MINNEAPOLIS _ The last time these two teams met, the Timberwolves beat a Clippers team missing its two superstars by a mere three points in Los Angeles in January.
On Wednesday, they met again with both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin healthy and ready for action and this time the Wolves won running away, 107-91, at Target Center.
Young star Karl-Anthony Towns' 29-point, 14-rebound night was his 18th consecutive 20-point game and his 100th career double-double _ reached by halftime, no less _ makes him the second-youngest player in NBA history to do so.
Teammate Andrew Wiggins added 20 points because, despite shooting 5-for-17 from the field, he made all 10 free throws he attempted.
DeAndre Jordan led the Clippers with a 20-point, 13-rebound performance while Griffin scored 16 points and Paul had seven points and 10 assists.
The Wolves outrebounded the Clippers 50-36 and beat them 62-40 in points scored in the paint.
The Wolves now are 7-4 in their last 11 games. They led by as many 15 points in the first quarter and by 18 in the fourth. They also led by as few as seven points in the third quarter, when the Wolves pushed the Clippers away with an 8-0 run after they had pulled within 74-67 with fewer than four minutes left in the quarter, Towns answered with a 3-point shot that started the Wolves off on a 7-0 run this time that gave them a 17-point lead with five minutes left.
Towns' 16 points and 10 rebounds by the half made him the second youngest in NBA history to reach 100 career double-doubles _ only Dwight Howard did it faster.
The Wolves beat the Clippers for the second consecutive time this season despite making just 5 of 20 3-point attempts while L.A. went 9-for-24 from 3-point range.
The Wolves also on Wednesday welcomed back veteran guard Lance Stephenson, who signed another 10-day contract after he missed almost a month because of a Grade 2 ankle sprain sustained against Cleveland on Valentine's Day night.
Before the game, Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said Stephenson's playing time would be "situational" given how well the team and reserve point guards Kris Dunn and Tyus Jones have been playing. He also said it would be based a good bit on Stephenson's conditioning level.
He found a compromise by playing Stephenson beside Dunn and Jones some in a small lineup. Stephenson played the entire second quarter and 16 minutes overall in his first game back.
The Wolves surpassed 20 assists again, for the 33rd consecutive game. That's two shy of the team record, 35 consecutive games reached from Jan. 10 to March 20, 1992. Ricky Rubio had 12 of those.
Two nights earlier, a game against Portland _ the first scheduled in a three-game homestand _ was postponed right near game time because of condensation on the court caused by ice placed under the floor for Disney on Ice and an upcoming collegiate hockey tournament and because of unusually warm and humid weather conditions for early March.
The Wolves shot around normally Wednesday morning and the show went on as scheduled that night.
"At least we got some extra rest," Wolves forward Nemanja Bjelica said smiling Wednesday morning. "Shooting was good. We'll see about this afternoon."
Wednesday afternoon went fine, so, too, did Wednesday night after the teams played as scheduled and the Wolves led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter as they ran out to advantages of 15-2, 23-8 and 27-12 during an opening quarter when they outscored the visitors 31-19.
They did so after forward Shabazz Muhammad started at shooting guard in place of Brandon Rush, who has become the starter since Zach LaVine tore his ACL more than a month ago.
Rush was ill Wednesday, so Muhammad started for him instead.
The Wolves still led by 15 points with little more than four minutes gone in the second quarter and they had a double-digit lead as late as the first half's final two minutes.
But trailing 58-47 with 1:33 left, the Clippers ended the first half by scoring its final eight points and suddenly the Wolves led by just 58-55 at the intermission.
Most damaging was Paul's 46-foot heave at the first-half buzzer that brought the Clippers within just three points.
