The Minnesota Timberwolves went back to their losing ways on Tuesday night as they were handled with relative ease by the Los Angeles Clippers.
After breaking a five-game losing streak with a road win in Memphis on Saturday, the Minnesota Timberwolves came out flat against the Clippers at home on Tuesday.
The Wolves fell behind by more than 20 points in the first quarter, ultimately giving up 42 points in the frame and trailing by 19 heading into the second.
The defense was horrendous, as the Wolves allowed a decent-shooting team to look like a squad full of Steph Currys and Klay Thompsons from beyond the arc, knocking down a dozen threes before Minnesota even got to five on the night.
The Wolves were okay on offense and for the most part rebounded the ball well, but struggled to find enough want-to to rotate correctly on defense and scramble to the right place at the right time.
Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t make his first shot from the field until the third quarter, and while he finished with numbers right in line with his season averages it was one of the worst games he’d played since the All-Star break.
Minnesota trailed by 20 at halftime, but used a quick third-quarter flurry to get within 10. By the fourth, however, the Clippers built the lead back up to 15.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Timberwolves had one more push in them, pulling to within six points. But Andrew Wiggins missed a shot at the rim and the Clippers went on a rapid 7-0 run to basically put the game out of reach.
The rest of the players
Jerryd Bayless was active in his 18 minutes of playing time, stuffing the stat sheet with eight points (4-10 FG, 0-2 3P, 1-5 FT), four rebounds, three assists, and one steal. If he’d shot even slightly better from the floor or from the free throw line, it would have been a solid performance.
Cameron Reynolds played six minutes, scoring five points on 2-of-5 shooting and grabbing a pair of rebounds.
Two-way players C.J. Williams and Jared Terrell each played two minutes in garbage time and didn’t put up any numbers at all.
What’s Next?
The Timberwolves will once again enjoy two consecutive days off before hosting the Golden State Warriors at 7 p.m. on Friday night.