Five things to take from Clippers’ 110-105 victory Monday at Minnesota

Jordan Hamilton

Jordan Hamilton/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

 

Jordan Hamilton started for the injured Matt Barnes (hamstring) and came through with 10 points and three rebounds in just under 26 minutes. He made 2 of 6 from 3-point range and did not commit a turnover. It was a solid showing for his first dose of real minutes since joining the Clippers on a 10-day contract last week. He had played a total of three minutes in two previous games.

– It might seem like this is a game the Clippers were supposed to win. After all, they are 40-21 and in fifth-place in the Western Conference standings and the Timberwolves are now 13-46 and in last. But not only were the Clippers missing Blake Griffin (elbow) and Barnes, they lost Jamal Crawford (calf contusion) at halftime and J.J. Redick was ejected with 1:06 left in the game. For all those reasons, this was a good victory. It was the Clippers’ seventh in 10 games since Griffin went down.

DeAndre Jordan pulled down 18 rebounds, giving him nine consecutive games with at least 15; he has had at least 20 in four of them. Jordan has upped his league-leading average to 14.4.

Chris Paul had a game-high 26 points with 14 assists and three steals. It was his league-leading 14th game this season with at least 20 points and 10 assists.

Austin Rivers had a solid showing in 25-plus minutes off the bench. He scored 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting and doled out four assists. Perhaps as importantly, the 6-foot-4 guard showed heart when he did not back down from 6-foot-11 Kevin Garnett when the two exchanged words after Rivers bumped Garnett on his way back to his bench after a timeout and Garnett responded with an elbow.