LOS ANGELES -- Karl-Anthony Towns carried the Minnesota Timberwolves with a clutch fourth-quarter performance Thursday night.

The 21-year-old center scored 27 his 37 points in the second half, and the Timberwolves edged the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 104-101 at Staples Center.

Towns made 17 of 24 shots from the floor. He also had 12 rebounds and five assists for the Timberwolves, who beat the Clippers for only the second time in the past 18 meetings.

"If the ball is in my hands with the game on the line, I feel very confident I'm going to hit those shots," said Towns, who scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter and converted 12 of 15 attempts in the second half. "Nothing changed when I had the ball in my hands. I went in there with extreme confidence, extreme energy and a love for the game.

"Regardless of what happens, whether I miss or make it, I wasn't afraid. That's why I made those shots."

A bucket by Towns with 44.9 seconds left gave the Timberwolves their first lead of the second half at 102-101. After J.J. Redick misfired on a jumper that would have given the Clippers the lead again, Andrew Wiggins, who finished with 27 points, skied for a rebound before being fouled with 5.5 seconds left. He hit both foul shots to cap the scoring.

"He was unbelievable," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of Towns. "He nailed a ton of shots, most of them being jump shots, but he really made them all over the floor."

Redick and Clippers guard Jamal Crawford missed 3-point attempts before the final horn.

Center DeAndre Jordan scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who had their seven-game winning streak end. Austin Rivers added 20 points, and Raymond Felton chipped in 10 points and eight assists.

"We didn't execute on both ends of the floor down the stretch in the fourth quarter," said Jordan, who was 12 of 15 from the floor and 5 of 12 from the foul line. "We have to give those guys a lot of credit. They came out and made the right plays."

The Clippers (29-15) were without point guard Chris Paul for the first time since he underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left thumb on Wednesday. Paul is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Forward Blake Griffin (right knee surgery) sat out his 16th game in a row.

Towns' basket knotted the score at 98 with 2:27 left. Jordan, who was intentionally fouled on several occasions in the final quarter, was sent to the foul line, and he made one of two free throws for a one-point edge before Crawford's runner put Los Angeles up by 101-98 with 1:28 remaining.

With 1:12 left, Towns cut the margin to one with a basket inside. He followed with another bucket less than 30 seconds later to lift the Timberwolves (15-28).

"We executed, got some stops, and Towns was hitting some big shots for us," Wiggins said.

The Clippers led 51-44 at the half, taking advantage of 10 Timberwolves turnovers (resulting in 12 points) to five of their own (leading to two points).

Minnesota rallied in the third quarter. After Felton's jumper gave the Clippers a 71-60 advantage with 5:03 left in the third, the Timberwolves closed on a 17-8 spurt to slice the deficit to 79-77 heading into the final quarter.

Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio left the contest in the first half with a left hip injury and did not return. Rubio was scoreless, missing all three of his shots, while contributing four assists and four rebounds in 16 minutes.

However, Minnesota got a boost from backup point guard Tyus Jones, who made some solid feeds to Towns that led to buckets. Jones recorded four points and four assists in 12 minutes.

The win halted a six-game road skid for the Timberwolves.

The Clippers won the teams' initial meeting 119-105 on Nov. 12 at Minnesota.

NOTES: With PG Chris Paul and F Blake Griffin out, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said it is crucial to get more production from reserve G Jamal Crawford. Crawford was averaging 11.6 points per game entering the contest, his lowest output since the 2002-03 season when he scored 10.7 points in his third NBA season with the Chicago Bulls. He scored seven points Thursday. "We've got to get him going again. He's been struggling," Rivers said. ... The Timberwolves are one of only three NBA teams to feature three players -- C Karl-Anthony Towns (22 points), F Andrew Wiggins (21.6) and G Zach LaVine (20.1) -- averaging at least 20 points per game. ... The Clippers kick off a five-game journey at the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Minnesota returns home to face the Nuggets on Sunday.