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Clippers vs. Timberwolves Preview: Western Conference Battle
The LA Clippers are walking into a heavyweight battle on Sunday, taking on the Western Conference’s top team. If the Clippers want to finish the season as a top seed, they need to give the Timberwolves a home loss.
Game Info
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
When: 12:30 PM PT
How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal, AM 570
Tickets: For great deals on Clippers tickets, check out Barry’s Tickets!
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Daniel Theis
Timberwolves: Mike Conley, Jr. – Anthony Edwards – Jaden McDaniels – Karl-Anthony Towns – Rudy Gobert
Injuries
Clippers: Russell Westbrook, Out (Hand); Ivica Zubac, Questionable (Illness); Paul George, Probable (Knee)
Timberwolves: Kyle Anderson, Day-to-Day (Knee); Anthony Edwards, Probable (Personal Reasons); Jaylen Clark, Out (Achilles)
The Big Picture
This is a massively important game. The Clippers are currently two losses behind the Timberwolves in the Western Conference standings, and play them twice in the next 10 days. If the Clippers want to finish as a top-three seed, they must take at least one of these games—and probably both. Losing both would not guarantee that the Clippers slip down below the fourth seed, but that would be a serious risk, with the Suns playing better as of late.
The Clippers will also be learning on the fly in this game. With Russell Westbrook out, Ty Lue will have to figure out how to integrate Bones into the rotation. The Clippers will have to lean on their top end talent—Kawhi, PG, and Harden—while also trying out a few tricks. I would not be surprised if we see Lue test out PJ Tucker on the T’Wolves bigs and generally go small to counter Gobert, as we have seen before.
The Antagonist
The Timberwolves are not a good match up for the Clippers, especially if Zubac is unavailable or limited due to his illness. Through their first two meetings, the T’Wolves have out-rebounded the Clippers by 12 and have dominated the Clippers in the paint, outscoring the Clippers by 30. Moreover, the Clippers have often had Paul George guard Anthony-Towns, which might be a problem given that PG is still dealing with his knee injury. Finally, replacing Westbrook with Bones means an easier path to the basket for Anthony Edwards.
Footnote
More on Bones: Bones Hyland will get his chance, with Westbrook out. But, as the crew discussed on the podcast, Terance Mann and Amir Coffey will likely see their minutes increase as well because Bones can be a defensive liability. That said, I hope Bones gets an opportunity to play more than 15 minutes per game (for reference, Westbrook has averaged 22.6 mpg this season). While Russell has been an asset on defense and doing the “little things,” he is still a negative spacer. Bones can shoot from the outside and the really outside. Hopefully, this could create more space for PG and Kawhi as they work in the post and in the lane.
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Clippers vs. Timberwolves Preview: Western Conference Battle
Kenneth Armstrong