Clippers 96, Timberwolves 90: Blake Griffin led the way with 26 points and 13 rebounds as Los Angeles kicked off its eight-game road trip by edging host Minnesota.

Caron Butler added 19 points, Jamal Crawford scored 17 off the bench and DeAndre Jordan collected 16 and 12 boards for the Clippers, who were playing their fifth straight game without All-Star Chris Paul (knee). Eric Bledsoe again started in Paul’s place and recorded 10 points, 10 assists and six steals.

Nikola Pekovic returned from a five-game absence to lead the Timberwolves with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Andrei Kirilenko and J.J. Barea added 14 points apiece as Minnesota suffered its fifth straight loss.

Los Angeles led 80-74 with 9:40 left but went nearly three minutes without scoring as the Timberwolves fought back. Bledsoe ended the drought with a jumper and found Crawford for another bucket before four straight points from Kirilenko gave Minnesota an 86-84 edge with 4:15 to play.

It went back and forth again until Butler’s 3-pointer with 2:45 left put the Clippers on top to stay. Griffin buried a short jumper while being fouled with 30 seconds left and hit the free throw attempt to put the game away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Paul could return at some point during the road trip but is being brought along slowly from the bruised right kneecap. … The Timberwolves have lost 10 of their last 11 games and dropped to 11-8 at home. … Los Angeles helped Minnesota stay in the game with its struggles at the free throw line. The Clippers went 23-for-36 from the stripe.