Laughing Wolves, Crying Clippers

After another defeat the day before on the floor of the Grizzlies, c Clippers went to Minneapolis to challenge Wolves on a streak of four consecutive victories before this meeting. The Angelinos got off to a good start by allowing Minnesota to score just 22 points in the first quarter. In contrast, the Wolves’ defense is not in place yet and is unable to contain the Clippers’ offense. As a result, Chris Finch’s men trailed 34 to 22 at the end of the first act.

In the following minutes, two attacks stalled despite a beautiful dunk Kobe Sanders on Julius Randle (24 points, 6 assists). The Clippers were the first to set their sights and dig a little further thanks to two long shots from the duo Kawhi Leonard (20 points, 3 rebounds) – James Harden (34 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists). Wolves respond through Julio Randle to bring his team ten lengths back, except at the end of this first half, Rudy Gobert (4 points, 7 rebounds) draws a flagrant foul on James Harden’s 3-pointer, giving the visitors a 56-42 lead going into the locker room.

“Game winner” for Naz Reed

After the break, as is often the case this season, the Clippers take over. Jaden McDaniels (27 points on shooting 10/13) wakes up and launches a 9-0 in favor of the home team, which allows them to get back within six points (60-54). If Kawhi Leonard tries to calm the fire, Julius Randle responds with a game-winning shot. James Harden tries to give the Californians some breathing room at the end of this third act, but Minnesota is no longer behind and is only six lengths behind at the start of the final act (78-72).

The fourth quarter in which the Wolves managed to quickly regain the advantage even though they were up to 18 points behind (85-82). From there, Minnesota rallied and added to the deficit, but the Clippers came back as Rudy Gobert was ejected for his six fouls. One more minute to go, Ivica Zubac (15 points, 13 rebounds) scores 2+1, which puts the two teams back in line. If Bogdan Bogdanovic responds to Mike Conley, the outcome of this match comes from Naz Reid (19 points, 9 rebounds). With 15 seconds left, he hit a corner 3-pointer to give his team a 109-106 victory.

The Wolves thus have their fifth success in a row and push the Clippers a little further into the depths of the West.

WHAT TO REMEMBER:

James Harden in the top 10 scorers : Midway through the third quarter, James Harden made two free throws. Two baskets that allow him to overtake Carmelo Anthony and become the tenth best scorer in NBA history. The leader ends the night with 34 points and a career total of 28,303 units.

The third quarter struck again. Again the Clippers took the water after the break. Tyronn Lue’s men couldn’t contain the awakening of Jaden McDaniels and saw their lead melt like snow in the sun in the third quarter. While they had a 14-point advantage at the break, the Wolves had just six points remaining before entering the final act. Buoyed by this great momentum, they continued in the last twelve minutes and managed to win thanks to this decisive strike from Naz Reid.

Fifth straight win for Minnesota. DocAnthony Edwards lost their match with only 15 points on 3/11 shooting, the Wolves could count on the trio of Randle – Reed – McDaniels to knock off the Clippers and confirm their fifth consecutive success. Chris Finch’s men now have a record of 15 wins and eight losses and move a little further into the top 6 in the West.

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How to read statistics? Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive jump; T = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Difference of points when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Rating: player rating calculated based on positive actions – negative actions.