The Minnesota Timberwolves picked up their second straight win and seventh in their last ten to improve to a game over .500 on Monday night with a 95-94 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Timberwolves are now just a game and a half out of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. The loss for the Clippers means they fall half a game back of the Lakers in the Pacific Division.
After taking a one-point lead into the half, Minnesota outscored the Clippers by nine in the third to take a 10-point lead into the fourth. The Clippers made it interesting late by cutting the deficit to three with under two minutes left in the game, but Kevin Love proved to be too much, as he hit two big baskets in those final minutes.
Love finished with a game-high 39 points and 17 rebounds. Blake Griffin was the Clippers' leading scorer with 26 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Minnesota will look to make it three straight on Wednesday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers in the second of four straight at home.
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It's a battle between Kevin Love and Blake Griffin through 24 minutes, and Love has the slight edge on the younger Griffin, helping the Timberwolves to an even slighter one-point first half lead.
Love scored 18 points on 5-for-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in the first half while Blake Griffin scored 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting and nine rebounds.
Rookie Derrick Williams, who has been mentioned in trade rumors that have him going to the other team in Los Angeles, has 15 points off the bench.
Both teams shot poorly in the first half, only hitting about 40-percent of their shots. The Clippers were a woeful 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.
The Timberwolves play host to the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night at the Target Center. Minnesota is just two games out of the eight-spot in the playoffs with a record of 19-19.
Milicic began the season in the starting lineup, but lost his spot to Pekovic. Pekovic is averaging 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Milicic is averaging 4.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Pekovic is day-to-day with his ankle injury.
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