Clippers Don’t Bring Much Fire In Minnesota

March 8th, 2017

The Clippers didn’t put up all that great of a fight in Minnesota on Wednesday night.  LA suffered a 107-91 loss to the Timberwolves at the Target Center.  It was their 5th loss in the last 8 games since the All-Star break.

This one got out of hand early.  After taking a 2-0 lead, Minnesota went on a 15-0 run.  The Clipps were down by 15 points in the 1st quarter and then against in the 2nd.  The lead ballooned to 18 points with 2:24 left in the 4th.

The Timberwolves got a huge game from Karl Anthony Towns, who scored 29 points to go along with 14 rebounds in the win.  Andrew Wiggins had 20, and Shabazz Muhammad had 17.  Ricky Rubio got loose too, scoring 15 points while racking up 12 assists  and 6 rebounds.

The Clippers were led by DeAndre Jordan, who scored 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.  Blake Griffin had 16 points, and JJ Redick had 14.  The Clippers shot just 42% from the field and were dominated on the glass, getting out rebounded 50-36.  They also committed 17 turnovers.

The Timberwolves pulled within 2.5 games of Denver for the final playoff spot in the West.  Meanwhile, the Clippers fell to 22-11 when all five of their regular starters were healthy.

Clipper coach Doc Rivers was not happy with his teams effort.  “We cannot allow our offense to dictate how we’re going to play,” Rivers said. “And today, you could see it all over the floor. Guys were missing layups. Wide-open threes, wide-open shots and they let it take their spirit away. That’s what young teams do. Not veteran teams.”

Rivers pulled starters DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick and Luc Mbah a Moute and replaced them with reserves Jamal Crawford, Marreese Speights and Austin Rivers with 5:32 left in the first quarter.

“It wasn’t quick enough,” Rivers said. “No, I’m serious, it wasn’t quick enough. I should have done it literally four minutes earlier than that. … I honestly waited too long.”

The Clippers fell further behind the Jazz, in the race for 4th place in the Western Conference.  LA will be back in action on Thursday night against the Grizzlies.

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