2. March 12 at LA Clippers
The Wolves are 2-1 against the LA Clippers this season, but their most recent contest against the Californian squad ended in defeat. On March 3, LA defeated Minnesota by one point, in an 89-88 duel.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue described the game as "old school," and that's exactly what it is. The combined score of 177 equaled the third-lowest scoring output this year. The inter-conference matchup was extremely physical, as both squads asserted their dominance on the defensive end of the floor.
The difference in the game was turnovers. Although the Wolves won the rebounding battle, Minnesota turned it over 15 times to LA's nine. The shooting splits were nearly identical as both teams struggled to overcome hard-nosed defense.
The Wolves did no favors for themselves on the offensive end. Minnesota miraculously failed to score a fast-break point. The Wolves also scored fewer second-chance points despite corralling five more offensive boards.
As odd as it is to proclaim after a loss, a low-scoring contest may be what's necessary for the Wolves to come out victorious a week from now. In their first two meetings, Minnesota held the Clippers to 105 and 100 points, respectively.
The defensive recipe is there, but the offense completely fell flat in the third iteration. After LA allowed the most fast break points in the league over the last month, the Wolves failed to capitalize on the Clippers' weakness.
Sure, Minnesota tends to play slow, averaging the 29th most fast-break points and playing at a bottom-7 pace. But exposing an opponent's weaknesses is how you win games. In both of Minnesota's wins over LA, they scored at least 20 combined second-chance and fast-break points.