Kevin Love's three-pointer at buzzer beats Clippers So much of the conversation would have been about the marquee matchup between rising star power forwards Blake Griffin and Kevin Love and about Minnesota's rookie point guard, Ricky Rubio. But the game between the Clippers and the Timberwolves turned out to be about much more. It was about the Clippers losing a 15-point lead, about them seeing another player suffer an injury and about them losing because Love made a three-point shot as time expired for a 101-98 Minnesota victory Friday night at Staples Center. They just chipped away. They executed down the stretch and we didn't," Griffin said. As it turned out, Love and Rubio were the biggest stars at the end. Love finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and the winning shot. Rubio finished with nine points on one-for-11 shooting. But he had six rebounds, six assists and was six-for-eight at the free-throw line. Rubio missed his first 10 shots, but his three-pointer in front of the Clippers' bench tied the score, 98-98, with 20 seconds left. Rubio bounded down the court on his way back to Minnesota's bench. The Clippers called a timeout to set up a play, all of them looking dismayed at the change of events. Chauncey Billups (20 points) missed a shot on a hanging drive with Rubio defending him closely. Minnesota called a timeout with 1.5 seconds left after Love got the rebound. With Luke Ridnour taking the ball out of bounds, Love, the former UCLA star who made his first NBA All-Star game last season, was wide open for his shot. Griffin, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds, followed Derrick Williams to the baseline while the rest of the Clippers were walled off on screens. Love stepped out and was all alone. "We just got to do a better job of communicating," Griffin said. But it was a good play. Kevin hit a big-time shot. The Clippers were hit with another injury, a hyperextended right knee that took down starting small forward Caron Butler. He joined Chris Paul, who sat out his fourth straight game with a strained left hamstring. Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said it was possible that Paul and Butler could play Sunday against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center.