New Jersey steals win from Warriors

OAKLAND — Gerald Wallace didn’t just steal the ball from Warriors forward David Lee, he took the game away from Lee and Golden State.
Lee led his team against New Jersey for 43 minutes, until he gave up a crucial turnover and momentum to the Nets, which won 102-100 Friday at Oracle Arena.
This is the first of seven home games the Warriors lost to the Nets since 2005 and the second loss to New Jersey this season.
It is also Golden State’s fourth straight loss as it heads to Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Sunday.
There are 16 games left this season, which concludes at the end of April.
“We didn’t close ’em when we had ’em and it came back to bite us,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. “I’m embarrassed and disappointed in the way my team played in the second half.”
Lee was the energy force behind the Warriors all game, but Wallace showed up on a night his All Star point guard Deron Williams was mostly absent as a scorer, but the two New Jersey Nets left the game with an exclamation mark at its end.
After Williams missed his second free throw with 4:08 remaining in the game¬, David Lee came down with the rebound at the baseline.
As Lee was looking for the outlet pass, Wallace came from behind, poked the ball out and made a layup to bring the Nets within three points.
New Jersey took the 102-100 lead with 51.8 seconds left to play. It was the first lead for the Nets after the Warriors took a 4-3 lead less than 2 minutes into the game.
Wallace finished with 24 points on 7-16 from the field. He was 2-2 for 3-point shooting, 8-9 from the free-throw line and the only player to have double-digit rebounds (18). He had five assists, six steals and a crucial shot block to preserve the Nets’ win.
He swatted Charles Jenkins at the buzzer, which would have tied the game and sent it to overtime.
“(Jenkins) was to make a decision off the high pick-and-roll,” Jackson said of the final possession. “He got himself too deep, got in some trouble. Great defense by Gerald Wallace.”
Williams was 2-13 from the field and 1-6 from behind the 3-point arc, finishing with only 9 points. However, he did finish with 20 assists — many of which found their way to Wallace.
Williams even got a block to save his team’s lead with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Lee finished with 27 points on 12-16 from the field and 3-4 shooting free throws. Rookie Charles Jenkins finished with 18 points and 12 assists.
“It’s a great learning experience to never take your foot off the gas pedal,” Jenkins said. “No matter how much you’re up, it doesn’t matter (until) the clock hits double-zeros.”
The Nets overcame a 19-point deficit, capitalizing on 11 Golden State turnovers and scoring 60 points in the second half.
Lee said the Warriors “collapsed” after the break, which allowed an experienced Nets team (18-35) an opportunity to overtake a Warriors squad (20-30) with four rookies, two of who are in the starting lineup.
“It’s unacceptable,” Lee said. “As well as we played in the first half, we played worse in the second.”
Lee played all but 4:10 of the first half and was crucial in the Warriors’ 51-42 lead.
He had 22 points, shooting 10-13 in the first two quarters.
All six of Lee’s first shots were good, establishing his role and the position in which the Warriors would be the rest of the game. He missed his seventh shot with 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
Williams could not find the basket in the first half, registering only two points, which he made on a pair of free throws midway through the second quarter. But he did have nine assists at the break.
Kris Humphries and Gerald Green finished with 20 points each for the Nets.