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From : NBARECAP
Added: Nov 7, 2009
OAKLAND, Calif. (NBA.com exclusive) -- Before facing a Golden State Warriors franchise he once led to NBA postseason greatness, Baron Davis said that he finally feels settled with the Los Angeles Clippers after a "tumultuous" first season. "I think that chapter is sufficiently closed," Davis said of the 3 1/2 years he spent as a Warrior. "It's time to open up that new chapter here with the Clippers." Page one will presumably include Davis' line Friday from a 118-90 blowout of the Warriors: 25 points -- 16 of them in a third quarter where the Clippers outscored the Warriors 34-16 -- seven assists and four steals. Even better, it marked another step forward in the partnership of Davis and center Chris Kaman. The Clippers opened each half with Davis finding Kaman for a pair of layups to set the tone. In all, five of Davis' assists helped Kaman score his 22 points. "Last year, we didn't really get much of an opportunity to play much together; we didn't have a good understanding (of each other)," Davis said. "I think this year, him and I, we have a good understanding. It's just a matter of giving him confidence, and he's been on fire knocking down shots." The pair only played together 28 times last season as Kaman battled through plantar fasciitis in his left foot, so he's still learning things such as to always be on the lookout for passes from Davis. "I'm just starting to get more comfortable playing with him," Kaman said. "I'm ready. I'm trying to be ready when he throws the ball, because sometimes you don't know when it's coming, even as the guy receiving the pass." With Arnel Pineda, lead singer of Journey, at Oracle Arena to help celebrate the Warriors' staging of Filipino Heritage Night, perhaps the Clippers should have asked him belt out a quick rendition of "Any Way You Want It" to commemorate the fact that Los Angeles was able to score in almost every conceivable fashion. Kaman thrived inside against overmatched Golden State third-and fourth-string centers Mikki Moore and Anthony Randolph. Kaman continued his tremendous run to begin the season with a fourth consecutive performance of 20 points or more. "It's something that we've tried to pound into his head all the time, like, 'You get the ball, you're open, just shoot it. You'll never hear us complain,'" Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. said. "There are very few guys in this league where you have to tell them, 'Hey, take more shots.'" Eric Gordon, who has never needed any such message, gunned his way to 25 points by shredding an array of defenders. Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry and Anthony Morrow each had a spell, with similarly ineffective results as Gordon finished with a season-high 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting, 3-for-5 behind the arc. The Clippers added 22 points in transition and had 19 off Warriors turnovers. Armed with a 12-point halftime lead, Los Angeles made certain that there would be no repeat of Monday, when they almost let a 13-point lead in the third quarter turn into a fifth straight loss to start the season before holding on for a 93-90 win over Minnesota. A Davis 3-pointer from the top of the key -- the same kind of shot he routinely nailed while leading the 2007 Warriors to a first-round upset of No. 1 seed Dallas -- gave the Clippers an unassailable 91-61 lead heading into the fourth quarter. "Where we are, right now, we needed to come here and win," Davis said. "We got our first one, now we've got a great road win. And I think hopefully we keep this momentum going throughout the month. Our team has a lot of potential, a lot of talent, and I think it's just a matter of time before everything gels." For the Warriors, all their momentum is going backwards. After beating up on Memphis on Wednesday for its first win, Golden State is now 1-3 in what was supposed to be a cushy start to the season -- eight consecutive opponents that failed to make the playoffs last season. With Andris Biedrins (lower back strain) and Ronny Turiaf (sprained left knee) both hurt, the Warriors had no choice but to play small, which is the preference of coach Don Nelson in any case. But Golden State shot 31.8 percent through the first three quarters en route to a 34.5 percentage for the evening as a whole, smothering the vaunted small-ball offense before it even began. "I am embarrassed about this game," Nelson said. "It was just a bad performance all around, early and late." Even the emergency usage of Randolph, the second-year big man whose playing time has been sporadically doled out by Nelson, couldn't keep the 18,788 in attendance from fleeing the building early. "Everything went wrong tonight," Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson said. "I won't stress myself out about it. I just got to go out there and do my job and be ready to work tomorrow."
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