Clippers Can’t Finish the Job

The Clippers dusted off the teamwork section of their playbook for three quarters against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night at Staples Center.

They ran fastbreaks. They passed the ball in their halfcourt offense and made open shots. And they cut without the basketball for uncontested scores.

This type of play helped the Clippers hold the lead over Minnesota for most of the night, but in the fourth quarter, their selfish ways returned and the result was their seventh loss in a row.

Backup point guard Bobby Jackson stepped in for injured Terrell Brandon and made several big plays in the final period to lead the Timberwolves to a 95-89 victory before 12,853.

Forward Kevin Garnett had a quiet game with 18 points and six rebounds, but the Clippers could not control role players Sam Mitchell and Malik Sealy, who combined for 34 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, which has won 14 of its last 17 games.

“It’s obvious that we do not have the mentality [to win close games],” said power forward Maurice Taylor, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“If you look the last [seven games], we’ve been in every one except for the Utah game. We’re in it until the last minute of the game.”

The Clippers did almost everything right against the Timberwolves, whom they beat on the road in November, but still came up short. They shot 47.6% from the floor, outrebounded Minnesota, 44-39, and had only 13 turnovers for three quarters.

But seven turnovers in the fourth, including three by Troy Hudson, did the Clippers in down the stretch.

“Turnovers at crucial times killed us,” Coach Chris Ford said about the Clippers (10-29). “We turned the ball over 20 times and it’s tough to win with that many, especially when you make them in crunch time like we did.”

Forward Lamar Odom had a strong game with 18 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. In the fourth quarter, Odom had to work against Garnett, who did a good job slowing the Clipper rookie down.

“[Garnett] does all the other things [to help the Timberwolves win],” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said. “He keys our defense, gets key rebounds and contests shots as well. . . . The thing about Kevin is he has the ability to be put on Odom. We didn’t have to trap [Odom] with Garnett on defense. Lamar is a tough matchup for [small forwards] in this league.”

Odom and Taylor helped get the Clippers off to a fast start with solid rebounding and hustle. They combined for 13 first-half rebounds and Odom made six of nine shots to help the Clippers take a 54-49 lead at halftime.

The Clippers made 55% of their shots over the first two quarters and held Minnesota to 43.6% shooting from the floor.

Shooting guard Derek Anderson, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds, had two quick baskets early in the second half. Hudson joined in with two more scores and the Clippers held a 64-57 lead five minutes into the third quarter.

Minnesota rallied to take a 67-66 lead, but the Clippers got a boost from Pete Chilcutt, who played in his first game since signing a 10-day contract Tuesday, and took a 72-69 lead into the fourth quarter.

A jumper by Tyrone Nesby to open the final period gave the Clippers a 74-69 and then Minnesota took over the game.

“We were in it for the first three quarters,” Anderson said. “We were going right at them, making them get one shot and out.”

Said Nesby, who had 11 points off the bench: “They kept doubling the plays we were running. We ran too many screen plays. Because when we came off the screen, the doubled every time, making it hard for Troy to get it out. We ran a lot of that and kind of played into their hands.”

Michael Olowokandi had six points and four rebounds before fouling out for the seventh time.