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Ellis lights up Portland, stops Roy

The Columbian
Published: November 21, 2009, 12:00am

Jackson distraction gone, Warriors end three-game skid

OAKLAND, Calif. — Monta Ellis thinks he does not get enough credit for his defense.

Portland’s Brandon Roy might disagree.

Ellis scored a season-high 34 points, tied his career high with six steals and played stifling defense against Roy to lead Golden State to a 108-94 victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night, ending the Warriors’ three-game losing streak.

“It definitely gets overlooked,” Ellis said. “I hear people say Monta can’t play defense, but if you go back and look at the tapes, you don’t see Monta getting burned. I can do that day in and day out.”

The Warriors were playing their first home game since trading disgruntled forward Stephen Jackson to the Charlotte Bobcats earlier in the week. Jackson had been at odds with coach Don Nelson and had been seeking a trade for weeks.

Ellis also had his issues with Nelson. But he came up with his best game of the season, particularly when it came to shutting down Roy, Portland’s All-Star guard.

Nelson’s plan was to double-team Roy, who went into the game averaging 20.3 points, but Ellis proved he didn’t need the extra help while holding Roy to 17 on 6 of 17 shooting, 1 of 5 from 3-point range.

“He had an All-Star performance tonight,” said Golden State’s Anthony Randolph, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds. “To stop a scorer like that, he really stepped up to the challenge and proved why he’s our captain.”

Anthony Morrow scored 23 points, Corey Maggette added 13 points and Stephen Curry had 12 for the Warriors, who won their ninth home game in a row against the Blazers.

Rudy Fernandez had 19 points and five assists, and Greg Oden had 16 points but was plagued by foul trouble throughout the second half for Portland, which lost for just the second time in nine games.

The Blazers had 23 turnovers and shot just 33.3 percent over the final three quarters.

“Everything we talked about doing, we didn’t do,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said. “The way (the Warriors) play, you can’t continue to make those turnovers. They do a lot of things that can get a team frustrated and I think we lost our composure.”

Portland (9-3) had held its six previous opponents to 85 points or fewer in regulation.

“We had too many missed opportunities in the second half,” Roy said. “We made a lot of turnovers and we were forced into their game. They did a great job of knocking down shots and forcing the tempo.”

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