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Davis, Ellis carry Warriors past lowly Sonics

Jan 7, 2007 - 8:10 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Coach Don Nelson was glad to see Monta Ellis back on the court.

Baron Davis had 22 points and 11 assists and Ellis scored 20 points off the bench as the Golden State Warriors posted a 108-104 over the Seattle SuperSonics, who wasted a huge performance by Ray Allen.

A second-year guard, Ellis had missed the last five games with a right shoulder injury. He is averaging 17.1 points per game and is among the NBA's most improved players.

Allen scored a season-best 38 points on 11-of-17 shooting - including 7-of-11 3-pointers - for Seattle, which dropped its fourth consecutive game.

"Offensively we had stuff going but we were frustrated," Allen said. "I could sense our guys getting frustrated but I told them that this is the way it is going to go."

"(Allen) is a great player," Warriors swingman Matt Barnes said. "We were running everything at him, double-teams, triple-teams. But he's a great player and there's really not much you can do when a guy like that is hitting his shot. You just have to hope he misses."

Barnes' jumper with 23 seconds left gave the Warriors a 107-104 advantage. The Sonics had a chance to tie, but Allen misfired from the arc and Mickael Pietrus split a pair of free throws to seal the win.

"When I dribbled it and the ball slipped out of my hand," Allen said about his shot. "Matt recovered and I tried to pump fake but he didn't bite. After that, I had nowhere to go."

Pietrus collected 16 points and 10 rebounds and Andris Biedrins had 15 and 16 for Golden State, which shot 50 percent (42-of-84) and forced 20 turnovers.

"(Andris) didn't play a perfect game but he was rebounding all night, which was key for us," Nelson said. "We played a terrific second half and it was our intensity in the fourth quarter that won the game."

Chris Wilcox had 22 points and seven rebounds and Earl Watson handed out a season-tying 11 assists for the Sonics, who shot 47 percent (37-of-78) and made a season-best 12 3-pointers.