Maggette trades talk for action in Clippers win

Is it too late for Corey Maggette and the Clippers to resolve their differences and stay together?

Reconciliation might be best for both sides, especially considering how Maggette performed Wednesday night in a 92-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in front of 14,223 at the Target Center.

In his most efficient performance of the season, Maggette scored 21 points off the bench and made a 17-foot jumper in the right corner to put the Clippers ahead with only 4.8 seconds remaining in the game.

Timberwolves All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett (19 points, 17 rebounds, four blocked shots) missed a 16-foot shot to the left of the foul line and Shaun Livingston grabbed the rebound as time expired, completing the Clippers’ best outing on the road to this point.

The Clippers also got 21 points from Elton Brand and 18 points and five assists from Sam Cassell, which helped them to overcome the loss of center Chris Kaman, who scored 12 points but didn’t play late in the game because of an ankle injury.

The Clippers (17-19) finished 3-3 on the 10-day trip but closed strong with victories against the New Orleans Hornets and Timberwolves (17-16), who had won four in a row.

After sitting out the previous two games because of a foot injury, Maggette provided the boost the Clippers needed to finally get a road victory over a team with a winning record that was at full strength.

Maggette’s agent has requested that the Clippers trade the seven-year veteran, and the team has pursued potential deals. But sometimes breaking up isn’t the right thing to do.

“All the speculation and all the trade talk aside, when Corey Maggette plays like that, that’s our unit right there,” Brand said. “Down the stretch, he played great minutes .... He’s been so professional with all these rumors and all this talk.

“I don’t make the decisions. I don’t know how pressing the situation is, what’s going on behind the scenes and if [a trade is] going to happen. But when he plays like that ... work it out.”

In 29 minutes, Maggette made five of 10 shots from the field, was 11 for 11 from the free-throw line and had eight rebounds and four assists. He scored the Clippers’ final four points, making two free throws with 39.2 seconds left in the game and then the eventual game-winning jumper.

“I’m a Corey Maggette fan, so nothing he does surprises me,” Cassell said. “Corey is a guy who rebounds the ball extremely well, attacks the basket well and makes shots. He’s our all-purpose ballplayer.

“He’s not even worried about starting. He knows he’s going to get 14 to 15 attempts for us every night and play major minutes. You see the way he played tonight? Corey Maggette is a big part of our basketball team.”

Coach Mike Dunleavy called a timeout after Trenton Hassell made a 17-foot jumper to put Minnesota ahead, 91-90, with 25.3 seconds to play. Dunleavy called a play that included several options, and Cuttino Mobley missed a shot in the lane and grabbed the rebound.

Mobley then lost the ball, Brand grabbed it on the baseline to the right of the basket and considered shooting until he heard Maggette’s voice from behind him.

“I didn’t know about the shot clock, so I was about to pull up myself and knock it down,” Brand said. “Then I heard him. He said, ‘E.B.! E.B.!’ We’ve been playing together for a long time, so I’m accustomed to his voice. He knocked it down.”

That’s what he’s supposed to do, Maggette said.

“My job is just to go out there and play and score,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to hit the game-winner, but I was expecting to be productive for this team.”

jason.reid@latimes.com