OAKLAND, Calif. — Monta Ellis scored 37 points, and Baron Davis made three straight baskets down the stretch to send the Golden State Warriors into the All-Star break with a win against the Western Conference's top team, 120-118 over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
It was a highly entertaining end to an exciting first half of the season for the Warriors (32-20), who go into the break in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with Houston and Denver. Phoenix, which hosts Dallas tonight before taking its break, hopes to have Shaquille O'Neal ready for the second half of the season.
Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 29 points, but missed one of two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Suns down by two points. Stoudemire had made 36 straight foul shots before missing in the third quarter.
Ellis made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds to go for the Warriors and Leandro Barbosa's three-point attempt before the buzzer bounced off the front rim.
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It was a tight game throughout between the two offensive juggernauts with neither team taking a double-digit lead. Ellis scored three straight baskets midway through the fourth quarter to overcome a five-point deficit and give Golden State a 105-104 lead.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Steven Jackson and Kelenna Azubuike gave the Warriors a 113-109 lead with 3:19 remaining, but the Suns answered with baskets from Steve Nash and Grant Hill to tie it. That is when Davis took over.
He first hit a runner in the lane to give the Warriors the lead for good. He followed with a step-back jumper on the baseline and finished the spurt with a driving layup that made it 119-113 with 1:14 remaining. The Suns battled back but could never regain the lead.
● Spurs 112, Cavaliers 105: In Cleveland, Manu Ginobili made a career-high eight three-pointers and scored a season-high 46 points as San Antonio, back on the floor where it won the NBA title last season, downed the Cavaliers.
Hitting shots from every corner of the floor, Ginobili scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, making 4 of 4 three-pointers. The Spurs went 7 of 8 on threes and shot a blistering 78 percent (14 of 18) in the final 12 minutes.
● Lakers 117, Timberwolves 92: In Minneapolis, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Pau Gasol pitched in another well-rounded game, Lamar Odom had a triple-double, and the Lakers finished their road trip 7-2.
Gasol blocked three shots and finished 9 for 11 from the field. Odom finished with 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists and headed to the bench seconds after getting the last dish he needed for the triple-double.
● Wizards 91, Clippers 89: In Los Angeles, Antawn Jamison scored 29 points, and DeShawn Stevenson tipped in a missed shot by Antonio Daniels with three-tenths of a second left.
The Wizards snapped an eight-game losing streak.
● Jazz 112, SuperSonics 93: In Seattle, Carlos Boozer had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double as Utah soared into the All-Star break.
● Pistons 96, Pacers 80: In Auburn Hills, Mich., Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton led a balanced attack with 14 points each and Detroit won its 10th straight game.
● Celtics 111, Knicks 103: In Boston, Paul Pierce scored 24 points, and his newly minted All-Star teammate Ray Allen added 21 to help Boston head into the break with a five-game winning streak.
● Magic 109, Nuggets 98: In Orlando, Fla., Rashard Lewis scored 25 and Dwight Howard had 23 points and 24 rebounds as Orlando beat Denver.
● Mavericks 96, Trail Blazers 76: In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 37 points and Jason Terry added 24, helping the Dallas put aside talk of whether Jason Kidd is about to become their teammate.
● Raptors 109, Nets 91: In Toronto, Chris Bosh had 27 points, Jose Calderon had 22 points and 12 assists, and Toronto beat New Jersey, which was playing without Jason Kidd.
● 76ers 102, Grizzlies 88: In Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as Philadelphia won its fifth straight and completed a perfect homestand before the All-Star break.
● Bobcats 100, Hawks 98, OT: In Charlotte, N.C., Jeff McInnis' hook shot with 51.4 seconds left in overtime gave Charlotte the victory.
● Hornets 111, Bucks 107: In Milwaukee, Peja Stojakovic hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left and All-Stars David West and Chris Paul combined for 43 points for New Orleans.
● Rockets 89, Kings 87: In Houston, Steve Novak hit a three-pointer with two seconds left to give Houston its eighth straight win and 17th victory in the last 20 games.
Rim shots
● Nike and Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash are releasing a new basketball shoe made with manufacturing scraps, called the Nike Trash Talk shoe.
The shoe is modeled after Nash's current shoe but uses different materials. That includes pieced-together scraps of leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor and a sole made up of special materials including ground-up rubber from a shoe recycling program.
