Warriors Finally Get First Victory

Only an expansion team could save the Golden State Warriors from the worst start in franchise history.

Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Troy Murphy had 22 to lead the Warriors to their first victory of the season, a 103-87 rout of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night.

It was the first win for former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, who started his NBA career with six losses and had Golden State in danger of approaching the franchise futility mark set at the start of the 1997-98 season (0-9).

“It feels like we won the national championship,” said Montgomery. “There was a huge elephant in the room and the thing was getting bigger and bigger.”

The Warriors built a 22-point, first-half lead against the undermanned Bobcats (1-4).

With Charlotte already down to 10 players because of injuries, Emeka Okafor left the game because of a sprained ankle and Tamar Slay sat down after he picked up three fouls in 28 seconds.

Jason Hart, Charlotte’s starting shooting guard, left early in the second half because of a sprained ankle, cutting the Bobcats’ options down to seven players.

After former Laker Derek Fisher opened the fourth quarter with a basket to give Golden State a 74-63 lead, Richardson made two baskets during a 6-0 run that gave the Warriors an 84-71 lead with 8:09 left.

Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with 22 points, and Eddie House added 20.

“With the group we had tonight, that was about as good as we could do,” Bobcat Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said.