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Griffin and the Clippers hold off Timberwolves

Nov 12, 2013 - 8:39 AM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Blake Griffin scored 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the Los Angeles Clippers' 109-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Griffin made two free throws with 44.8 seconds remaining to give the Clippers a 109-105 lead. Nikola Pekovic responded with a layup at the other end to cut the gap to two.

Griffin then missed a layup and Kevin Love grabbed the defensive rebound with 6.9 seconds left. Following a timeout, the Timberwolves had three chances to go in front. Kevin Martin missed a 16-foot jumper and Pekovic and Love were off the mark from in close.

"My natural instinct was to try to rush it and get it up there, but it sat on the rim and came right off. I would say 99 times out of a hundred times that goes in," Love said. "I could have dunked it, but I thought I just had to touch it real quick because time was running out."

Chris Paul had 21 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who improved to 3-0 at home this season. Jamal Crawford tallied 18 points.

Martin ended with 30 points for Minnesota, which had a two-game winning streak snapped. Pekovic tallied 25 points and 10 boards and Love recorded 23 points and 19 rebounds.

Trailing 87-86 early in the fourth quarter, the Clippers went on a 12-0 run. Crawford scored eight points during the surge, including a jumper with 5:47 left to give Los Angeles a 98-87 margin.

Minnesota responded with a 12-3 spurt to make thing interesting. Martin tallied 10 points during the burst, including a dunk with 3:26 left to cut the gap to 101-99.

Paul and Crawford made jumpers to give the home team a six-point cushion. The margin remained the same following Pekovic's dunk and two free throws from Paul.

Martin made two free throws before Paul missed a jumper. Pekovic's layup with 1:04 remaining got the Timberwolves within two, 107-105.

The Clippers held a 59-58 edge following a tight first half that featured seven lead changes and five ties.

The back-and-forth battle carried over to the third quarter, with neither leading by more than six points. Crawford's 51-foot shot at the buzzer gave Los Angeles an 85-80 lead after three periods.

"We only won by two points so it came in handy," Crawford said.

Game Notes

The Clippers have won six in a row against Minnesota ... Los Angeles shot 55 percent from the field and went 17-of-28 from the foul line ... The Timberwolves shot 41.7 percent from the floor and went 11-of-29 from beyond the arc.