Jamal Crawford scored 22 points as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 90-77 to win third straight game.
Blake Griffin added 20 points for the Clippers, while Matt Barnes had 10 points and six rebounds to hand the Timberwolves their fifth consecutive loss. Lamar Odom finished with 12 rebounds and six assists.
The Clippers reserve players made the difference, outscoring Minnesota's bench 45-23.
"It was a bad game for us and to still get a win and finish off a road trip 3-0 is great," Griffin said. "We needed these three wins, especially with CP (Chris Paul) out. Other guys stepped up and did a great job."
For the Timberwolves, Luke Ridnour was the leading scorer with 21 points and five assists. Andrei Kirilenko scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds while Derrick Williams finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Timberwolves did not shoot well against the Clippers, making only 30 out of 84 attempts from the field, which included just four 3-pointers from 19 attempts.
"It's tough, but we have two ways to do it," Ricky Rubio said. "One is complaining because we have the injuries. I don't think that's the way.
"The way is to be a man. I think we have to step up. Everybody has to know his new role. Every game it's changing and that's hard to do. But we are here and we're going to do it."
The Clippers outscored Minnesota 27-22 in the first quarter. The Timberwolves added 21 points in the second quarter and their defense played better in the second to stop their opponents at 20. At the first half Minnesota were trailing 47-43. Crawford led the Clippers in the first half with 12 points.
"We should come into every arena feeling we should get the W," Caron Butler said. "That's not being cocky or overconfident. That's having enough confidence in our ability and ourselves and the personnel we have out there and the system that we run."
In the third quarter, both teams played equally well, but Los Angeles managed to outscore the Timberwolves 21-20 to extend their lead to five points.
The Clippers completely outshined their opponents in the fourth quarter, though. Crawford made a 3-pointer with 5 minutes remaining to extend the Clippers' lead to 13 points.
"We want the starters to be comfortable enough that when they come out of the game they don't have to worry," Crawford said. "I think when they come out of the game we should extend the lead and they will be fresher down the season because of it."
The Clippers scored 22 points in the final quarter and stopped Minnesota at a mere 14 to win the game comfortably.
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