Ellis, Davis lead Warriors past Suns

OAKLAND -- 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 120-118 victory Wednesday night over the Phoenix Suns, the Western Conference’s top team.

“What a game. What a game. I’m ready for a break and I think everybody else is too,” Warriors Coach Don Nelson said. “It couldn’t happen at a better time. I’m going to forget about basketball for a couple of days.”

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. And the Warriors began the season with six straight losses.

“That was our goal to be 10 games above .500 going into the Al-Star break and give ourselves a chance,” Davis said. “That was our goal and we’re ahead of schedule.”

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 free throws before missing in the third quarter. He missed two more times, none bigger than the one in the final seconds.

Phoenix, which plays Dallas tonight before taking its break, hopes to have Shaquille O’Neal ready for the second half of the season.

Amare Stoudemire dominated inside while O’Neal just watched this game. Stoudemire scored 10 points in the third quarter, overpowering the smaller Golden State defenders to help Phoenix take a 90-87 lead into the fourth. The Suns lost for only the third time in 33 games this season when they led after three quarters.