Baron Davis Returns to the Bay, Clippers Fall to Warriors

The excitement was gone from the Clippers' season a long time ago, but for at least one of the team's players, Tuesday night's game might have meant more than all the rest combined.

Baron Davis was returning to play in front of the Bay Area crowd for the first time since leaving as a free agent over the summer, and for him, it was kind of a "fan appreciation" night. While Davis might have been thankful to the fans for his special time there as a Warrior, he did all he could to try to get his Clippers the win, but L.A. fell short and lost by a score of 127-120.

Davis had one of his stronger statistical games of the season, and finished with 29 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. Davis also shot well in his old building, connecting on nine of his 17 field goal attempts, including draining four of eight from three-point land.

Obviously, he was happy to be back.

"It was all about the fans tonight. I was just letting them know how much I appreciated them," Davis said. "It was fun playing back in Oracle. It's different being on another team and playing here, but at the same time we wanted to get this victory. It would have been sweet if we got it."

It would have been nice to win, but few teams are constructed to run and score with the Warriors without trying to stop them, and that's what the Clips attempted to do, with little success. Golden State led by 11 points to start the fourth quarter, and although L.A. made their runs, they could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.

Zach Randolph returned from his two-game absence, and chipped in 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in just 29 minutes. Al Thornton had a nice game (as most players do against Golden State), and finished with 25 and nine.

The Warriors were without Stephen Jackson, who leads the NBA in minutes per game this season, but also leads the league in technical fouls with 17 -- 16 gets you an automatic suspension, which jackson was serving against the Clippers. Monta Ellis was the high man for the Warriors, and matched Davis with 29 points.