Keith Smart was determined to give Monta Ellis a break, even as the Golden State guard tried to convince his coach otherwise. It nearly came back to hurt the Warriors. Ellis sat out nearly 5 1/2 minutes stretching from the end of the third quarter into the fourth, then came back to score 17 of his 39 points down the stretch and lift Golden State to a 115-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. "That's why he's one of the elite players," said teammate Dorell Wright, who set a career high with seven 3-pointers. "He's the face of this organization because he can get going any time he wants to. He reminds me of Dwyane Wade. It was impeccable." With point guard Stephen Curry sitting out a second straight game with a sprained right ankle, Ellis had to do more than just score. He dished out eight assists and made a key steal off Marc Gasol with just more than two minutes remaining while helping Golden State remain unbeaten at home this season. It was Ellis' work over the final seven minutes that made the difference, however. Read more: http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=301103009
Missed the game. Excited for the 3-1 start but Utah will be a nice test even though they're missing some key players (as the Grizz were too) and want to see how they fair on the upcoming east coast road trip.