The Clippers, coming off a blowout loss in Phoenix, came out with intensity and passion. The Wolves, perhaps rusty after a seven-day layoff, and with their injured floor leader, Sam Cassell, playing only ten minutes, came out missing shots and committing turnovers. Not that the Clippers were in any mood to sympathize, with Kerry Kittles, Marko Jaric and Shaun Livingston all sidelined. They made 12 of their first 18 shots, led by 9 at halftime, and never trailed.

The Clippers? passion extended into the stands, where a free-for-all incited by two young women captivated the crowd for two minutes of the third quarter. The crowd barely noticed Latrell Sprewell?s breakaway dunk that cut the Clipper lead to two points, but order was soon restored. The brawling fans were ejected and arrested, along with Minnesota?s rally.

It was another banner night for Elton Brand, who won his duel with Kevin Garnett. Brand had 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots, while Garnett managed only 14 points. Corey Maggette added 23, Rick Brunson had 10 assists in 33 minutes, and Chris Kaman, playing with ferocity under the glass, grabbed 10 rebounds and helped hassle Garnett into a 6-16 shooting night. Kaman?s back-to-back shots late in the fourth quarter frustrated a 10-2 run by the Wolves that saw them close to within 74-72 with less than four minutes remaining. Just when it appeared as if the Clippers were headed for another late-game collapse, Kaman muscled up a shot over two defenders, and then flipped in a lay-up off a nifty feed by Brunson. A step-back 20-foot jumper by Bobby Simmons sealed the victory with just under a minute left, but it was Kaman?s gritty work that impressed Coach Mike Dunleavy.

?When he takes his time and makes his move without [rushing shots], that?s when he?s at his best,? Dunleavy said of Kaman. ?He showed a lot of patience tonight.?

It was the kind of performance that only seems to come at home, and Kaman was unable to explain why. But he admitted to being tired toward the end of the road trip, and agreed with Dunleavy?s assessment. ?I did take my time a lot more than I usually do, and it worked out well for me,? said Kaman.

The game worked out nicely for the Clippers as well. They?re now 18-10 at home and still hopeful that the Lakers, whom they trail by 5 ? games for the final playoff spot, aren?t yet out of reach.

?To come home and beat a team directly ahead of us in the playoff race is a good feeling, ?said Brand. ?We?re not giving up ? there?s still a lot of time.?

The Phoenix Suns returned to play and despite being without Steve Nash, started where they left off, defeating the Clippers 118-101.

Leandro Barbosa, played in place of the injured Nash and scored a season-high 22 points.

``I'm going to call him 'Young Triggerman Jr.' now,'' teammate Quentin Richardson said of Barbosa.

``The guys gave me a lot of confidence,'' Barbosa said. ``Also, my coach gave me a lot of confidence. I had a little more playing time than usual and I felt very comfortable. I just let a lot of things happen and tonight, everything good happened to me.''

The Los Angeles Clippers have placed rookie Shaun Livingston on the injured list and signed 6-foot-2 guard Maurice Baker to a 10 day contract, the L.A. Times are reporting.

Livingston suffered torn cartilage in his right shoulder during a Feb. 15 loss to the Orlando Magic.

Baker, who played at Oklahoma State, averaged 16.9 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds in 30 games for the Dakota Wizards of the Continental Basketball Association. He is expected to practice with the Clippers for the first time today.

Clippers rookie Shaun Livingston will likely be sidelined at least into the middle of March after an MRI exam on Wednesday showed torn cartilage in his right shoulder, an injury he suffered while making a steal Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic.

He just recently returned after dislocating his kneecap, where he missed 39 games.

"I was feeling good," he said. "Coach obviously felt great about the situation. It's disappointing."

A recent MRI exam in LA revealed another stress fracture in Marko Jaric?s right foot that will most likely sideline the Clippers point guard into the middle of next month.

Jaric was reactivated last month after missing 17 games with a stress fracture of the second metatarsal bone in his right foot but said he began feeling pain in another part of the foot about 10 days ago. His latest injury is a stress fracture of the third metatarsal.

"That's what we feared," Coach Mike Dunleavy said of the news. "I was hoping it wasn't [another stress fracture] because he said it wasn't the same bone as last time. You're hopeful that it's just something sore."

Grant Hill is continuing to show that he is back and that he deserves to be an all-star, scoring a season-high 39 points in 42 minutes of play, in a 99-94 victory over the L.A. Clippers.

The loss is the Clippers six straight.

``I don't expect to do that all the time anymore, but it's nice to know I can still do it once in a while,'' Hill said. ``I really felt like, for the first time, I could do what I want out there, and it's obviously been a long, long time since that happened.''

The Los Angeles Clippers finally activated guard Shaun Livingston and placed guard Kerry Kittles on the injured list.

Kerry Kittles goes to the injured list to nurse his knee, back and groin.  Kittles has only played 11 games for the Clippers due to the injuries.

The Clippers rookie Shaun Livingston should be cleared to resume his season on Sunday at Toronto after passing his strength and agility tests.

"I haven't really noticed anything from the standpoint of him being tentative," Coach Mike Dunleavy said of Livingston's performance in practice this week. "He hasn't lost any quickness or explosion?.

Livingston dislocated his right kneecap in late November and has been working hard to recover since the injury.

"I asked him about it, and he said, 'I'm ready to go.' "

Clippers? rookie Shaun Livingston hopes to return to the Los Angeles lineup before the end of the Clippers current road trip.

Livingston dislocated his right kneecap in November and is now close to seeing action again.

"It went good, just getting out there," he said later. "I've got to get my wind up, but besides that I felt pretty comfortable. Hopefully, I can start stepping up to five-on-five here in a little bit."

If Michael Redd opts out of his contract and becomes an unrestricted free-agent, the L.A. Clippers will likely be in the hunt for his services.

"I've been bombarded by a lot of suggestions of teams," Redd said before Friday night's game. "I never really imagined the Clippers?.

"I think the best thing for me is just to focus on the task at hand. People start thinking about free agency, it messes up their game a little bit. I can't afford to focus too much on it. But is it in the back of my head? Absolutely."