With the Warriors and Jackson, expect the unexpected
Source: NBA - ESPN (Original Article)
Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty ImagesStephen Jackson hit the clinching 3-pointer against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
LOS ANGELES — It’s hard to pick one play to summarize an evening that brought references to everything from Easter to “Star Wars,” that featured appearances by both Nellie and Nelly, a game in which the Warriors put up the most points scored against the Los Angeles Lakers in a half this season, then threatened to break the mark for the fewest points scored against them in a quarter.
But if one play typified what makes the Golden State Warriors a threat to any opponent — as well as themselves — it was Stephen Jackson’s 3-pointer that provided the final margin in the Warriors’ wild 115-111 victory over the Lakers on Sunday.
The Warriors scored 72 points in the first half and led by 26 early in the third quarter, but the Lakers came all the way back and briefly took the lead with 5:07 left in the game. Surprisingly, for such a helter-skelter team with no low-post presence, the Warriors were in their element. They’re now 10-2 in games decided by three points or fewer.
Up by a point in the final 30 seconds, the 24-second clock still in play, what did the Warriors do? Jackson launched a 26-foot, 3-pointer that hit nothing but net.
Seriously. That’s what they did when the conventional wisdom called for them to protect the lead, run down the clock and get a good shot.
Poor Derek Fisher. He thought about the normal way, so he played off Jackson, hedging toward Monta Ellis and Kelenna Azubuike on the wing. He was in no position to close out on Jackson when Baron Davis passed him the ball and Jackson cast away.
“Your natural instinct is not to just run past a guy that far from the basket at that time,” Fisher said. “You don’t want to give up an easy drive to the basket.”
Even Jackson admitted the usual play would not be to take such a low-percentage shot for coach Don Nelson’s team.
“But after watching us all year, you should prison break dvd expect that we’re going to do …continue reading