National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
LA Clippers 114, Minnesota 104
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, March 31, 2014
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials: #6 Tony Brown, #61 Courtney Kirkland, #25 Tony Brothers
Attendance: 12172

Clippers 114, Timberwolves 104: Darren Collison scored 28 points and Chris Paul added 22 points and nine assists as visiting Los Angeles used a huge third-quarter surge to pull away for its ninth straight win over Minnesota.

DeAndre Jordan collected 11 points and a career-high 24 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won 16 of their last 18 and are two games back of idle Oklahoma City for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Matt Barnes scored 19 points and Jared Dudley added 16 for Los Angeles, which had only 10 players available because of injuries and was without two of its top three scorers in Blake Griffin (back) and Jamal Crawford (calf).

Kevin Love tallied 20 points and 13 rebounds and Gorgui Dieng added 14 points off the bench for the Timberwolves, who have lost five of their last seven. Kevin Martin and Chase Budinger chipped in 12 points apiece.

Minnesota scored the first six points of the third quarter to take a 57-54 lead before the Clippers ripped off a 34-7 run to turn a close game into a rout. Los Angeles was 15-for-25 from the field in the third quarter and Collison poured in 16 points as the Clippers outscored the Timberwolves 34-15 in the period.

Rookie Shabazz Muhammad helped the Timberwolves get back in it in the fourth, scoring all of his 11 points in the quarter, but they couldn't finish the rally. Minnesota cut it to 106-98 on a Budinger dunk with 1:31 left but the Clippers hit eight straight free throws down the stretch to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Griffin had played in 105 consecutive games. … Minnesota C Nikola Pekovic played just seven minutes before leaving with a sore right ankle. … Jordan had 12 rebounds in the first quarter, a career high for any period and one shy of the franchise record shared by Michael Cage and Lorenzen Wright.

Top Game Performances
 
LA Clippers   Minnesota
Darren Collison 28 Scoring Kevin Love 20
Chris Paul 9 Assists Jose Juan Barea 8
DeAndre Jordan 24 Rebounds Kevin Love 13
Darren Collison 8 Free Throws Made Gorgui Dieng 6
Chris Paul 3 Steals Gorgui Dieng 3
DeAndre Jordan 4 Blocks Corey Brewer 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
LA Clippers 114 46.3 12-30 26-32 23 49 4 8 18
Minnesota 104 42.7 10-26 12-14 30 42 4 9 17
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against Memphis. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
  • LA Clippers will play their next game on the road against Phoenix. The Clippers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.