The Minnesota Timberwolves will head out on the road, where they’ve faced some challenges recently, to play the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in Inglewood, California.
The Timberwolves were on a four-game losing streak last week and had lost seven of their last nine games when star player Anthony Edwards spoke out about the team’s selfishness. Four of those seven losses were on the road.
After Edwards expressed his concerns, the Timberwolves bounced back with a 93-92 win over the Clippers at home on Friday, followed by a 109-80 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
Edwards had a tough night against the Lakers, scoring only eight points on 3-of-13 shooting. However, Julius Randle stepped up with 18 points, Rudy Gobert added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid each contributed 15 points off the bench.
“Guys are in a good place mentally,” said Minnesota coach Chris Finch after the win. “A lot of things have been said in the locker room with great purpose and meaning, and guys have taken it to heart and still maintained a good camaraderie, a good spirit and positivity around all that.”
Edwards had also called out the team for their lack of communication, describing them as “just a bunch of little kids” and saying they were “soft.”
The Timberwolves will need to show toughness again on Wednesday if they want to beat the Clippers for the second time in six days, especially against the Clippers’ strong defense.
The Clippers are coming off a 127-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, which extended their home winning streak to nine games.
Norman Powell, in his second game back from a hamstring injury, scored 30 points, and James Harden added 23 points and seven assists. The Clippers made 51.4 percent of their 3-point shots, hitting 19 of 37 attempts.
With Paul George now playing for the Philadelphia 76ers and Kawhi Leonard dealing with a knee injury, Powell has stepped up as the team’s leading scorer, averaging 23.9 points per game. Even a six-game injury absence didn’t slow him down.
“People can see his work finally starting to pay off, being a scorer, scoring the basketball like he’s doing, getting the kind of attention he’s getting,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said about Powell. “He’s wanted to prove to people that he’s a starter … and he’s taken advantage of it.”
When the Clippers lost their first four games in their new arena, one of those losses came against Portland. They made up for it on Tuesday by focusing more on offense than defense.
“I thought we really read the defense (against Portland) and made the right plays,” Lue said. “Having 29 assists, and for us to be able to handle their pressure, that was good for us.”
The Clippers played their second straight game on Tuesday without Kevin Porter Jr. (ankle), and Terance Mann left the game in the third quarter with a fractured middle finger on his left hand.
