Maggette takes shots after game

Corey Maggette’s eyebrows were raised.

Even on a day like Saturday, when he had a superlative game against the Golden State Warriors, got a spot in the starting lineup, scored 18 points, had eight rebounds, made 10 of 14 free throws and scored the key points in a fourth-quarter run that clinched a Clippers victory, Maggette couldn’t quite put a lid on his sometimes simmering relationship with Coach Mike Dunleavy.

In praising Maggette’s efforts Saturday, Dunleavy told reporters it had begun with Maggette’s “great day in practice” Friday.

“He said that about me?” Maggette asked. “I practice hard every time I step on the floor.”

Maggette, who has indicated his desire to be a full-time starter, whether for the Clippers or elsewhere, reiterated Saturday that he will live with the status quo for now.

“Until I’m traded, I’m a Clipper,” he said. “Whenever I play, I play as hard as I can. Whatever they need me to do, I will do. If they need me to come off the bench, I will come off the bench.

“I’ve been here for eight years. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. This has been bad.”

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Point guard Shaun Livingston, who had a career-high 14 assists Saturday, is the first to concede that inconsistency has been his biggest problem.

Now in his third pro season, without college experience, he is still struggling to learn how to control the offense.

But, he said, maybe the offense itself could use some tuning.

“When we keep running the same thing over and over,” he said, “the defense knows what we are going to do. We are telegraphing it. Maybe we ought to mix it up more.”

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The Clippers’ Elton Brand had eight blocked shots to tie a career high, previously achieved on three occasions.

But that left him shy of the team’s single-game record of 10 held by Benoit Benjamin (in games in 1988 and 1989) and Bill Walton (1983).

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* Defense: The Clippers held the Warriors, the second highest-scoring team in the league, to 90 points, 16 below their average.

* Shot blocking: Elton Brand keyed the defense with eight blocks, tying his career high.

* Rebounding: Again led by Brand, who had 12, the Clippers beat the Warriors on the backboards, 48-35, to largely nullify Golden State’s fast break.

steve.springer@latimes.com