NBA Game Summary - LA Clippers at Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Paul and Ricky Rubio each had an excellent game from the point guard position on Monday night, but it was Paul's Los Angeles Clippers that pulled off yet another win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Paul scored 26 points with 14 assists to lead the Clippers to their 11th straight win over the Timberwolves with a 110-105 decision.
J.J. Redick had 18 points and DeAndre Jordan totaled 12 points with 18 rebounds for Los Angeles, which won the final three games of its four-game road trip.
"This is the hardest of the three (wins). Considering the injuries, the back- to-back, the last game of a road trip... (I) was very concerned all day about this game," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
Rubio tallied his fourth career triple-double and first this season, compiling 18 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the loss.
Gary Neal paced Minnesota with 19 points to go along with nine rebounds and Andrew Wiggins added 18 points.
Kevin Martin (illness) and Nikola Pekovic (right ankle) both missed the contest for the Timberwolves.
The Clippers opened the fourth quarter on an elongated 13-4 run that gave them a 99-91 lead. Glen Davis capped the spurt with 5:58 left in the fourth.
Minnesota somehow worked its way back into the game from the free throw line, cutting the deficit to one with a 10-3 run with all of its points coming from the stripe.
Spencer Hawes quelled the surge with a 3-pointer that pushed Los Angeles' lead to 105-101 with 1:32 remaining. Neal followed a free throw from Jordan with another pair from the line, then Paul made a tough step-back jumper over Kevin Garnett to keep the Clippers in front by five with 38.3 seconds left.
The parade at the free throw line continued with Neal netting two more freebies prior to Paul's missed runner that allowed Minnesota a chance at the tie with 14.9 seconds on the clock.
Neal's off-balance 3-pointer was off the mark, however, as the Timberwolves went the final 10:18 of the game without a field goal to lose their sixth straight at home in the series.
"We ran out of gas really. We played really hard," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "Basically when we went to our bench, we ran into trouble, we couldn't score."
Paul scored eight points and assisted on a pair of buckets during a 17-2 run late in the first quarter that staked the Clippers to an 18-point lead. Minnesota closed the quarter with five straight points, however, to cut the gap to 36-23 after 12 minutes.
The Timberwolves used that little spurt at the end of the first to claw their way back into the game midway through the second. Zach LaVine capped a 24-8 run with a dunk that gave the hosts a 47-44 lead with 5:20 left in the half, Garnett's jumper in the final minute broke a 58-58 tie and sent the Timberwolves into the break with a slim lead.
Los Angeles cut its deficit to 87-86 entering the fourth.