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Nelson: Curry is 'total package' at point guard

According to the statistics, rookie guard Stephen Curry outplayed Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose on Monday.

Curry played 43-plus minutes in the 114-97 win over Chicago, finishing with 26 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and six assists. He also frustrated Rose on the other end of the court, holding the defending Rookie of the Year to 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting with four assists.

"He's turned into quite a defender, actually," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "He was not very good when he first arrived. But he's worked hard on it, followed our game plan and he's a pretty darn good defensive point guard right now. ... I don't know if you call (Sacramento's Tyreke) Evans a point guard or not. Other than that, I don't know any rookie point guard who's better than (Curry). I know (Milwaukee's Brandon) Jennings is really good. ... (Curry is the) total package. He's quite a point guard."

Rose, who had averaged 22.4 points over his previous 20 games, wasn't as aggressive offensively, even after Curry picked up three first-quarter fouls. Curry was able to stay in front of Roseconsistently, even blocking Rose's fade-away jumper late in the fourth quarter during a 21-8 Warriors run. With center Andris Biedrins — who set a career-high with eight blocks — waiting behind Curry, Rose stayed mostly on the perimeter.

Curry was even better on

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offense. He knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the third quarter.

"Just knocking down open shots," Curry said. "Most of my shots were from either Monta or Corey (Maggette) swinging the ball. That's where I need to help this team win is making those big shots, especially in big time moments in the fourth quarter."

  • Ellis' 39 field goal attempts were the most by a Warrior since Rick Barry was 20-for-39 against Boston in February 1975. Ellis is 28-for-70 over his last two games, which is enough to make Nelson go against his instinct and question a veteran's shot selection.

    "I thought he took some bad shots, some early shots that we wish we had over," Nelson said. "But he's my star player. What can I tell you? The guy is trying to win games, trying to do the right thing. I thought he played a good, solid game. It wasn't one of his best games. It's hard to get 25 shots in an NBA game. Let alone 39."

  • NBA Development League call-up Anthony Tolliver had six points and eight rebounds in his Warriors debut. He and Cartier Martin, who also is on a 10-day contract, gave the Warriors energy and hustle off the bench. Martin's 10-day deal expires Wednesday.

    — Marcus Thompson II