Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers dropped their second game in the last three contests on Monday night, losing against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The loss dropped the Clippers to third place in the Western Conference and gave the Wolves a 2-0 series lead over LA with two games remaining.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George led the Clippers in scoring with 18 points apiece, while James Harden added 17 points. Russell Westbrook finished with 11 points on just 3-of-11 shooting off the bench. The quartet combined to shoot just 21-of-57 shooting (36.8 percent).
Closing the first half on a 10-2 run gave the Clippers a 53-49 lead heading into the break. While many expected the Clippers to break through in the third quarter, Minnesota outscored the Clippers 40-19 in the period to take an 89-72 lead through three quarters of play.
Conversely, the Wolves are 29-of-39 (74.4%) in the paint. https://t.co/IKXxdvq9zC
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) February 13, 2024
“I thought our physicality wasn't there and they played better when we did,” head coach Tyronn Lue said after the loss. “They out-coached us, out-played us and everything so they played better than we did tonight. But I thought just the physicality and attention to detail, they were better.
“The first half wasn't any better. We just got lucky. Went on a little run there at the end of the second quarter, but just attention to detail.”
At one point, the Clippers were outscored 60-32 in the first 19 minutes of the second half. It was a putrid game that fully displayed the Clippers' lack of size as well as their
“They're a good team,” Kawhi Leonard added. “They came out with energy, they got in the passing lanes, got some deflections in the third quarter, and got out in transition”
Karl-Anthony Towns finished the night with a game-high 24 points to go along with four rebounds, and three assists. Anthony Edwards displayed his all-around game, pouring in 23 points with seven rebounds and eight assists.
“I don’t know why teams put two on me because KAT is the best offensive player we got,” Anthony Edwards said with a laugh postgame. “If you put two on me, KAT going to have a field night. I’m all for it.”
For the third time this season, big teams caused significant problems for the Clippers. The Cleveland Cavaliers — with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen — and now the Timberwolves twice. Even the Detroit Pistons set a new season-high for Clippers opponents with 57 rebounds this past weekend in a win for L.A.
“To play that style, Cleveland, they do the same thing as far as two bigs,” Lue explained. “Like I said, it is a problem if you're not moving the ball, if you're not attacking the right way, they put you in a tough situation offensively and so we didn't handle it well tonight.
“[Going small] is better for us at times. Just trying to space Rudy out, get him out of paint. He is been Defensive Player of the Year a hundred times for a reason and so he's a problem down low, so just trying to draw him away from the basket. Try to put him in rotations like we did late in that second half. So that's probably the key.”
The loss for the Clippers dropped them to 35-17 on the season, still 18 games over .500 with one remaining before the All-Star break begins.
They'll take on the Golden State Warriors for the final time this season on Wednesday night. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and the rest of the Warriors will be on the second night of back-to-back set.
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