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Davis leads Warriors past Celtics

Dec 30, 2006 - 9:42 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Baron Davis kept the Boston Celtics on their downward spiral.

Davis collected 27 points and nine assists to lead all five starters in double-figures as the Golden State Warriors posted a 110-100 triumph over the lowly Celtics, who dropped their fifth consecutive game.

Mickael Pietrus scored 26 points and Andris Biedrins chipped in 20 and 17 rebounds for Golden State, which won for the fourth time in five tries.

"I felt uneasy throughout the game, even though I thought that we played particularly well," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "It was a good win. I felt that Baron, Pietrus and Biedrins all had strong good games."

"We are getting better every week and we can still get better," Davis said. "We have a lot of injuries right now and we are weathering the storm pretty well. We just have to get everybody back and healthy."

Boston cut the deficit to 75-71 on a pair of free throws from Wally Szczerbiak with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

However, Davis' seven points during an impressive 11-2 surge helped power the Warriors to an 86-73 advantage with 10:52 left in the fourth period, and the team coasted thereafter.

"We grinded, made sure we stayed on top," Davis said. "We kept our lead, played good defense when we were supposed to, hit opportune shots, and sometimes you need games like that."

Tony Allen scored 20 points and Al Jefferson and Delonte West poured in 18 apiece for the Celtics, who shot 43 percent (36-of-82) from the field in falling to 0-3 on their five-game West Coast swing.

High-flying Gerald Green scored just six points in 16 1/2 minutes for Boston. He had averaged 18.3 points in his previous three games.

"That's who he is right now, and when that happens, (you have) to encourage him," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Green's penchant for losing focus. "If it happens again, you have to take him out at times for the sake of the team."

In the fourth quarter, the sellout crowd at Oracle Arena chanted "We want Powe" for Oakland native Leon Powe. The Celtics' rookie collected five points and four rebounds in just 2:49 minutes.

"It's my home, it's where I grew up at," Powe said. "I played college ball, my high school ball (here). It's all love here when I come back. I show love to everybody else. It's a lot of love here and I do a lot of (community) stuff around the city and people showed me love. I showed them love back. It's like one big family over here for me."