Barnes Comes to Clippers’ Rescue

Their playoff hopes diminishing and a lengthy trip looming, the Clippers needed a victory Wednesday night at Staples Center.

They got it, thanks largely to newcomer Matt Barnes.

The former UCLA forward scored six points during a late 12-0 run that wiped out the remains of what had been a 14-point third-quarter deficit and carried the Clippers to a 106-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Barnes, signed Sunday to a 10-day contract, scored 13 points and took 10 rebounds in his second NBA game, and the Clippers ended a three-game losing streak. He had six points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter.

“I just got in a flow,” he said. “Coach left me in there for an extended period of time and I got into a rhythm. ... Eventually good things come your way when you play hard, and I’m loving every minute of this.”

Barnes, who was drafted in 2002 but hadn’t played in the NBA before Monday, also spearheaded a defensive effort that limited the Warriors to 35% shooting and 37 points in the second half after they’d scored 65 in the first.

“The reason I picked him is because of how fundamentally sound he is,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said of Barnes, signed after Bobby Simmons suffered a hip injury.

“I heard about all these other guys who are big-time scorers with big-time strokes ... but I’d rather have a guy that is solid and smart.”

Quentin Richardson led the Clippers with 25 points, 18 in the second half, and made nine of 20 shots, four of six from beyond the three-point arc.

Elton Brand had 16 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots. Corey Maggette scored 22 points and reserve guard Eddie House made all five of his shots and had 12 points and four assists in 20 minutes.

Three Warriors -- Erick Dampier, Jason Richardson and Mike Dunleavy Jr. -- reached double figures in points and rebounds. Richardson had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Dampier 17 and 16 and Dunleavy 16 and 10.

Dunleavy made seven of 11 shots but fell to 0-2 against his father. He missed eight of 10 shots and scored seven points in a 104-98 loss Nov. 14 at Oakland.

The Clippers had lost four of their previous five games, all at Staples Center, and after Friday’s game against the Utah Jazz they’ll be on the road for 14 of 16, eight on one trip that will take them from Miami to Memphis over 13 days.

In all, they’ll play 26 of their last 42 games on the road.

Considering that they’ve won only two of 12 road games since Nov. 14, their odds of reaching the playoffs grow longer with each loss.

But Dunleavy, given a four-year, $10-million contract last summer, has focused his attention beyond this season to what he believes will be a brighter future, using the NBA’s hottest team, the Sacramento Kings, as a model.

Like the Clippers, the Warriors know all about rebuilding.

They haven’t reached the playoffs since 1994 and are not expected back this year. They’ve lost 12 of 15, 12 in a row on the road, and were without their second-leading scorer, Nick Van Exel, sidelined because of a knee injury.

But that didn’t stop them from taking a 10-0 lead, the Clippers missing their first seven shots. A chorus of boos greeted the Clippers when the score got to 21-7, but then they rallied and twice led by one point in the second quarter.

By halftime, though, the Warriors were back in front, 65-54, their 36 points in the first quarter and 65 in the first half both season highs.

“We were so bad, so soft, that first half,” Dunleavy said. “I just told guys at halftime if they didn’t defend, ultimately they would be gone.

“We’re going to lead with our defense and if guys don’t start defending, they’re going to start sitting and I’ll find other guys. Give me guys like Matt Barnes, who plays hard and with a lot of energy, and I’ll take my chances.”