Garnett Finishes Off the Clippers

Kevin Garnett endured another rough start, but he was there for his team at the end.

Garnett scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 89-85 victory over the Clippers on Sunday.

Garnett struggled for the second consecutive game, making only eight of 24 shots from the field. Sam Cassell scored 16 points off the bench to help Minnesota win its fourth game in a row.

“He’s not going to make every shot,” Cassell said of Garnett. “But he had a big block, a big rebound. He’ll do what he has to do to make the team successful.”

Garnett’s job is easier when Cassell is healthy and playing as he did last season, when he was an All-Star.

The point guard, hampered by injuries this season, made a three-point basket off a Garnett pass with 2 minutes 3 seconds left to put the Timberwolves up for good, 83-80, then returned the favor by feeding Garnett inside for a layup with 1:30 to play.

“I’ve never considered myself a superb shooter,” Garnett said. “I can score the basketball, but there’s going to be times where I have a game like this. But I have the ability to do different things to influence the game.”

Despite Garnett’s late burst, Minnesota couldn’t put away the Clippers. Bobby Simmons’ three-point basket with 32 seconds cut the Timberwolves’ lead to 86-83. Then Minnesota’s Fred Hoiberg, a 90% free-throw shooter, missed two free throws with 17 seconds left.

Corey Maggette missed a potential score-tying three-pointer with 5.9 seconds left, and Garnett made two free throws to end the Clippers’ winning streak at three games.

“We just didn’t weather the storm at the end,” Maggette said.

Minnesota moved within 2 1/2 games of Denver for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Elton Brand had 25 points to lead the Clippers, who twice rallied from double-digit deficits.

Brand guarded Garnett for most of the game and forced him away from the basket. Garnett made only three of his first 15 shots through three quarters, but he made four of five to start the fourth quarter.

Asked how he defended Garnett, Brand said, “Just contest all the shots that he shoots.”

Garnett had six points during a 10-0 run after the Clippers had rallied to tie the score, 68-68. But the Clippers answered with a 12-2 run, capped by Brand’s jumper with 3:11 left that tied it, 80-80.

Cassell was six for 10 from the field, a day after scoring 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting in Minnesota’s 96-75 win over New Jersey.

He has sat out 23 of the team’s last 40 games because of a hamstring injury and lost his starting job in the process.

But Cassell has come off the bench in the last three games to score in double figures.

“I just wish I was healthy all year for this team, to show what we can do,” Cassell said.

Garnett, who missed his seven field-goal tries in the first half Saturday, was one for seven from the field in the first quarter against the Clippers and sat out the first seven minutes of the second quarter.

With their leading scorer on the bench, the Timberwolves outscored the Clippers, 21-8, to start the quarter, including a 12-0 run, and led by nine points at halftime.

The Clippers are seven games behind Denver in the West, and with nine of their last 12 games on the road, they face long odds in an effort to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

“We’ve done a good job of playing defense, being in the game,” Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We need to find a way to finish them.”

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Tuesday at Cleveland, FSN West 2, 4 p.m. PST -- LeBron James scored 22 points in the Cavaliers’ 94-82 loss to the Clippers on Nov. 29 in Staples Center, but in three games against them has averaged only 13.3 points on 35.4% shooting.