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Clippers conclude road trip in Minnesota

Mar 2, 2015 - 2:29 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Clippers will try for a very successful road trip Monday night with a stop at the Target Center against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After a loss to the Houston Rockets to start the sojourn, the Clippers toppled the Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls. The two wins were by an average of 14 points.

On Sunday, LA prevailed, 96-86, in the Windy City.

Chris Paul had 28 points and 12 assists to lead the Clippers. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 26 rebounds in the win, including 17 in the first half, while Jamal Crawford added 16 points and Spencer Hawes had 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Clippers are 6-3 without star forward Blake Griffin, who underwent surgery before the All-Star break to remove a staph infection in his right elbow.

They took the lead for good on Crawford's jumper with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. It was part of a 15-4 run led by Paul's six points and capped by his free throw for an 11-point lead with just over a minute to go.

"It was the moment of truth in the game," Crawford of the fourth quarter.

The Timberwolves have lost two straight after a win in Kevin Garnett's re- debut at the Target Center. The T-wolves fell by seven in Chicago, then battled, but came up short against the Memphis Grizzlies at home.

Minnesota lost, 101-97, to the Grizz on Saturday.

Andrew Wiggins poured in 25 points for Minnesota, which has dropped three of its last four games.

"Every team we face, wherever we go they know that we're a better team than what our record shows, especially when we get all our guys back," said Wiggins.

After Kevin Martin tied the game with a left wing 3-pointer with 43.6 seconds remaining, Mike Conley answered with his 3 at the other end. Marc Gasol had the ball at the left elbow and sent a skip pass to Conley, who nailed the right wing triple to make it 98-95 in favor of the Grizzlies.

Wiggins' putback dunk trimmed the gap to one, but Conley sank two foul shots with 11.3 ticks left to make it 100-97.

Martin was off the mark on a left corner trey at the other end for Minnesota and Tony Allen split 1-of-2 from the foul line with 6.1 seconds to play to seal the outcome.

Gary Neal had 16 off the bench, while Martin, Rubio and Gorgui Dieng all finished with 13. Rubio handed out 10 assists as well.

Garnett was ejected after getting his second technical foul and Nikola Pekovic left early in the second half. Pekovic was bothered by foot and ankle pain and is doubtful for Monday.

The Clippers have won 10 straight overall versus the Timberwolves and five in a row in Minnesota.