Ellis, Curry lead Warriors over Clippers in first exhibition game under Smart

Ellis, Curry lead Warriors in Smart’s debut

OAKLAND, Calif. — Monta Ellis scored 22 points and the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 127-87 on Friday night in their exhibition debut under Keith Smart.

Ellis knocked down all four of his 3-pointers in the first game since Smart took over from Don Nelson on Sept. 27. Stephen Curry, who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting last season, picked up where he left off with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.

Rookie Blake Griffin, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2009 NBA draft who missed all of last season with a stress fracture in his left kneecap, led all scorers with 23 points and recorded nine rebounds and four assists. But the Clippers, who were missing starters Baron Davis and Chris Kaman and coming off a 120-88 win in Sacramento on Thursday, were held to just 38 percent shooting from the field.

New Warriors acquisitions Dorell Wright and David Lee provided 16 and 15 points, respectively. Center Andris Biedrins, who struggled through an injury-plagued 2009-10 season, had 10 rebounds to help Golden State — the NBA’s worst rebounding team a year ago — outboard Los Angeles by a 49-40 count.

Reggie Williams (20 points) and Vladimir Radmanovic (10) rounded out the list of double-figure scorers for the Warriors.

Eric Gordon added 18 points for the Clippers but missed nine of 14 shots. Rookie Al-Farouq Aminu, the No. 8 selection out of Wake Forest, collected 13 points and four rebounds.

San Francisco Bay Area product Jeremy Lin, signed by the Warriors as an undrafted rookie free agent, drew the largest cheers of the night from the crowd of 10,004 when he made his professional debut with 10:49 remaining. Lin finished with seven points, three rebounds and two assists.