Timberwolves Quickly Erase All Doubt : Clippers: Campbell, Richardson lead attack in first quarter of Minnesota’s 111-94 victory.

Pooh Richardson isn’t actually wearing his heart on his sleeve, but it’s close. He wears a white 44, the number Hank Gathers had at Loyola Marymount, in a black circular patch on the left chest of his Minnesota Timberwolves’ jersey.

“He’s always going to be with me every time I step on the court,” Richardson, the rookie point guard from UCLA, said of his former high school rival from Philadelphia.

Richardson wore the patch for the first time Wednesday and also Thursday night, when he had a career-high 27 points and 14 assists to help the Timberwolves beat the Clippers, 111-94, before 21,632 at the Metrodome.

Richardson let his friend go, emotionally speaking, Tuesday. He spoke with Gathers’ mother in Los Angeles and settled some feelings.

Not long after, he played basketball. “He was a very dear friend of mine,” Richardson said. “He passed, and I have to look on to the future.

“It will be very difficult. No question about it. I’m not handling it too well now. But I just have to try to hang in there. I’ve just got to keep going. It still hurts, but I can’t worry.”

“When people talk about it, I still see the hurt in Pooh,” said teammate Tony Campbell, who made 16 of 23 free throws en route to a game-high 30 points. “When people remind him about it, his demeanor changes. On the court, though, he’s really picked up. He is playing great.”

The Timberwolves are 11-14 when Richardson has started, 5-29 when he hasn’t. The 10th player selected in the draft is also committing only 1.9 turnovers the last 19 games he has started at guard for Minnesota. He is averaging 19 points the last four outings.

Richardson had 11 points and eight assists by halftime. For the second night in a row, almost everyone on one of the worst teams in the league pushed the Clippers around early.

Wednesday, they trailed New Jersey by 15 late in the second quarter. The Timberwolves, whose 16 victories is second-worst in the Western Conference, made that seem mild.

Minnesota, sending the Clippers home from the five-game trip early, were ahead 20 points in the first quarter at 33-13. The Clippers trailed by 19 at the end of the quarter, 38-19, as the Timberwolves made 18 of 23 shots.

“The execution and defensive effort was our worst of the year,” Clipper Coach Don Casey said of the early going.

Not that he had much to be pleased with in the second quarter. Minnesota’s lead reached a game-high 23 when Donald Royal hit a 16-foot jump shot from the right side to make it 45-22 with 9:19 remaining in the first half. Against Minnesota, the same team that began play last in the NBA in scoring, four points worse than anyone else.

“Tonight, they played well offensively,” Clipper Tom Garrick said. “I don’t know how well they usually are night in and night out, but they did the job tonight. We don’t have to worry about other nights, though. We had to worry about this night.”

Clipper Notes

Reserve guard Steve Harris is expected to sign a second 10-day contract with the Clippers today. He has played 14 minutes in four games. . . . Charles Smith had 25 points and Ken Norman added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers.