Wolves blown out by Los Angeles Clippers, 127-101

On Monday night at Staple Center, the Wolves started the tile behind the 8-ball.

It was the second night of a back-to-back for a young squad already missing three starters. The Clippers, on the other hand, are coming off a 6-1 road trip and a four-game win streak and are finally starting to hit their stride as an expected title contender.

The tone of the game was set early by the officials, as anything and everything was whistled as a foul. The Wolves reached the bonus quickly, and Corey Brewer was called for a technical foul after picking up his second personal foul. After the Clippers committed their first foul of the game, head coach Doc Rivers committed a technical of his own.

Despite starting the game in a bizarre series of zone defenses that allowed J.J. Redick to score 12 of his team’s first 18 points, the Wolves hung tough and led the Clippers by a score of 34-31 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter got away from the visitors quickly as the bench unit replaced the starters. Zach LaVine had another rough night, Anthony Bennett did nothing but launch long two-pointers early in the shot clock, and outside of some more good, energetic minutes from Shabazz Muhammad, the backups were horrible.

The damage was up to 65-50 by halftime, and the route was on.

The game turned from over-matched to out-classed and embarrassed for the Wolves in the third quarter. Minnesota lost any energy they had in the first half, and the Clippers had a field day running the floor, converting alley-oops, and draining open three-pointers. After scoring 34 points in the opening frame, the Wolves scored just 34 points in the second and third frames combined.

The Wolves outscored the Clippers 33-26 in the fourth quarter with heavy doses of LaVine, Bennett, and newcomer Jeff Adrien. They played hard and outperformed L.A.’s scrubs, so that counts for something, right? Of course, if someone told you that the Wolves outscored their opponent 34-31 in the first quarter and 33-26 in the fourth, you’d think that the outcome would be better than a 26-point loss.

No such luck. Such is life for the Rubio-less Wolves. Final score: 127-101.

Random Notes:

– We’ll take a look at Flip Saunders’ strange zone defenses that he’s been using of late in a post tomorrow. The odd thing is the timing of implementing these zones. Obviously, the Wolves are undermanned and undersized, especially in the paint, and Saunders is trying to hide and protect Gorgui Dieng and his unorthodox backups, but to choose to use these zones against two of the most prolific teams in the league. (Portland ranks second in made threes this year and the Clippers are sixth.)

– The number of mid-range jumpers that this team shoots is becoming more and more disconcerting. Without the option to dump the ball in to Nikola Pekovic in the post or Ricky Rubio to break down the defense and pass the ball into the paint, the team is still trying to function in Saunders’ dream world. Why Chase Budinger and Robbie Hummel aren’t being allowed to play heavy minutes with Mo Williams to at least attempt to balance the floor a bit is beyond me.

– Blake Griffin scored 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. J.J. Redick scored the aforementioned 12 points immediately in the first quarter and finished with 23 points on 7 of 11 shooting and 4 of 5 from long range.

– Adrien played well, scoring 7 points on 2 of 3 shooting from the floor and 3 of 4 from the free throw line while pulling down 6 rebounds. He also blocked two shots, dished out two assists, and had a steal. Shabazz Muhammad had his first career double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while somehow tallying 4 assists.

– LaVine was horrible in the first half and struggled to start garbage time, too. Midway through the fourth quarter, however, he scored on four consecutive Wolves’ possessions and ultimately finished with 10 points despite jacking up 11 shots. He only had 1 assists and 1 turnover in 24 minutes. Not what Saunders is looking for from his rookie combo guard.

– The Wolves will play a scary home game against the 0-17 Philadelphia 76ers. This is the most winnable game on the Sixers’ schedule for the foreseeable future, with only a road game in Detroit this Saturday and a home date with the Boston Celtics on December 15th as potential victories for the remainder of the 2014 calendar year. They’ll be hungry to steal a win from the Wolves, and while Minnesota should still be able to hold off the laughingstock that is the Sixers, it’s a nerve-wracking match-up.

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