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Ellis leads Warriors to comeback victory

Jan 14, 2008 - 5:51 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) - The Golden State Warriors fought back all night against the Indiana Pacers and came away with a 106-101 win on Sunday.

Monta Ellis scored 29 points and Baron Davis added 27 points for the Warriors who have won three of their last four games.

"I keep saying I don't know how we keep winning these games, but I certainly don't know how we won tonight," Golden State coach Don Nelson said. "But we did and we'll count it and move on. I thought the whole second half was better for us, our energy level was better, not that we played great."

The Pacers started the fourth quarter with a three-point lead. The Warriors tied it but the Pacers forced turnovers and made more shots until the final minutes when Indiana was outscored 9-4 giving Golden State an improbable victory.

"We've got to be able to win these types of ballgames," Davis said. "Early in the season these were the ones that we were losing because we would fight and fight to get back but once we got over the hump, we could never sustain it and tonight was one of those nights when we sustained it and made big plays at the end."

It was the first appearance of Mike Dunleavy and former Warriors teammate Troy Murphy in Oakland since they were traded with Ike Diogu in exchange for Jackson, Al Harrington, Sarunas Jasikevicius, and Josh Powell.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," said Dunleavy who was booed by the fans at every opportunity. "That's how it was when I was here so its only fitting that's the way it is. But I could care less. It's kind of hard to pay attention to care about something somebody says when you have no respect for them, so they can do whatever they want.

"Just playing against the old team, it was a fun game, a fun environment, I just wish we could've won."

Davis missed two free throws but his baseline jumper got the Warriors to 94-93 before a 3-pointer by Dunleavy. Ellis tied it with a floating jumper with 2:36 remaining.

Indiana had a one-point lead after a free throw by Jermaine O'Neal but Ellis answered with a crazy, over the shoulder layup and the free throw to give the Warriors a 100-98 lead with 1:37 remaining.

Dunleavy was fouled and made one free throw. As the Warriors were bringing the ball up the court, Danny Granger and Matt Barnes were whistled for technical fouls. With the shot clock winding down, Davis knifed though the lane. He missed his layup but Ellis was there for the follow and Golden State had a three point lead. It was again a one point game after a jumper by O'Neal.

The Warriors got a put-back layup from Andris Biedrins with 17 seconds remaining. It was Biedrins' first points of the night. Tinsley made a last ditch attempt to tie the game with a 3-pointer but he missed and Kelenna Azubuike iced the game with a pair of free throws.

"That's what we do, when we're away or at home, that's when we're playing Warriors basketball," Ellis said. "We scrap at the end and if we're down five (points) with seven or eight minutes on the clock, we feel like we have a chance to win. And we just continued to just cut the lead down and make smart plays and lock up on the defensive end."

Golden State lives and dies with its 3-point shooting and made just 8-of-33 from the arc. They kept shooting them to keep it close.

The game got chippy in the third quarter when Jamal Tinsley gave Ellis a left forearm shove to prevent him from driving to the paint. Ellis would later get some revenge with a fast break one handed slam dunk and later a step back jumper over Tinsley.

"We've grown a lot," Warriors forward Stephen Jackson said. "Last year Monta kept his head down. If you knocked him down, he wouldn't come back and really play hard. This year, you could tell he's growing up."

The Warriors made it a one point game after a jumper by Jackson with 2:40 remaining in the quarter. Golden State took its first lead of the night after a layup by Davis.

Indiana jumped out a 7-0 lead and by as many as 11 points in the first quarter but the Warriors would cut that deficit to six points.

The Warriors shot horribly in the opening period, just 37.5 percent while the Pacers shot over 60 percent.

Indiana had a pair of 7-0 runs in the quarter and a 10-0 run to close out the quarter leading 34-19.

The Pacers led by 10 points most of the second quarter. The Warriors had chances but missed nearly every shot whether it was a mid range jumper, a 3-pointer or a layup. Golden State finally got rolling with an 8-0 run to make it a four point game with just over a minute remaining in the first half.

The fleet footed Ellis had a dazzling finger roll layup to bring the Warriors to two points with a minute to play.

But Indiana would end the first half on a 7-0 spurt including an acrobatic running jumper by Travis Diener at the buzzer to lead 54-45 at the break.

O'Neal scored 27 points for Indiana which has lost eight of its last 10 games.

The Pacers committed 23 turnovers resulting in 27 points by the Warriors.

"They weren't doing anything (in the second half)," Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said. "We turned the basketball over. When you shoot 48 percent and the other team shoots 41 percent you should win the basketball game. That was the story of the game, we turned the basketball over, plain and simple."