Ellis won that, besting both Paul and Williams because his effort pushed the Warriors to a 104-97 victory over the Clippers on Monday night at Oracle Arena.

Ellis had 32 points on

11-for-20 shooting, making all four of his three-point attempts.

It was Ellis' floater that gave the Warriors a 100-97 lead the Clippers couldn't overcome.

Ellis also had five rebounds and four assists.

"He's a real tough cover," Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said. "You try to force him to certain areas, but he's so athletic. He's just a scorer."

Paul had 24 points, but just four in the second half. He also had six assists.

Williams had 22 points, 13 in the fourth quarter. But he missed his last three shots.

After the Warriors' Stephen Curry made two free throws for a 102-97 lead with 54.8 seconds left, chants of "Beat "L.A ... Beat L.A" rang out.

"It really came down to our defense not being able to get stops," Del Negro said. "Overall, we couldn't knock down some shots, either."

It didn't help that Blake Griffin was in foul trouble.

Griffin picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter and his fifth midway through the fourth.

He finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, but the Warriors did a good job keeping him in check.

"Blake is our post-up guy and he got into foul trouble tonight," Del Negro said. "When that happens, we've got to spread the court with Chris and Mo. Mo got it going and was hitting some shots."

Ellis got help from an unlikely source.

Warriors center Ekpe Udoh scored a career-high 19 points.

This time, Paul didn't wait to take over the game. This time, Paul came out looking to take charge of the game. This time, Paul came out on fire against the Warriors.

Paul opened the game by making his first six shots.