter run.
Without Andris Biedrins and Stephen Curry, the Warriors struggled to secure rebounds and with their dribble penetration. The Trailblazers, one of the better defensive teams in the league, made it a nightmare for Ellis and others by constantly poking the ball out or stripping them completely. But as usual, Warriors poor court-awareness was part of the problem. For example, Rodney Carney had no idea that Dante Cunningham was right behind him as he attempted to advance the ball on a fast break. Luckily the referee’s called a push on Cunningham as they both converged on the ball.
Dan Gadzuric, after grabbing 6 rebounds in 11 minutes, exited the game with a strained groin.