Garnett Burns Clippers, 96-94

From long range, Kevin Garnett made the winning shot.

He struck a defiant pose.

And then as he disappeared into a hallway on his way to the locker room, the forward loudly issued a piece of advice the Clippers could have used some 30 minutes earlier: “You better let a sleeping dog sleep.”

His buzzer-beating, 20-foot turnaround jumper from the left wing over Elton Brand had capped an improbable fourth-quarter comeback Sunday that carried the Minnesota Timberwolves from a 15-point deficit with less than eight minutes to play to a 96-94 victory at Staples Center.

The Clippers, an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter having pushed their lead to 83-68, seemed to be cruising in front of an announced 14,370 in the first of three games in four days against elite Western Conference opponents.

They still led, 83-70, as Fred Hoi- berg of the Timberwolves sprinted toward the basket for a breakaway dunk before Clipper guard Doug Overton, giving chase, knocked him to the floor, resulting in a flagrant foul and ejection.

Hoiberg made both free throws, the Timberwolves retained possession and Garnett made a jump shot, part of an 11-0 run that revived the visitors.

“The momentum changed on the flagrant foul,” Clipper forward Corey Maggette said. “That stuff just happens sometimes.”

Said Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy: “It was a costly play.”

Led by point guard Sam Cassell, who made six of seven shots and scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves charged forward, finally pulling even on a running jumper by Cassell with 30.4 seconds to play.

At the other end, the Clippers cleared out the right side for Maggette, who knifed through two defenders but misfired long on a 10-foot jump shot.

A few minutes earlier, Garnett and Maggette had been slapped with technical fouls after engaging in “a little trash talk,” as Garnett described it.

Garnett had an opportunity to deliver the final word.

He took an inbounds pass, turned to face the basket and lifted an arching shot over Brand that settled into the net as the horn went off.

“I got a pretty good look,” he said. “The play actually was for Spree [Latrell Sprewell]. Maggette took that away.”

Brand, returning to the starting lineup for the first time since opening night, had a hand in Garnett’s face, but it wasn’t enough.

“He hit a great shot,” Brand said. “I was right there.”

Garnett finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Sprewell scored 27 points. Cassell had 10 assists. And though they had trailed since midway through the second quarter, the resilient Timberwolves emerged with their eighth victory in their last 10 road games, capping a 4-1 trip.

The Clippers, bouncing back from an abysmal effort in Friday night’s 86-67 loss at Utah, had made 43.4% of their shots, their best shooting in seven games, but still lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

“I was disappointed in the outcome,” Dunleavy said, “but I was pleased about a lot of our play today. We had good energy; we battled. Defensively, we did a lot of good things.

“I told the fellas, ‘If you play like this every night, with that kind of effort, the wins will come our way.’ ”

All five Clipper starters scored in double figures, led by Maggette, who made eight of 10 shots, 10 of 12 free throws and scored 26 points. Marko Jaric scored a season-high 18 points, 14 in the first half. Quentin Richardson had 14 points and nine rebounds, Chris Kaman had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Brand, who returned to the lineup Friday after sitting out 13 games because of a broken right foot, had 13 points and eight rebounds in a season-high 38 minutes but missed 11 of 15 shots.

“I probably played Elton more minutes than I wanted to play him, but we were caught up in it,” Dunleavy said. “You’re trying to get a win against a good team, a playoff team.

“His effort was great. The shots that he missed, once he gets the rust off, those are great shots for us. And we probably go home a winner.”