Karl-Anthony Towns scored 24 points, Anthony Edwards added 23, and the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 121-100 victory against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night in a Western Conference showdown.
Rudy Gobert recorded a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) to help the Timberwolves (37-16) maintain their Western Conference lead with their third win in four games.
It marks the Timberwolves’ 10th win this season when trailing at halftime, ranking second in the NBA.
“I didn’t think we played with enough force or physicality in the first half. “I thought we played good basketball, but there were a few plays where they were far more physical than we were,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “All credit goes to the boys. They notice this and establish the tone at the start of the second half.”
The Timberwolves trailed 53-49 at the break, but took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Clippers 40-19.
“We’re doing well in terms of attention. We listen to the coach and do a good job in the third quarter of changing and not repeating the same line,” Towns said.
Minnesota began the second half with eight consecutive points, but it wasn’t until halfway through the third quarter that it was able to pull away.
Minnesota trailed 64-62 midway through the third quarter before closing with a 27-8 run.
The Timberwolves closed the quarter on a 12-2 run, with Towns scoring eight straight points and Edwards adding a reverse layup to give them an 89-72 lead heading into the fourth.
Minnesota shot 12 of 19 from the field in the quarter. Edwards and Towns were each 6 of 6 from the line, and the Timberwolves made all 13 foul shots in the stanza.
Meanwhile, the Clippers shot 7 for 20 from the field and committed five turnovers, which resulted in six Minnesota points.
“We were playing pretty well in the first half. We were simply not making the extra effort to provide them with rebounds. “Once we fixed that, we had great defensive possessions and were able to run on them,” Gobert said.
During the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves built their greatest advantage of 24 points.
Paul George and Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 18 points each, while James Harden contributed 17.
With 7:23 left in the third quarter, George became the Clippers’ career 3-point leader, passing Eric Piatkowski.
“They played better than we did.” Tyronn Lue, the Clippers’ coach, stated, “They outcoached us, outplayed us, and everything.” “I thought just the physicality and attention to detail, they were better.”
Los Angeles, which has gone 27-7 since the beginning of December, is third in the Western Conference with a 35-17 record.
