CHARLOTTE, N.C. » Monta came up with big plays and then made a mistake that nearly cost the Golden State Warriors the win.

Ellis scored 25 points and the Warriors overcame his late blunder to hold off a rally in the final minute and beat the Charlotte Bobcats 96-95 yesterday.

"What can I say?" Ellis said. "We still won. It’s all that matters. Everything else is blanked out. We did a lot of great things and played well together. We just won it as a team and ground it out."

Trailing 96-90, Charlotte made a run in the final minute, all keyed by Stephen Jackson, who finished with 22 points. He hit a free throw to begin the run, Gerald Henderson tipped in Jackson’s miss, then Boris Diaw hit a layup off Jackson’s inside feed to pull the Bobcats within one point with 14.5 seconds remaining.

Then came the blunder — Ellis was called for an offensive foul after pushing off Henderson on an inbounds play with 8.5 seconds left, giving Charlotte another a chance.

But the Bobcats’ planned move — getting the ball to D.J. Augustin — didn’t materialize, forcing Jackson to put up a desperation 3-pointer, which clanged off the back of the rim and bounced out of bounds as the horn sounded.

"(Augustin) was supposed to get the ball," a despondent Jackson said after the game. "We were going to make a quick pick and let him try to make a play."

Stephen Curry, who earned AP All-America honors while playing at nearby Davidson, hit four 3-pointers and scored 24 points in his homecoming, while Dorell Wright added 17 for Golden State, which won for the fourth time in its last five games.

"Our guys did an excellent job of keeping their composure to play the quarter out," Warriors coach Keith Smart said. "On the road, things can happen crazy. But we managed to keep it together and get a win."