Wolves rally to defeat Clippers in starting make/break stretch

We are going to learn a lot about the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Clippers in the month ahead, especially in the week ahead.

What we learned last night is that the Wolves are a lot deeper than many give them credit for.

After trailing for most of the first three quarters, reserves Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams led the way the as the Timberwolves made their first 10 shots of the fourth quarter and rallied to defeat the Clippers 109-97 Tuesday night.

Williams and Beasley each had 13 points in the fourth. Williams finished the game 9-of-10 from the field, while making all four of his 3-point attempts and all five of his free throws. Beasley was 11-of-15 from the field, making all three of his 3-pointers.

The game began a stretch in which the Wolves will play the Clippers, Lakers and Trail Blazers twice apiece during their first seven games after the All-Star break.

At 18-17, they are tied with the Denver Nuggets for ninth in the Western Conference, a  half-game behind Portland.

Blake Griffin scored 30 points, Chris Paul added 27 and DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Clippers, who also faltered in the fourth quarter of a 101-98 home loss to the Wolves on Jan. 20. “We’ll see what we’re made of now,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We have a tough road trip coming up. We’re going to have to play on a higher level, especially on the road now, but maybe that will help us come together more.”

From Arash Markasi of ESPN Los Angeles: “The Clippers are a different team now than they were when they last lost to Minnesota a month ago. Paul and Caron Butler were injured, Chauncey Billups was healthy, and Kenyon Martin was in China, trying to figure out a way back to the NBA. The biggest difference with the team outside of roster moves between then and now, however, was supposed to be the Clippers’ ability to close out games. It was a staple of this team in late January and into February. The Clippers had come back from double-digit deficits to win six times, including an 18-point deficit at Portland this month. It was a refreshing change for the Clippers, who had found a variety of ways to squander double-digit leads in the past and simply give up after falling behind by double digits. Suddenly these new-look Clippers, who were supposed to make everyone forget about the past, have drawn comparisons to the Clippers of old in three of their past four losses, to San Antonio, Golden State and Minnesota. All three games were blown in the fourth quarter due to costly errors and horrendous defensive play down the stretch. What was once an aberration is beginning to look like a scary trend for the Clippers as they go on the road for the next six games and play 20 games in 31 days in March. After the game, even Clippers owner Donald Sterling had to shake his head as he looked up at the final stats from Tuesday’s game in the press room. He’s seen his fair share of meltdowns in the past but he usually didn’t have to back one of the highest payrolls in the league to see his team disappoint him.”

One team that found a way to finish at the end was the Boston Celtics, who got Kevin Garnett isolated in the low block against Kyrie Irving on a key late possession for the key bucket in an 86-83 victory that snapped their five-game losing streak.

“It was a win, that’s all it was for us,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “It was a good way to end the losing streak, but we have to be better than that. That was awful.”

What Rivers was referring to was Boston failing to hold a 16-point lead in the first quarter, which became a five-point deficit in the third quarter, making the last 12 minutes a possession-by-possession game.

From Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: “Rajon Rondo came back from his two-game suspension to go scoreless with 11 assists and five turnovers, while Brandon Bass returned after a six-game injury absence with 12 points as the Celts rebounded after seven losses in their last eight games. Rondo played nearly five minutes less than his average, giving the ball up and missing shots. Avery Bradley got a longer than usual look and had six points, three assists and no turnovers in 16 minutes. “I thought (Rondo) got down on himself because of the turnovers, and you just can’t do that,” said Rivers. “We’re all human; we’re not going to play well every night. But you have to grind every night, and that’s what this team’s going to have to be. We’re going to have to be a grind-it-out basketball team every night.” Rivers was quite aware things could have been quite different had (Anderson) Varejao been here. So when the Cleveland big man passed by the coach’s postgame interview in the hallway, Rivers looked up and said, “Thank you.”

The most stunning result of the night — the Nets defeating the Mavericks 93-92 — came out of Dallas, where Deron Williams prefers the comforts of the Mavs’ home arena to the Nets’ temporary purgatory in Newark. One of the key stories until the March 15 trade deadline is going to be whether the defending champions lop Shawn Maron Marion off their roster in return for an expiring contract, which will give them the flexibility to create to max-salary slots to go after Williams and Dwight Howard.

From Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger: “The day after Avery Johnson called Mavericks owner Mark Cuban “a threat” to sign away point guard Deron Williams as a free agent this summer, the Nets shifted into damage control mode. Johnson, at his pregame media briefing, let reporters know he didn’t appreciate the fact everyone focused on that part of the quote rather than the second part, where he talked about how much influence Williams has on everything the Nets are doing these days. And GM Billy King first went on the radio, then talked to reporters, saying he wouldn’t characterize the Mavericks as a threat. “I don’t look at it as a threat,” King said. “I mean, it’s reality. They’ve got cap space, and he’s obviously from Dallas. So I think if you follow Avery, the whole quote, he says ‘But I do think he’ll be playing in Brooklyn next year.’ So … it doesn’t worry me.” Even (Mark) Cuban himself downplayed the notion that the Mavericks will go hard after Williams when he becomes available July 1. “Let me say this: There’s a lot of presumptions going on about what we’re going to do this summer, but you shouldn’t pay attention to anything you’ve read or heard because that’s not the way we approach things,” Cuban said. “We’re the last organization to get one thing in our mind and that’s the only thing we’re going to do … I’m going be opportunistic. We’re going to try to create a championship team, or continue to be a championship team, and that’s evaluating everything in front of you and making the right decisions with the new CBA.”

Elsewhere in the NBA:

• Derrick Rose’s high-arching shot from the corner with 19.4 seconds to play Tuesday night put the Chicago Bulls ahead and was part of a closing 8-0 run as they defeated the New Orleans Hornets 99-95. Rose had 32 points, six in the finishing run that came after the Hornets had scored 13 straight to take a four-point lead.
• Ersan Ilyasova tipped in Brandon Jennings’ miss with 2.2 seconds left and the Bucks beat Washington 119-118, handing the Wizards their fifth consecutive loss. Jennings dribbled the ball off his foot with 12 seconds left, then allowed John Wall to get by him and score on a running, 8-foot jumper for a 118-117 Wizards lead with 6.8 seconds to go. After a timeout, Jennings took an inbounds pass and drove left of the lane, attempting a short jumper. It bounced off the rim, but Ilyasova had position and tipped in the miss for the winning points.
• Isaiah Thomas had 18 points and eight assists and sparked a second-half surge for the Kings, who celebrated a possible new arena deal with a 103-96 victory over the struggling Utah Jazz. The city, the Kings and the NBA announced a tentative deal Monday to finance a new arena that would be built by 2015 and keep the team in Sacramento for many years, quieting talk that the franchise would be moving to Anaheim or Seattle at the end of the season. The City Council will vote on the plan March 6.
• Danny Granger scored 25 points to help Indiana beat Golden State 102-78 for their fifth straight win. The Pacers topped 100 points for the fourth straight game after doing so just six times before the current stretch. The Warriors finished with season lows in points and field-goal percentage (.341) as Stephen Curry sat out with a strained tendon in his right foot. The Warriors missed him, making just 1 of 17 3s in the first three quarters.
• Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, Luis Scola  had 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Rockets beat Toronto 88-85. Houston has won four in a row and five of its last six to move seven games over .500 for the first time this season. The Rockets have had to sweat out the last three wins, coming through with clutch baskets and key defensive stops at the end to hang on. Kevin Martin missed a free throw with 11.7 seconds left that gave the Raptors a chance to tie it. But Linas Kleiza missed a long 3-point try, Martin corralled the rebound and the Rockets won for the 18th time in the last 25 games.
• Doug Collins left the bench between the third and fourth quarters because he felt lightheaded, but gave himself a clean bill of health after the 76ers beat Detroit 97-68 to snap a five-game losing streak. “I think I got dehydrated,” Collins said. “It’s nothing related to what I had with vertigo. It’s all good.” He missed two preseason games last year because of symptoms related to a concussion, then had neurological testing and treatment for what was diagnosed as vertigo. Collins said he broke a promise to himself by thinking about his team during the All-Star break when he spent time with his family, leading to him not sleeping well for days before resuming the season.