Towns, Timberwolves take down Clippers
LOS ANGELES -- Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 his 37 points in the second half, and the Minnesota Timberwolves edged the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 104-101 on Thursday night at Staples Center.
Towns made 17 of 24 shots from the floor. He also had 12 rebounds and five assists for the Timberwolves (15-28), who beat the Clippers for only the second time in the past 18 meetings.
A bucket by Towns with 44 seconds left and two free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining by Andrew Wiggins, who finished with 27 points, were the difference for Minnesota. Clippers guards J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford missed 3-point attempts before the final horn.
Center DeAndre Jordan scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Clippers (29-15). Austin Rivers added 20 points.
The Clippers were without point guard Chris Paul for the first time since he underwent left thumb surgery on Wednesday. Paul is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Forward Blake Griffin (right knee surgery) sat out his 16th game in a row.
Towns' basket knotted the score at 98 with 2:27 left. Jordan, who was intentionally fouled on several occasions in the final quarter, was sent to the foul line, and he made one of two free throws for a one-point edge before Crawford's runner put Los Angeles up by 101-98 with 1:28 remaining.
With 1:12 left, Towns cut the margin to one with a basket inside. He followed with another bucket 28 seconds later to lift the Timberwolves to their first lead of the second half.
The Clippers led 51-44 at the half, taking advantage of 10 Timberwolves turnovers (resulting in 12 points) to five of their own (leading to two points).
Minnesota rallied in the third quarter. After Raymond Felton's jumper gave the Clippers a 71-60 advantage with 5:03 left in the third, the Timberwolves closed on a 17-8 spurt to slice the deficit to 79-77 heading into the final quarter.
Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio left the contest in the first half with a hip injury and did not return. Rubio was scoreless, missing all three of his shots, while contributing four assists and four rebounds in 16 minutes.
The Clippers won the initial meeting 119-105 on Nov. 12 at Minnesota.
NOTES: With PG Chris Paul and F Blake Griffin out, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said it is crucial to get more production from reserve G Jamal Crawford. Crawford was averaging 11.6 points per game entering the contest, his lowest output since the 2002-03 season when he scored 10.7 points in his third NBA season with the Chicago Bulls. He scored seven points Thursday. "We've got to get him going again. He's been struggling," Rivers said. ... The Timberwolves are one of only three NBA teams to feature three players -- C Karl Anthony-Towns (22 points), F Andrew Wiggins (21.6) and G Zach LaVine (20.1) -- averaging at least 20 points per game. ... The Clippers kick off a five-game journey at the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Minnesota returns home to face the Nuggets on Sunday.