California Sports Journal

Mike Dunleavy’s three-pointer with just under five minutes left put Golden State up by 10 and sent the crowd into a frenzy. The Warriors then survived a late Atlanta charge, holding on for a 101-96 victory at the Arena in Oakland.
During a timeout immediately after Dunleavy’s shot, the Warriors’ mascot launched a T-shirt with a cannon into the overhead lights, sending the shirt and shards of glass into the first few rows of the baseline. Nobody appeared to be hurt.
Timely defense and rebounding paced the Warriors and kept the Hawks down, especially in the fourth quarter. Center Adonal Foyle had three of his six blocks shots in the final quarter, and in his first game back from the injured list, forward Troy Murphy had seven of his season-high 20 rebounds in the period.
“I was either going to get into a fight or get a lot of rebounds tonight,” said Murphy, who missed 10 games with a broken left thumb. “I’m glad I got a lot of rebounds.”
Murphy’s rebounding made up for a dismal shooting performance, as he went 1-for-8 from the field coming off the bench.
Head coach Mike Montgomery said he was more impressed with his team in the first half of game.
“We got a little bit complacent in the second half, at the same point that they got aggressive,” he said. “At some point we have to get that killer instinct which allows us to get that lead and push it when we really have that chance.”
The Hawks closed the gap to three in the final minute of the game behind two three-pointers from center Antoine Walker. The game was iced by Warrior guard Derek Fisher, who hit a fade away jumper with less than ten seconds remaining.
“Sometimes you tend to go a little too fast. I just wanted to make sure I caught the ball,” said Fisher. “At that point, I just attacked.”
Guard Jason Richardson led all scorers with 31 points, and was 5-of-9 from three-point range.
“Once the first one went down, I just kept shooting them,” he said.
The game also marked a reunion between Montgomery and Hawks guard Josh Childress. Montgomery coached Childress at Stanford for three years. Childress finished the game with 17 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
“I think Josh is going to be just fine in this league,” said Montgomery. “He’s a monster on the boards.”
Childress said his return to the Bay Area was not as good as he would have liked. “Anytime you go from winning to losing, it’s going to be tough,” he said. “(The Warriors) are obviously going through the same thing we’re going through, but ours is a little worse.”
Help may be on the way for the Warriors. Montgomery denied reports from ESPN.com that the team is actively pursuing a trade with New Orleans that would bring guard Baron Davis to the Warriors by today’s deadline. “Those are just rumors,” he said.
But Richardson said he would love to have Davis on the team, and even joked he was going to call Davis after being interviewed.
“You want to bring in guys of that caliber to take it to the next level,” Richardson said. “That would be huge for our franchise. It would take some of the pressure off me.”
ESPN.com is reporting that the possible deal could involve multiple players, but would likely send forward Dale Davis and draft picks to the Hornets in exchange for Baron Davis.