Dunleavy gets rare praise from Nellie

Mike Dunleavy got the best of his father's team and even drew praise from his biggest critic: Golden State coach Don Nelson.

Dunleavy had 18 points and a season-high 13 rebounds and the Warriors used a big fourth-quarter run to beat Mike Dunleavy Sr.'s Los Angeles Clippers 108-93 on Monday.

Nelson called Dunleavy a "disaster" on opening night and hasn't let up much since. But even Nelson was positive Monday, saying Dunleavy played a "great game for us."

"I wish he had tried to impress me that much the first 40 games," Nelson joked.

In his first meeting against his father this season, Dunleavy hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter, came up big on the boards all game and helped the Warriors snap a three-game losing streak by improving to 4-9 against his father.

"It's nice at this point to beat anybody after the last two games when we didn't play well," Dunleavy said. "Those were bad losses for us and pushed us under .500. Against anybody it's nice, but I guess against my dad it makes it a little better."

Dunleavy, Golden State's $44.5 million backup forward, was coming off a two-point game last Friday against Miami and has been a disappointment this season. The fans have been on him all season and even booed him when he went to the foul line during the 19-2 run that put the game away in the fourth quarter.

"It's one of those things where a player should get booed if he doesn't play hard, anything else ... you've got bad fans," Mike Dunleavy Sr. said.

The Warriors were extremely short-handed, dressing only eight players for the game because of injuries to Jason Richardson, Mickael Pietrus, Adonal Foyle and Keith McLeod.

Monta Ellis led Golden State with 24 points, Baron Davis had 19 points and 13 assists despite shooting just 4-for-18 from the field and Matt Barnes added 17 for the Warriors, who won for just the second time in the last nine meetings against the Clippers.

Elton Brand led Los Angeles with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Corey Maggette added 18 points, Quinton Ross scored 16 and Sam Cassell had 15.

After consecutive baskets by Cuttino Mobley to open the fourth quarter gave the Clippers the lead, the Warriors went on the big run to take control of the game.

"I think it was a sense of desperation," Dunleavy Jr. said. "They made a little run at the beginning of the first quarter and we called a timeout. We realized that we can't let this one slip away. For whatever reason, we were able to buckle down."

Davis hit two free throws to start the spurt then stole the ball near midcourt from Daniel Ewing. Davis appeared to be on his way to an uncontested dunk, but Ewing chased him down and made a spectacular block. Barnes got the rebound and missed from in close before Ellis scored on a tip-in.

Davis hit two more free throws in the run and fed Andris Biedrins and Barnes for baskets. Barnes' 3-pointer off a pass from Davis capped the spurt.

"It was the hustle opportunities they got," Brand said. "They played hard. They had more energy going after loose balls. ... It seems like every time we take a step forward, we're also taking two steps back."

The Warriors led by 11 early in the third quarter before Cassell led the Clippers back. He scored seven points during an 8-0 run that cut the lead to three. Golden State built the lead back to 10 before the Clippers responded with an 11-0 run that featured another 3-pointer by Cassell.

Golden State shot just 7-for-24 in the quarter and Ellis missed all six of his shots but the Warriors still led 81-79 heading into the fourth.

Ellis kept the Warriors in the game early, scoring 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting in the first quarter to help Golden State take a 24-23 lead. The rest of the Warriors were just 4-for-17 from the floor, including an 0-for-4 scoreless first quarter for Davis.

Dunleavy took over the scoring load in the second quarter, scoring 13 points to give the Warriors a 60-51 lead at the break. The only thing that kept the Clippers in the game was Golden State's poor foul shooting. The Warriors were just 7-for-17 from the line in the half.

Notes:@ Clippers G Shaun Livingston left the game in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle. ... Tim Thomas missed the game for Los Angeles with an ear infection. ... The Clippers are 1-15 when allowing at least 100 points this season.