The ex-Warriors guard came up one rebound shy of a triple-double Monday to turn a runaway start by Golden State into a 118-105 loss at Staples Center.

Davis had a huge hand in key runs during the first and third quarters, then sealed the Clippers' win with five straight points with about a minute left before finishing with 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

"He was ready for us, as well he should be," said Warriors coach Don Nelson, who greeted his former guard with a pre-game hug outside the locker room. "He had a bit of a lucky game. He banked in three shots, and I don't think he called bank on any of them."

Mostly, Davis has been called out for his lethargic play during an injury-filled first season with the Clippers, but he snapped their five-game losing streak to the Warriors on Monday with help from rookie Eric Gordon (27 points) and center Zach Randolph (27 points, 11 rebounds).

Stephen Jackson led the Monta-Ellis-less Warriors with 28 points, but only eight of those came in the second half. C.J. Watson had 16 points off the bench.

The Warriors had been red-hot from long distance over the last five games, shooting better than 42 percent in each. That was all at Oracle Arena, and it has been a different story for Golden State all season away from home.

The Warriors were 6-for-21 from beyond the three-point arc against the Clippers. L.A. went small against Golden State - starting Gordon (6-foot-3) at small forward and 6-6 Mardy Collins at power forward - and shot 54 percent from deep and 51 percent from the field.

In a game of runs, it took the Warriors less than eight minutes to build a 14-point lead, then about half that time to give it back. Davis drilled back-to-back three-pointers to help start the rally and Marcus Camby sank a three to beat the first-quarter buzzer and pull even at 27-27.

The Clippers led by as many as 18 and took a double-digit advantage into the fourth quarter. Back-to-back threes by Anthony Morrow and Jackson cut the Warriors' deficit to 98-95 with seven minutes left, but Gordon came right back with his own pair of threes, and the Warriors didn't seriously threaten again.

Davis had been an afterthought during their two previous games against the Warriors: He was injured for their meeting in Oakland on Jan. 25, and their Nov. 15 matchup in Los Angeles was notable for Morrow's 37-point start.

To Jackson, that only meant his good friend was due.

"I knew he was going to have a better game than that first time we came here," Jackson said. "He controlled the game, got the ball exactly where he needed to."

Golden State was playing without Ellis, who was shut down for at least a week Sunday to rest his surgically repaired ankle. Center Andris Biedrins came off the bench in his return from a sprained left ankle, but was largely ineffective in his 17 minutes.

E-mail Janny Hu at jhu@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle