OAKLAND, Calif. -- Elton Brand won one for his alma mater.

The 6-foot-8 power forward suffered endless ribbing from teammates about Duke's stunning loss to Indiana in the NCAA Tournament earlier in the day. He made sure his Los Angeles Clippers wouldn't have a similar fate.

Brand had 30 points and 16 rebounds as the Clippers handed the Golden State Warriors their eighth straight loss with a 116-96 victory. It was Brands 48th double-double of the season, ranking him second in the league.

The 23-year-old player was the Naismith Award winner his sophomore season at Duke in 1998-99 before he left for the NBA. He was taken with the first pick in the draft by the Chicago Bulls, who traded him to the Clippers after last season.

"I must have had 30 calls on my cell phone about the (Duke) game," Brand said. "Everybody gave me a hard time. It was killing me. I couldn't go through another loss today."

He made sure the Clippers didn't by hitting six straight shots in the third quarter, four during a 12-0 run that put Los Angeles (36-33) in command.

The third-year star made 14 of 20 shots and picked up 10 of his 16 rebounds on the offensive boards. He just missed his season high of 31 points.

"Elton was a monster," Los Angeles coach Alvin Gentry said.

He had help from Quentin Richardson, who scored 19 points, and Jeff McInnis and Eric Piatkowski, who added 18 each as the Clippers moved within a half-game of Utah for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. McInnis added 13 assists, and Darius Miles had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Clippers (36-33) held an opponent under 100 points for a franchise record 12th straight time while winning for the eighth time in 11 games.

"I thought we played with purpose and did a good job executing," Gentry said. "We had to win this game and I think that our guys played like they had to. There are no more Knute Rockne speeches I can give. We just have to win games."

Gilbert Arenas scored a career-high 32, making 11-of-15 shots, and Antawn Jamison had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Warriors (17-50), who have lost 11 of 12.

"Gilbert had a hell of a game," Golden State coach Brian Winters said. "Its really hard to get back into the game when you put yourself into a hole by 16 points."

The Clippers made all five of their 3-pointers in the first quarter, four by Piatkowski and one at the buzzer by McInnis that banked in from 35 feet, giving Los Angeles a 31-27 lead.

"I take that shot all the time during practice," McInnis said with a wink.

Piatkowski and McInnis combined for 22 points in the first quarter. Los Angeles was just 7-of-22 on two-point attempts.

Two more 3-pointers by Richardson opened the Clippers' largest lead of the first half, 42-33 with 7:22 remaining. They led 57-50 at halftime.

Brand already had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, eight on the offensive end. Arenas, coming off a career-high 25 points on Monday, kept the Warriors close with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Jamison added 12 points and nine rebounds.

"We should try to be spoilers these last 15 games because we are playing a lot of playoff teams," Jamison said. "We didn't do much spoiling tonight."

Notes
Jamison started his 149th straight game, the most by a Warriors player since Chris Mullin started 185 consecutive. Jamison is one of six players to start every game for one team this season. The others: Paul Pearce (Boston), Baron Davis (Charlotte), Wally Szcerbiak (Minnesota), Tim Duncan (San Antonio) and John Stockton (Utah).
Richardson has led the Clippers in scoring 13 times, the most of any reserve player in the NBA this season.
Brand ranks second in the league with 48 double-doubles.