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.