The Golden State Warriors haven't had much luck at the US Airways Center as of late. In fact, they haven't won a game their in their last 12 tries, and may be without the scoring of Monta Ellis once more Monday afternoon against the Phoenix Suns.
Ellis missed Saturday's game in Philadelphia due to the death of his Grandmother in Mississippi, and may miss Monday's contest as well. First-year coach Mark Jackson is understanding of his situation:
"Family is first," Jackson said. "He lost a grandmother who he loves dearly, and we want him to take as much as possible, or as much time that he needs, to take care of home."
That means the Warriors (2-2) will have to use what they have, which absolutely flopped in the second half against the 76ers. They'll have to bring their 'A' games to the desert if they want to get a win.
The Suns are coming off a road loss of their own at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, though the usual high-flying Suns teams of the past are now a memory as this team gets it done with defense with it's lack of scoring:
"We don't have very much in, to be honest with you," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "What we're trying to do is we're trying to become real efficient in what we have in and if we become really efficient with that, then we can move on to something else."
The Suns veteran presence is a huge advantage to grind out games when you aren't scoring many points, though the Warriors will be forced to do the same without Monta, leaving it up to Steph Curry, David Lee and the like to pick of the slack in Phoenix.
Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. PT Monday with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.
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