Clippers cruise to win over Timberwolves, 111-95

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul led seven players in double figures with 19 points apiece, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-95 on Wednesday night for their franchise-record 31st home win of the season.

Paul added 11 assists, and Willie Green had 15 points in breaking the old mark of 30 wins by the 1974-75 team, when it was known as the Buffalo Braves. The Clippers improved to 31-9 at home, three days after clinching their first Pacific Division title in franchise history.

Nikola Pekovic scored 20 points and Derrick Williams had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who got swept 4-0 by the Clippers for the first time since 1992-93.

Ricky Rubio finished with six points on 2-of-8 shooting. He averaged 5.6 points in his previous five games against the Clippers, his second-lowest scoring average against any NBA team.

The Clippers led the entire game, and owned a comfortable lead beginning the fourth quarter that allowed the second unit to take over, giving the starters valuable rest. The playoff-bound Clippers play three of their final four games on the road, including two back-to-backs.

Matt Barnes led the bench with 14 points and Lamar Odom had 13 rebounds.

The Wolves got within three points in the third after a 13-4 run, including six points by Luke Ridnour and four by Andrei Kirilenko. At the same time, the Clippers went through a messy stretch in which they had two technicals and five turnovers.

But they settled down and Green’s 3-pointer launched a 19-6 spurt that sent the Clippers into the fourth with an 88-72 lead. He had another 3 and a basket, while DeAndre Jordan and Paul each had four points.

The Wolves closed within two points five times in the second quarter, and each time the Clippers retained the lead. They stretched it to 58-46 on a 16-6 run to end the half. Paul opened and closed the spurt with 3-pointers and in between, Griffin threw down consecutive fast-break dunks off Paul’s passes and Jordan dunked off Griffin’s alley-oop pass.