Warriors hold off Suns

Richardson ended 14-of-23 from the field, including 8-of-13 from three-point range, and had 12 rebounds, as the Warriors moved within a game of the Los Angeles Clippers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

It was a stark contrast to Richardson’s last game, when he was 0-for-8 from the floor and ended with no points in a 126-89 home loss to San Antonio on Monday.

Stephen Jackson had 29 points, six rebounds and seven assists for Golden State, which snapped a two-game skid. Baron Davis tallied 21 points, eight boards and 12 assists, and came up with a big steal and layup in the final minute to thwart Phoenix’s rally.

Leandro Barbosa had 27 points for the Pacific Division-champion Suns, who have lost two of three. Boris Diaw added 18 points and Amare Stoudemire contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which gave up 45 points in the first quarter, 77 in the opening half, but still nearly rallied from a 25-point deficit late in the third quarter.

Kurt Thomas’ free throw brought the Suns within 122-116 with 1:33 left, and Davis then missed a jumper.

Barbosa had the ball knocked out of bounds, but Phoenix retained possession. However, after a timeout, Davis stole in the inbounds pass and coasted in for a layup with 58.7 seconds left.

Barbosa then missed a pair of three-pointers, sealing Phoenix’s fate.

The Warriors caught fire early by going 19-of-29 from the field in the opening 12 minutes, building a 45-33 lead. Golden State scored 15 in a row at one point in the period for an 18-6 lead and the cushion reached 20 at 42-22.

The Suns continued to falter with their starters in the game late in the second, falling behind 77-63 after just 24 minutes. Richardson had 26 points at the break, a half in which the Warriors went 33-of-55 from the field.

The lead widened to as high as 109-84 in the final minute of the third following a slam from Mickael Pietrus before Phoenix rallied.

A 9-2 spurt brought the score to 116-104 with 5:48 left, but the Suns ran out of gas.

Game Notes

The Suns host Denver on Friday, while Golden State is at home against Memphis on Sunday...Monta Ellis had 16 points for the Warriors, who ended 51-of-98 from the field, including 13-of-31 from three-point land...Steve Nash had 14 points and nine assists for the Suns, who ended the season 3-1 versus the Warriors.