Timberwolves overwhelm L.A. Clippers in 108-80 victory

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Dec 5, 2024

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LOS ANGELES – Ever since Anthony Edwards tried to diagnose what was wrong with the Timberwolves after a loss to the Kings last week — that they couldn’t communicate, that they were letting individual agendas affect the team — his teammates have responded in a big way.

The Wolves followed up their blowout of the Lakers on Monday with another trouncing of an L.A. hoops team, this time the Clippers, in a 108-80 victory in the franchise’s first game at the newly-opened Intuit Dome.

The coincidental thing about this for the Wolves is they’ve played great around Edwards while he himself hasn’t played up to his standards. The Wolves played lights-out defense, especially in the first half, while the offense outside of Edwards was humming. They led by 19 after the first quarter and 27 at halftime while Edwards was just 2-for-10. He finished with 16 on 5-for-14. They led by as much as 41 in the third quarter.

Rudy Gobert was masterful in captaining the defense. Gobert had five steals, a few of which he took full court to set up fast-break opportunities. He capped those off with a couple of no-look passes that got the bench fired up. Gobert finished with eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists. It was just the third time he has had seven or more assists in his career. Julius Randle led the team with 20 points.

The Clippers were without leading scorer Norman Powell and the Wolves held James Harden to five points on 1-for-10.

How it happened

The Wolves opened with about as perfect a quarter as they have played all season. They didn’t commit any turnovers and Randle was on fire early with 16 points, including four threes. Their defense was all over the floor and forced four turnovers. Gobert had two steals himself.

The Wolves were down 10-9 before closing the quarter 24-4 for a 33-14 lead after one. They led fast-break points 7-0.

Josh Minott was the ninth man in the team’s rotation and earned some extra run than his usual one or two minutes. Minott picked up five points, three assists and three rebounds in five minutes.

The Wolves didn’t let up in the second quarter and ended the half ahead 59-32. There were times the Clippers had no interest in guarding the rim and the Wolves had a layup line at various points of the quarter. They built that lead despite Edwards going 2-for-10. The rest of the team was 20-for-35. Gobert added a third steal, and it was the sixth time in his career he had three steals in a first half. Randle was the only Wolves player in double figures at the half with 20.

The Wolves held the Clippers to 29% shooting and forced 11 turnovers. The 32 points the Wolves allowed were the fewest they’ve allowed in a first half since 2015.

The second half was essentially window dressing as the Wolves continued to pour it on.

Player of the game

Gobert was masterful on both ends of the floor, and he has led a resurgent Wolves defense over the last three games.

Stat of the game

32: Fast break points for the Wolves.

Dillingham not expected back soon

Rookie point guard Rob Dillingham missed his second consecutive game because of a right ankle injury. He worked out before the game, but coach Chris Finch said he was not expecting Dillingham back “anytime soon.” The Wolves have four days off after wrapping up this three-game road trip Sunday at Golden State.

Gophers galore

Former Gophers Cam Christie and Amir Coffey saw action for the Clippers. Coffey made his seventh start of the season and finished with 12 points. Christie came off the bench, played 17 minutes and finished with five points.