Without stars, Clippers fall to Timberwolves for fifth loss in row

Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) gets his shot blocked by Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards on Jan. 6, 2023.

By Brian Hall

Associated Press

Jan. 6, 2023 Updated 10:20 PM PT

MINNEAPOLIS — Rudy Gobert had 25 points and 21 rebounds, D’Angelo Russell also scored 25 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 128-115 win against the short-handed Clippers on Friday night.

Jaden McDaniels had 18 points for Minnesota (19-21), which has won three in a row. The Timberwolves put together one of their most complete performances of the season, but the team’s leading scorer, Anthony Edwards, left the game in the third quarter with left hip soreness and didn’t return.

“I think overall in this stretch we’ve been decent with the rebounding,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “I liked our perimeter defense — it’s been a lot better. Shot contests have been a lot better, our pursuit mentality, all that stuff.”

The Clippers played without stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard on the second night of a back-to-back set. The Clippers arrived in Minnesota early Friday morning after a 122-91 loss at Denver and decided to sit George and Leonard as a precaution after the quick turnaround.

Reserve forward Norman Powell scored a team-high 21 points for the Clippers (21-20), who lost their fifth game in a row. John Wall, held out of Thursday’s game for left knee injury management, had 14 points and eight assists off the bench.

“It’s tough when you’re short-handed the way we were tonight,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I thought our guys competed and scrapped, and we were just overmatched at times.”

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert blocks a dunk attempt by Clippers guard Terance Mann on Jan. 6, 2023.

Without George and Leonard, the Clippers’ usually stout defense struggled against the Timberwolves.

Minnesota shot 56.8% from the field and scored 62 points in the paint. The Timberwolves led by as many as 25 points despite 20 turnovers.

The Clippers were giving up 109.8 points per game coming in, the fourth-lowest average in the NBA. Meanwhile, opponents were hitting just 45.8% of their shots against the Clippers.

“I just thought it was their ability to get into the paint [that] really hurt us,” Lue said. “We were closing out all night on guys driving by us, allowed Rudy to get offensive rebounds and dunks because we couldn’t control the ball and keep the ball in front of us.”

Russell, who was on the bench as Minnesota closed out a win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, scored 10 points in the first quarter. With Gobert also contributing, the Timberwolves scored 22 of their first 37 points in the paint.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the best Rudy yet,” Gobert said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work. My teammates are sticking with me. The coaching staff is sticking with me. And I know that it’s going to pay off.”

The Clippers' Norman Powell steals the ball from the Timberwolves' Jaylen Nowell on Jan. 6, 2023.

Third is a charm

Minnesota closed the first half on a 19-7 run to lead 68-54 and stretched the lead to 19 points early in the third quarter. The Timberwolves, who had been outscored by an NBA-worst 125 points in the third quarter this season entering Friday, saw their lead shrink as the Clippers went on a 10-0 run.

But Minnesota followed with its own 8-0 run to close the third and outscored the Clippers by eight in the quarter.

“We don’t really do that well in third quarters most of the time,” McDaniels said. “But today was like, we said like the first five minutes are important, so just kind of putting them away in there and keeping the lead like 20, 25.”

Tipins

Clippers: Nicolas Batum was held out for the third time in four games as he battles an ankle sprain. ... George is dealing with right hamstring soreness, and Leonard was listed out because of right knee injury management. ... For the second straight game, the Clippers never led. ... Moses Brown had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Timberwolves: Edwards has been dealing with soreness since he landed on his hip against Milwaukee on Dec. 30. Finch didn’t have an update after the game. ... Naz Reid returned after missing two games with back spasms, but he left in the third quarter with the same injury. ... Minnesota shot 65% from the field in the first half. The Timberwolves’ 20 turnovers led to 18 points for the Clippers.