Warriors erupt in third quarter to beat Sonics

By GREG BEACHAM

The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors' vaunted backcourt gets its points. Baron Davis you can live with. Monta Ellis, give him his due.

But Austin Croshere? The journeyman in his 11th NBA season? Go figure. But with Croshere filling in admirably Tuesday for regular center Andris Biedrins, out after an appendectomy, the Sonics fell 105-99 at Oracle Arena.

"That was a big surprise," said Sonic Nick Collison of Croshere. "He's not someone you go over in the scouting report."

The Sonics had something going with a 13-point lead with 2:40 to go in the first half. Then they turned the ball over three times before the break, cutting their halftime lead to four at 57-53.

"We compete," said Collison, "and don't get it done."

Warriors coach Don Nelson started the game with one of his patented small lineups that didn't include a center. Chris Webber did nothing in his 7 ½ minutes of scoreless action. Out went Webber in favor of Croshere.

"Croshere to the rescue," Nelson said afterward. "I thought it was his best game of the year. We just had to find a way to win it, and Croshere was the guy."

Croshere didn't make a big dent in the box score. But his energy was contagious, earning him a start for the second half. All Croshere did was make all six of his field-goal attempts as the Warriors pulled away behind his season-high 14 points.

The Sonics didn't help themselves by turning the ball over 25 times. They scored only 17 points in the third quarter.

The Warriors carried an 80-74 lead into the fourth quarter.

"We have such great scorers," Croshere said afterward, "that you just play off those guys. They command double-teams and any time you can cut to the basket, you're going to get some easy shots."

Rookie Jeff Green had a season-high 21 points as did Kevin Durant. Collison had 20. But Durant, the Sonics standout rookie, led in the dubious category of turnovers with five.

"You can't commit 25 turnovers and win," Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "They lead the league in forcing turnovers."

Davis and Durant covered each other for most of the game. Davis won this competition with 20 points and 10 assists to go along with only two turnovers. Ellis ran wild with 30 points.

"It was fun playing against Davis," Durant said. "I just tried to make it hard for him."

This was the fifth consecutive time the Sonics lost to the Warriors.

"We just ran out of steam to make that last push," said Sonics guard Luke Ridnour, who tied his season high with 15 assists.



SEATTLE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts

Green	42:06	10-21	1-1	2-9	1	1	21
Petro	18:12	2-6	0-0	3-8	0	4	4
Collison	41:38	9-12	2-3	6-13	3	2	20
Ridnour	40:24	4-10	0-2	0-6	15	3	8
Durant	39:48	9-19	3-3	2-4	7	1	21
Wilcox	17:06	4-7	1-2	1-3	3	4	9
Gelabale	28:07	5-9	2-2	0-7	1	2	12
Elson	9:52	2-5	0-0	1-2	0	1	4
Marshall	1:38	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Griffin	1:09	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals		45-89	9-13	15-52	30	18	99

Percentages: FG .506, FT .692. Three-point goals: 0-4, .000 (Gelabale 0-1, Ridnour 0-1, Durant 0-2). Team rebounds: 7. Team turnovers: 25 (32 PTS). Blocked shots: 8 (Durant 3, Collison 2, Elson, Gelabale, Wilcox). Turnovers: 24 (Durant 5, Green 4, Ridnour 4, Petro 3, Gelabale 2, Wilcox 2, Collison, Elson, Griffin, Marshall). Steals: 7 (Ridnour 3, Collison, Durant, Gelabale, Green). Technical fouls: None.



GOLDEN STATE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts

Wright	9:16	1-4	0-0	1-3	0	1	2
Jackson	36:03	6-18	4-4	3-7	3	1	17
Harrington	28:59	2-9	0-0	2-5	2	2	5
Davis	44:05	8-24	2-2	0-2	10	2	20
Ellis	41:39	14-22	2-2	2-6	4	3	30
Barnes	14:41	2-8	0-0	4-8	1	2	4
Webber	7:32	0-0	0-0	0-2	0	0	0
CWatson	6:21	1-1	0-0	0-1	1	0	2
Pietrus	25:29	5-10	0-2	0-3	2	5	11
Azubuike	3:55	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Croshere	22:00	6-6	1-1	5-5	1	0	14
Totals		45-102	9-11	17-42	24	16	105

Percentages: FG .441, FT .818. Three-point goals: 6-21, .286 (Davis 2-8, Croshere 1-1, Jackson 1-3, Harrington 1-4, Pietrus 1-4, Barnes 0-1). Team rebounds: 6. Team turnovers: 12 (16 PTS). Blocked shots: 5 (Barnes, Ellis, Pietrus, Webber, Wright). Turnovers: 12 (Jackson 4, Davis 2, Harrington 2, Webber 2, Pietrus, C.Watson). Steals: 14 (Davis 7, Pietrus 2, Ellis, Harrington, Jackson, C.Watson, Wright). Technical foul: Defensive three second, 6:07 third.