Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari hopes to return soon

Danilo Gallinari sat back in his chair inside Target Center, both of his feet wrapped in ice after another strong workout that was geared toward his return from a strained left glute.

He missed his 13th straight game Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but after playing two-on-two Saturday with C.J. Williams, Jamil Wilson and Brice Johnson and working out Sunday, Gallinari said he hopes to play Wednesday night against the Timberwolves at Staples Center.

“Maybe the next game,” Gallinari said. “I’m not rushing anything. I’m ready to go.”

Gallinari will play some three-on-three perhaps Monday or Tuesday.

Then he’ll see how the injury feels and proceed from there.

“It’s between me and the trainer,” Gallinari said. “When everybody is on the same page, I guess I’m ready.”

With Patrick Beverley (right foot surgery) out for the season, Blake Griffin out until late January (sprained left medial collateral in left knee) and Milos Teodosic (plantar fascia injury to left foot) out indefinitely, the Clippers could use the offense Gallinari can provide.

He had averaged 12.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 31.9 minutes in the nine games he had played in before getting injured against the Miami Heat on Nov. 5

“The goal for me is to see my team win tonight,” Gallinari said. “Then my goal is for the next home game.”

Jamal Crawford is back

For five seasons, Jamal Crawford was the sixth-man extraordinaire with the Clippers, earning two of his three NBA sixth-man-of-the-year awards in L.A.

Now he is in his first season with the Timberwolves, having joined them after the Clippers traded him to Denver as a part of the three-team Gallinari deal that sent Crawford to Atlanta.

Crawford got a buyout so he could sign with Minnesota.

He faced the Clippers for the first time, but only Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Austin Rivers, Wesley Johnson and Brice Johnson remain from the team Crawford played for.

“It’s different facing this group of Clippers because there are only four [main] guys left,” Crawford said. “So it’s really not the same. It ain’t like I left [and] the whole team stayed the same. It’s a whole new team. It’s just five guys left and Brice wasn’t really playing.”

He added: “It’ll be different in L.A. You’ll see all those people at Staples that you used to see everyday. The people behind the scenes, working the tunnel, like everybody. That’ll be different for sure.”

Praise from Doc

“He was a great Clipper for us,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of Crawford. “He did so many great things for us, on and off the floor. And I think Jamal is a great ambassador for basketball. I love him because he plays basketball. I keep going back to that. I love the fact that he does that all summer. He just plays basketball. I just think he’s one of those guys that for at least the Clippers community, he was a very bright light.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner