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LOS ANGELES(AP) Al Jefferson scored 20 points and tied a season high with 17 rebounds, and Craig Smith also had 20 points in the Minnesota Timberwolves' 94-86 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. The Timberwolves have won seven of their last eight games after losing 15 of 17. They have won a season-high four straight on the road for the first time since December 2005, when they won five in a row away from Target Center. Minnesota is 9-11 under Kevin McHale, who stepped down as the team's vice president of basketball operations and took over as coach for Randy Wittman on Dec. 8 - two days after the Clippers won 107-84 at Minnesota. The Timberwolves scored 58 points in the paint against a beat-up Clippers roster missing Zach Randolph, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Mike Taylor and Jason Hart - and now Marcus Camby. The league's second-leading rebounder sat out for the first time this season because of a sprained left ankle after getting injured in Saturday's game, forcing Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy to use his 15th different starting lineup. Rookie Eric Gordon led Los Angeles with 25 points and reserve Steve Novak had a career-high 18. The loss was the 13th in 14 games for the Clippers, coming off a 101-92 win against Milwaukee on Saturday that ended a 12-game skid. Clippers rookie DeAndre Jordan made his first NBA start after serving as a reserve in his first 18 games. The 6-foot-11 center from Texas A&M had eight points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. For the seventh time this season, Los Angeles never had a lead. Minnesota opened the game with a 24-8 run fueled by 14 points from Smith. Mike Miller, Sebastian Telfair and Rodney Carney all missed 3-point shots in the final 74 seconds of the first quarter, enabling the Clippers to reduce the margin to 10. Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
POSTGAME QUOTES
On the Clippers' performance in today’s game... “I was pleased with our effort. We did a lot of good things on the floor. They played hard, they kept themselves in the game, executed some good things and gave us a chance to win the game. I was a bit disappointed at times in the game when mentally we made some mistakes. We did not run all of our plays correctly. We need to get better in that regard.”
On the Clippers' struggles in the fourth quarter...
On the play of the Timberwolves... “They had a lot of second chance points. They converted on too many occasions, so we definitely need to work on rebounding and taking care of the ball.”
On the Clipperss injuries...
On his individual fourth quarter performance...
On the play of the Timberwolves... “I think that we had a good game tonight and we made a lot of big shots that worked in our favor. It was another workmen-like game for us, I just wish the lead we had in the second quarter would have been in the fourth
On his personal focus for today’s game... “Tonight I focused on shooting. I just tried to keep shooting and the baskets were coming.”
On the Timberwolves' game plan... “I was trying to hit jump shots all game and just keep attacking the basket.”
On the Clippers' injury problems... “They were a different team then when we played them last time. I know they are missing big players and I think with them playing things could have been different with today’s results.” POSTGAME NOTES
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