LOS ANGELES – A banged up Chris Paul was questionable to play in Monday’s reunion between Doc Rivers and his old protégé Kevin Garnett when the Minnesota Timberwolves came to visit Los Angeles on Monday.
Paul banged his knee a night earlier in a 106-98 loss to the Golden State Warriors and had X-rays taken before the game. Paul managed to suit up for the game and still dished out 15 assists despite playing on one leg.
“Obviously I couldn’t be as aggressive out there as I would have liked to,” said Paul after the game. “But that just shows you the depth of our team. JJ [Redick] got it going, DJ [DeAndre Jordan] shot lights out tonight, 10 for 11, he’s been shooting unbelievable. I only had to play 29 minutes tonight, so that was really good.”
With Paul hobbled, the rest of the team had to pick up the scoring and they did. J.J. Redick had 26 points and DeAndre Jordan added 20 points and 17 rebounds as the Clippers cruised past the Timberwolves 89-76 in front of a sold out crowd at Staples Center.
“Jamal [Crawford] and Blake [Griffin] are two guys we go to specifically in the fourth quarter, so there’s just more of an opportunity there for us,” said Redick about his performance. “I know that I have to pick up the slack when guys are down.”
Matt Barnes and Austin Rivers each chipped in 13 a piece as the Clips bounced back after losing two consecutive games to top teams in the west.
“We’re all hunting for playoff position. We lost two in a row and knew we had to come home and protect home court,” added Barnes who celebrated his 35th birthday on the night. “We just need to try to keep moving up.”
Minnesota is the bottom feeder of the Western Conference, and arguably just what Los Angeles needed to get back to their winning ways and move up in the standings.
Timberwolves rookie Adreian Payne shined in the staring lineup for Minnesota as he led the team with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins finished with 11 points, Nikola Pekovic had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Martin had 10 points.
“I told myself I had to come out and be more aggressive,” said Payne who started in place of Garnett and threw down a thunderous dunk on Jordan. “I was going to lay it up, I saw how they were playing me, so that dunk is what happened.”
Garnett did not play in the game due to a scheduled rest day. Rivers coached Garnett for six seasons in Boston, leading the Celtics to the 2008 NBA Championship. The disappointed Clippers crowd who thought they would see the future Hall-of-Famer on the court, started chanting, “We want KG!” in the closing minutes of the game.
“I think it would have been a little more intense [had KG played],” added Clippers center DeAndre Jordan who was looking forward to the matchup.
The Timberwolves have now lost five of their last six games and 12 consecutive to the Clippers. The last time Minnesota beat the Clippers was in February of 2012. Game Notes:
DeAndre Jordan had his first career 20 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists performance. Jamal Crawford (calf) and Blake Griffin (elbow) did not play in the game as they continue to battle injuries. At halftime, the Clippers honored longtime broadcaster Ralph Lawler, who has been the play-by-play guy for Los Angeles for 36 seasons. Former Clipper greats, Marques Johnson, Lamond Murray, Pooh Richardson, Kenyon Dooling, Norm Nixon, and Corey Magette were on hand.
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