Clippers vs. Memphis game

With a little less than four minutes to go, the Clippers are leading 89-83 – in their powder blue, ABA-type uniforms.

Blake Griffin is working on a double-double so far – but with points and assists instead of his usual points/rebounds. He has 20 points and eight assists at the moment.

Mo Williams has 18 points off the bench for Los Angeles. Griffin leads the team with 20

By the way, the Clippers lead the league in Lob-type dunks – with 26.

Minnesota beats Clippers 101-98

Kevin Love hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Timberwolves the 101-98 win over the Clippers at Staples Center.

After Ricky Rubio tied the score at 98 with a 3-point shot with 20 seconds left, the Clippers (8-5) had one last chance to win.

Chauncey Billups got the inbounds pass and ran the clock down to a few seconds before he drove into the lane and shot, but it missed and the Wolves (7-8) got the rebound. A foul stopped the clock with 1.5 seconds left and Minnesota gained possession and the chance for the last shot.

Minnesota got to inbound the ball on their end of the court and the pass went to Love, who shot the three from far behind the line at the top of the key. DeAndre Jordan was defending him, but he got stuck behind a screen at the foul line, which delayed his covering Love, who was wide open.

Love finished the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds and Darko Milicic led Minnesota in scoring with 22 points and he grabbed seven rebounds.

57935-love and blake ap-201201202317838757444.jpg

(Kevin Love, in black, tries to pass over the Clippers’ Blake Griffin)

Mo Williams, who was ejected from the game with three minutes left, led the Clippers with 25 points and Blake Griffin scored 21 and had 10 rebounds. Billups finished with 20 points and Randy Foye, starting in place of Chris Paul, added 12.

57934-mo williams 319839987450.jpg

(Mo Williams drives into the lane for the Clippers)

Paul didn’t play due to his hamstring injury, nor did Caron Butler, who hyperextended his knee in the game against Utah.

The Clippers next play Toronto at home on Sunday. Tipoff is at 12:30 p.m.

Injury report for tonight’s game against Minnesota

Caron Butler is out for tonight’s game with a hyperextended knee. An MRI on his leg was negative and he will be listed as day-to-day.

He injured his knee in the Utah loss, but then played Wednesday night in the win over his old team, the Mavericks.

Ryan Gomes will start in place of Butler and Mo Williams will start again for Chris Paul, who is still out with a hamstring injury. Paul is tentatively scheduled to return on Sunday against Toronto.

Clippers/Mavs final

Chauncey Billups hit a 3-pointer with one second remaining to give Los Angeles a thrilling two-point win over the defending-champion Mavericks at Staples Center Wednesday night.

With the win, the Clippers (8-4) got victories in two of their three back-to-back-to-back games, beating New Jersey on Monday, before losing badly to Utah yesterday and winning today.

The Clippers led by five with less than a minute to go but Jason Terry’s 3-pointer got the Mavericks (8-7) to within two points with 36.7 left. Billups then missed a 12-foot jumper after a timeout and after a timeout, DeAndre Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki got tangled up with the ball, which resulted in a jump ball situation. Jordan then controlled the tip, which went to Billups, but Jason Kidd tied him up and the ball went out of bounds, last touching Billups.

Dallas then inbounded the ball and got it to Terry, who again hit a 28-foot, 3-pointer wth five seconds left to put Dallas up 89-88.

The Clippers then had one last possession to win the game.

Billups, threw the inbounds pass to Griffin, who gave it right back and the wide-open, 14-year veteran hit the trey, which put Los Angeles up two with a second left. (The shot was first thought to be a two-pointer, then determined to be a three.)

With a second left, Dallas got the ball in its end of the court, got the inbounds pass, under the basket, but missed the last-second shot as time expired.

Mo Williams, who returned to the lineup after being injured and playing for Chris Paul who is also injured, scored 26 points in his first game back. Griffin finished with 14 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists, Jordan scored 19 and grabbed nine boards and Billups finished the game with 21 points.

57873-blake and lamar 1990.1.jpg

Delonte West and Nowitzki each had 17 points for Dallas, Ian Mahnimi scored 13 and Terry and Shawn Marion each had 12.

Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer with 36.7 to get Dallas to within two points and after a jump ball

HALFTIME: Clippers and Nets

The Clippers are up 53-40 at halftime at Staples against New Jersey.

Chris Paul and Mo Williams are out due to injury, but Blake Griffin, Chauncey Billups, DeAndre Jordan and Randy Foye (among others) are leading the team.

Griffin as 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists and is continuing to show his aggressiveness in the paint and on drives. He and Jordan, along with Reggie Evans, are dominating the boards over the Nets, with 27 boards to 15 for New Jersey.

Caron Butler is taking over the outside shooting role, with 17 points, to go with Griffin’s inside presence.

Reggie Evans has four tough rebounds in a sub role for the Clippers and newly-acquired 5-foot-11 guard Courtney Fortson has two assists. The combination of Trey Thompkins, Fortson, Evans and Gomes, along with Butler, played significant minutes together in the second quarter and held their own.