W's defense spearheads win in Atlanta

BOX SCORE

Warriors 85, Hawks 82Players of the game: Monta Ellis didnt shoot the ball particularly well, but he made enough shots to help the Warriors win the game. Ellis finished with a team-high 24 points on 10-for-27 shooting.David Lee may have hit the biggest shot of his Warriors career, knocking down an inside shot with 30 seconds remaining to give the Warriors a two-point lead.Lee finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.Said Lee: The play out of the timeout was the play we tried to run against Memphis (earlier loss) where they took the charge. This time I pulled up short and shot a floater to make the shot. You make the adjustments as you go along.We talk about losing some games down the stretch and learning from it. And I learned from it. We ran the same play tonight and I was able to complete it.Dominic McGuire got the start and set a defensive tone. He helped limit Joe Johnson throughout the game and he grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds.One thing about him, Jackson said of McGuire, is he embodies everything we preach from Day 1. Putting him in the lineup I knew exactly what I was going to get from him. Great defense, goes after every rebound. Just great energy and effort.Defense doesnt rest: The Warriors rebounded from a clunker with a nice defensive effort. The Warriors held the Hawks to just 34 percent shooting from the field, with the tone being set by McGuire and Ekpe Udoh.It was great all-around, Jackson said of his teams defense. We got after it. We made some mistakes but at the end of the day we competed, paid attention to the game plan, made them work and made them make shots on our terms. Overall I couldnt be more pleased about this victory.
3-point struggles: For the second consecutive game, the Warriors struggled from beyond the 3-point line. The Warriors missed nine of their first 10 3-point shots against the Hawks, and finished just 1-for-12 from beyond the arc.In Tuesdays 102-78 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, the Warriors made just 3-of-22 from 3-point range. The Warriors entered Wednesdays game shooting 36.8 percent from deep, tied for second in the league.McGuire gets nod: Warriors coach Mark Jackson went in a different direction with the starting lineup on Wednesday. When point guard Stephen Curry has missed games with injury, Jacksons M.O. has been to start rookie Charles Jenkins.But Jackson started defensive specialist Dominic McGuire for Curry, and matched him up against Joe Johnson. McGuire did his job at the start, playing nine first quarter minutes, grabbing seven rebounds and holding Johnson to just a field goal.Short stint for Curry: The Warriors played on Wednesday night without starting point guard Stephen Curry, the second consecutive game hes missed because of a strained tendon in his right foot.Well, that's not exactly true, in reality. Curry wound up playing three seconds, when Jackson put him in late to serve as a decoy. Jackson used Curry on the play where Lee ended up hitting the game-winning shot.Curry sustained the injury in the first quarter of last Wednesdays game against the Phoenix Suns. The Warriors are calling Currys injury day-to-day, which would make a return Friday against Philadelphia a possibility. Curry has missed 11 games this season because of injury.