Griffin and the Clippers hold off Timberwolves
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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.
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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"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.