Warriors 109, Trail Blazers 102
Monta Ellis scored 24 points in the first half and keyed a late fourth-quarter surge as the Golden State Warriors won their second straight, 109-102 over the Portland Trail Blazers on Christmas night.
Ellis finished with 39 points and David Lee added 21 for the Warriors, who had lost 14 of 16 prior to the two wins.
Portland led by as much as six in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors went on an 11-0 run to take a 102-97 lead with 2:32 left.
Ellis started the spurt with three free throws. Dorell Wright added a long 3-pointer and a dunk off a steal before Reggie Williams took a feed off penetration from Stephen Curry and swished a 3-pointer from the right wing.
After two free throws by Portland’s Wesley Matthews stopped the spurt, Ellis hit a foul-line jumper, then stole a half-court pass and converted a fast-break layup for a 106-99 lead with 64 seconds left.
Curry returned for Golden State after missing six games with his fourth ankle injury of the season and scored four points on 2-of-15 shooting, but he did add 11 assists.
Matthews had 25 points for Portland, which lost despite a 53-31 edge on the boards, including 24-7 on the offensive end.
Portland had a three-game winning streak snapped and played without All-Star guard Brandon Roy for a fourth straight game.