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Clippers win rock fight in Minnesota, 89-88
The LA Clippers scraped their way to a huge win in Minnesota, beating the Timberwolves by one. Check out how it went down below.
Update to our preview: Ivica Zubac did play, and start, but only played 19 minutes.
Summary
The Clippers looked listless to start the game, only scoring 18 points to the Timberwolves’ 30 in the first quarter. The deficit was as big as 16, but the Clippers started to wake up as the quarter ended thanks to nine quick points from Norm Powell.
LA’s momentum continued from there, as the Clippers and Timberwolves switched places in the second quarter. The Clippers put up 31 points in the second to the Timberwolves’ 16. Norm added six more to his tally and Kawhi was up to 15 points at the half.
From there, the game was extremely close. There were 12 lead changes and four ties in the second half. The Clippers hit just enough shots to close it out, although barely. Paul George finally made a few, but it was mostly Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell who carried the Clippers all game. James Harden, who went 0/10 from the field, only added four free throws to the Clippers’ 89 points. (To be fair, though, he did have 10 assists.)
The Clippers also got some help from Karl Anthony-Towns, who at one point missed 10 straight shots. To be fair, though, the Clippers’ defense was pretty good after the first quarter. The defensive rotations were a little sharper and the team rebounding was good enough, understanding that Gobert and Anthony-Towns are going to out-rebound the Clippers almost no matter what.
Notes
Rotation Update: James Harden typically plays the first six minutes of the first quarter and then is relieved by Russell Westbrook. Today, Harden played the first nine minutes of the first, and Bones Hyland—the new second unit point guard—only got two and a half minutes in the first frame. The substitution pattern was roughly the same in the third quarter as well.
Another notable update was Mason Plumlee getting a DNP-CD. Although Zubac was on a minutes restriction, Theis played all of the backup center minutes. In fact, Theis played the last 16 minutes of the game.
Bones only ended up playing 14 minutes, while Amir Coffey and Terance Mann played 25 and 19 respectively (which is the reverse of what they usually play). Kawhi (38 minutes) was the only other player whose minutes were meaningfully different, as he played four more than usual.
In sum, it is still not clear how Ty Lue plans to replace all of Westbrook’s 22 minutes per game. Bones absorbed 14 of them and Kawhi played a little more. But it does seem like we have a new pattern to track: Harden playing a longer first shift; the Clippers moving forward with just two centers; and no PJ Tucker.
Medals: As readers know, our Podcast likes to give our medals after wins. Below are mine. Let us know your medal stand in the comments.
Gold: Norman Powell. He sparked the early comeback, hit big shots throughout the game, and gave us a highlight dunk on a fast break (although I thought he broke his arm on that play).
Silver: Kawhi Leonard. He led the team in scoring, contributed on defense and on the boards, and played 38 minutes.
Bronze: Daniel Theis. He missed a bunch of open shots and failed to protect the rim on multiple occasions, but he battled on the boards (13 total), played the final 16 minutes of the game, and was +14.
Clippers win rock fight in Minnesota, 89-88
Kenneth Armstrong