LA Clippers' forward Matt Barnes (left) pushes Minnesota Timberwolves' center Greg Stiemsma during the first half of their game in the Target Center in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Barnes was ejected from the game after the altercation. "He hit me with a couple of dirty picks early on," Barnes said. Eric Miller / Reuters

Griffin steps up again in Paul's absence, racking up 26 points, 13 rebounds in win

The Los Angeles Clippers have adopted a big, bad bully mentality to muscle their way toward the top of the Western Conference.

When Greg Stiemsma and the Minnesota Timberwolves tried to stand their ground, the Clippers got mad, and then they got rolling.

Blake Griffin had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan added 16 points and 12 boards to lift the Los Angeles Clippers to a 96-90 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

Caron Butler had 19 points and Jamal Crawford scored 17 for the Clippers, who were challenged in the second quarter during two run-ins with Stiemsma. Matt Barnes was ejected after the first one and Grant Hill was floored during the second. But the Clippers got physical and handed the Wolves their fifth straight loss.

"We never want to come in and lay down and have that be how we get beat," Griffin said. "We came together after that second little scuffle and really said, 'OK, we've got to buckle down and do a better job.' We fought back."

Nikola Pekovic had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who had coach Rick Adelman on the sideline for the first time since Jan 5. Adelman missed the previous 11 games while his wife sought treatment for seizures.

"Teams are playing aggressive and they want to win," said Ricky Rubio, who had nine points and four assists. "We have to come back and don't step back and try to push them."

The Wolves went 2-9 in Adelman's absence. But the downtrodden team played with much more confidence with its leader back on the bench.

J.J. Barea and Alexey Shved led an 8-2 burst that tied the game and Andrei Kirilenko's transition layup gave Minnesota an 86-84 lead with four minutes to go.

But the Clippers got a big 3-pointer from Butler and knocked the smaller Wolves to the court for several loose balls. Griffin muscled home a three-point play with 30 seconds to go to close the game out.

Barea had 14 points and Shved 12.

The Clippers entered the game having lost four of their past five and looking a little disjointed without star point guard Chris Paul, who is out with a knee injury.

Griffin has elevated his game in Paul's absence, entering the night averaging 23.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and a staggering 6.8 assists in the past five games, picking up some of the playmaking slack left for arguably the game's best point guard.

They will get little sympathy from the injury-ravaged Timberwolves. Minnesota got Pekovic and Shved back from five-game absences, giving them 12 players on the bench for the first time since Dec 26. They're still missing Kevin Love (hand), Chase Budinger (knee) and Brandon Roy (knee).

The Clippers looked groggy as they opened an eight-game road trip. They picked up a couple of defensive 3-second violations and a bevy of technical fouls to fall behind by as many 11 points in the second quarter. Barnes got things started in the second quarter when he tried to shove his way through a screen set by Stiemsma, then threw a forearm to Stiemsma's throat.

"He hit me with a couple of dirty picks early on and I told him to watch it, then he laughed and he hit me with another one," Barnes said. "I kind of lost my control, which I apologized to the team for. There's no excuse for that, but luckily it sparked the team."

Officials reviewed the play and gave Barnes a flagrant foul-2, which brings an automatic ejection.

"He kind of ran through me on the first one, so I figured he'd do the same on the second one," Stiemsma said. "I didn't know he was going to take it that far. That's what I'm out there to do, set screens and be physical and some guys just take it over the top."

All-Star game

Spurs' Popovich to coach West All-Stars

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the third time in his career.

Popovich earned the spot after San Antonio beat Charlotte 102-78 on Wednesday, ensuring the Spurs (37-11, .771) will have the best record in the West through games played on Sunday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's Scott Brooks was not eligible to coach in this year's midseason classic by virtue of having coached the West team in last year's game.

Popovich, in his 17th season as San Antonio's head coach, has led the Spurs to four NBA championships. He coached the West All-Stars in 2005 and 2011.

The All-Star Game will be played at the Toyota Center in Houston on Feb 17.

(China Daily 02/01/2013 page24)