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Los Angeles Clippers guard Terance Mann, right, shoots as Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac, left, grabs a rebound away from Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Minnesota Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell, right, hits Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George in the mouth as George tries to shoot during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Minnesota Timberwolves forward Juancho Hernangomez, left, and Los Angeles Clippers guard Terance Mann go after a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Minnesota Timberwolves forward Anthony Edwards, left, shoots as Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac, left, grabs a rebound away from Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, left, passes the bar while under pressure from Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Patrick Patterson watches his shot go in for three points during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Minnesota Timberwolves forward Josh Okogie, right, blocks the shot of Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, left, shoots as Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 18, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES — Coming off their first loss in eight games and playing for the seventh time in 11 days, Sunday delivered just what the doctor ordered: Fans! And a heavy dose of 3-pointers.
For the first time this season, the Clippers were permitted to play at Staples Center before people who’d paid the price of admission to be there — 1,734 of them, officially.
And for the third time this season (and just the seventh in team history), the Clippers buried 20 or more 3-pointers, connecting on a season-high 21 Sunday.
The hot-shot hosts gave their supporters reason to applaud — which they did, standing in ovation as the final seconds ticked away after they’d watching the Clippers light it up from long range in a dominant 124-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue suggested the team’s fans deserved some credit for Sunday’s result.
“Without any fans it’s just so quiet and it’s like playing at the YMCA or playing pickup basketball,” he said. “But having our fans back in the building, just the small amount we had, you can definitely hear them and they were definitely still in the game and we need that. We need that energy.”
The NBA’s leading 3-point shooting team, the Clippers (40-19) entered play shooting 42.0% from behind the arc. On Sunday, they bumped that up further, shooting 50% from 3-point range and running away for their 14th victory in 17 games.
“Bad basketball’s contagious; good basketball’s contagious,” Clippers’ guard Reggie Jackson said. “Ball’s moving, shots are falling, everybody starts feeling it. The ball starts feeling a little small and the basket starts feeling a little bigger.”
Paul George’s streak of 30-plus-point outings came to an end, largely because the Clippers spread the wealth so effectively, so efficiently that they led by as many as 38 points before the close of the third quarter. The deficit was so substantial it turned the team’s stars into spectators along with everyone else in the fourth quarter.
Kawhi Leonard logged just 23 minutes in his first game back after missing the past four with a sore right foot, and finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
“Man, if I can get that rest, if we can do our jobs early and take care of business early, that’s the goal,” said George, who played just 27 minutes and finished with a team-high 23 points — going 4 for 9 from 3-point range. He was among eight Clippers who knocked down a 3-pointer, six of them finishing with multiple treys.
In 25 minutes, Marcus Morris (19 points) went 5 for 7 on 3-pointers with varying degrees of difficulty. And Jackson — who finished with 13 points and received a relatively robust “Reg-gie! Reg-gie!” chant when he stepped to the free-throw line in the first half — went 3 for 5 from deep.
Luke Kennard (13 points) hit three 3s, and in his first game back after missing the past four with a sore right foot, Leonard connected on two 3s, as did Terance Mann (eight points).
And Malik Fitts’ 3-pointer with 2:15 to go was not only the Clippers’ 21st of the night, but his first NBA make — cause for celebration, Jackson said as soon as he sat for his postgame comments on Zoom.
“I love when new blood comes in and gets a bucket!” Jackson said of the rookie, who was born in Lynwood, attended Damien High School in La Verne and is on a 10-day contract with the Clippers.
“We were happy to see him make his first 3,” Jackson continued. “He competes, attacks the rims, plays the right way. That’s my guy.”
All that collective shooting prowess equated to a season-high-tying 14 3-pointers in the first half, including 10 in the second quarter — a high-water mark for any quarter all season — when the Clippers outscored Minnesota 43-27 to build a 19-point lead, setting themselves on a path to their 40th victory for the 10th consecutive season, which is the longest active streak in the league.
Holding Minnesota — which shot just 40.9% from the field and got outrebounded, 48-37 — to 16 points in the third quarter didn’t the Clippers’ cause Sunday, either.
Rookie Anthony Edwards led Minnesota (15-43) with 23 points. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
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