I couldn’t watch this game for personal reasons, but the Clippers losing to the massive Wolves without their best big man and on the road seems like a reasonable/understandable outcome. Vent away below!

Clippers vs. Wolves Postgame Thread
Robert Flom

The only real good news about this Clippers’ loss to the Wolves is that it was better than the loss last night against the Nuggets. Without Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Nic Batum, the Clippers were outgunned, and, once again, mostly outfought.

Summary

The game started off less than well, as the Clippers picked up three fouls and a technical in a minute, and the Wolves took a quick 9-2 lead, forcing a very early Ty timeout. The Clip settled in a bit, though Mann had to leave early with a second foul (along with another technical) for Norm. The Clippers hung around with some tough shots, but the Wolves scored easily time and again to grow their lead to 10. At that point, the Clippers’ bench checked in (mostly) in full, and Norm Powell and John Wall combined for a flurry of points. The Wolves were able to score on the other end and maintain a lead, but the Clippers looked fiery and aggressive, and trailed by just four after the first period.

The WOlves were the ones who called an early timeout in the second period after an easy Wall layup in transition. However, for the first couple minutes of he period, transition was the only place where the Clippers were able to score, as their halfcourt offense remained poor. A fun unit with Robert Covington in place of Marcus Morris with the rest of the starters had some nice ball movement and held up defensively. Unfortunately, when Morris checked back in, and Wall came back for Reggie, the floodgates opened, as the Clippers missed a series of wide open shots and the Wolves drained theirs on the other end. The Wolves suddenly led by 16, and the Clippers only narrowed the gap by a bucket after a late shot by Kennard. Thus, it was 68-54 Wolves at halftime.

The Wolves started on a quick 6-1 run, increasing their lead to 19, before Mann answered with a couple drives. Mann continued to battle, and Luke hit a three, but the rest of the Clippers’ starters looked lethargic on defense and slow on offense. The Wolves expanded their lead to 21, prompting Ty Lue to bring in Wall, Norm, and Moses. This unit played better, and was able to score against the non-Gobert Wolves. A three by Morris cut the Wolves’ lead to 13 with 1:19 to go, but Rudy was re-inserted, order was restored, and an 8-0 run to end the period put the Clippers back down by 21.

The Clippers fell behind by as much as 26 before an 8-0 spurt brought them to down 18 with 9:21 to go. The Clippers’ bench unit continued to fight, and fight hard, but were not able to close the gap much due to some missed free throws by Moses Brown and not sharp enough defense. The closest they got it was 15 with 6:25 to go, and Ty brought in Mann for Amir to seemingly make a final push, but the Wolves scored and got a stop, and with 5:19 to go, Ty Lue emptied his bench, with RoCo once again playing with the young guys to close the game out.

Notes

The Bench Fights: The Clippers were once again doomed by their starters, who, outside of Terance Mann, played with zero energy or fight. The only reason this game was even semi-competitive (though it never felt like the Clippers would win) was the Clips’ bench, who fought their hearts out. Norm Powell had 21 points and 6 rebounds in 25 minutes on extreme efficiency, Wall had 14 and 8 on decent efficiency, Moses Brown had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and RoCo chipped in 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Sure, the bench’s defense wasn’t particularly good either (Wall in particular got caught sleeping a bunch, and Moses just doesn’t offer anything on that end outside of taking up space), but they played hard and at least showed a ton of effort. It was a bare minimum, but it’s a bar the starters have not met in a while now.

Luke Injured: Luke Kennard didn’t play great in this one, and has been rough on defense for weeks now, but it was still a tough blow to receive the news in the 4^th quarter that he was done for the game with calf soreness, the same calf that kept him out for an extended stretch earlier in the year. Paul George and Nic Batum are injured, Kawhi and Wall aren’t playing back to backs, and all of a sudden the Clippers’ depth looks rather thin. Hopefully Luke doesn’t miss too much time.

Shaking Things Up: Look, the Clippers will play better when PG, Kawhi, and Nico all get healthy and are on the court together. Still, it seems past time to make some real rotation adjustments. Maybe we will see those when the Clippers are healthy, maybe not. But the starting duo of Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris is offering just about nothing outside of catch-and-shoot threes, and while that’s nice, there are plenty of guys on this roster who are playing better. Maybe when Nico returns, you just start him instead of Morris? Maybe Mann or Luke slides into the starting role, and Reggie either takes over from Wall as the bench point guard or he gets a few games off to get a bit of rest and get himself together. Both guys’ starting spots probably will be safe because of their proven fit with PG and Kawhi and vet stature, but they shouldn’t be.

Clippers Beat Down by Wolves 128-115
Robert Flom

After a horrid first quarter, the Clippers forced a 40 point swing, going from down 20 to winning by 20 in a rout of the Timberwolves on the road. Keep reading for a full recap of the Clippers’ comeback win over the Wolves.

Summary

The Clippers looked dreadful to start the game. Starting out in a zone defense, they weren’t attentive enough to run it properly, giving up wide open looks to the Timberwolves, who cashed them in. Things were far worse on offense, where the team went scoreless for four and a half minutes after an early Bledsoe layup due to poor ball movement, bricked shots, and horrid turnovers. Down double-figures early, the Clippers battled to hang in, mostly by playing more through Paul George. The entry of the bench unit helped with energy, but not with execution or shot-making, though Terance Mann did nail a couple nice pull-up midrange jumpers. Two missed free throws did not help matters, and the Clippers trailed by 10 entering the second quarter.

The second quarter began with a new unit, as Ty Lue cut his rotation down to just eight players, with Bledsoe, Luke Kennard, Mann, George, and Isaiah Hartenstein on the court. Unfortunately, the experiment did not go very well, with poor defense (way too many wide open threes), poor rebounding (Jarred Vanderbilt owned them), and no good shot creation on offense. Soon, Lue brought back Zu, who had a couple nice plays, but then went ultra-small with Batum at center and Reggie and Bledsoe alongside Mann and PG. This unit was a complete disaster as well, and Lue, clearly scrambling for answers, went back to Reggie and Zu for the struggling Bledsoe (and Mann). Finally, the Clippers made hay, going on a 10-0 run and getting the lead as low as seven before the Wolves brought it back up to 10 entering halftime.

The 3^rd quarter could not have been more different from the first half. The Clippers’ defense absolutely swarmed the Wolves from the jump, playing extremely physical, doubling up Towns in the post, and not letting them get clean looks. Meanwhile, their offense remained clunky, but they were able to score just enough to chip away at the lead. Finally, after another stop, the Clippers were able to take the lead. Even Eric Bledsoe’s continued cold shooting couldn’t stop the Clippers’ run, as Zu, George, and Batum dominated on defense. The Wolves finally got going offensively late in the quarter when that trio was out, but Reggie Jackson scored a couple buckets to keep the Clippers lead at 3.

The Clippers’ defense kept up the pressure in the 4^th, and the Wolves collapsed like a house of cards. They were unable to get quality shots, and turned the ball over frequently. George’s defense, in particular, was exceptional, continuously poking the ball away for steals. Soon the Clippers offense was able to get going, and what was a small lead became a 20-point advantage in what felt like the blink of an eye. George marched to the free throw line time and again, fouling out Jaden McDaniels and Patrick Beverley, and the Wolves folded. The game continued for a couple minutes, but the clock was just running out, and garbage time finally commenced with around three minutes to go.

Notes

Zu Breaks Out: After a very solid first game against the Wolves on Wednesday, Ivica Zubac had his best game of the season and one of the finest of his career, scoring 14 points on 5-7 shooting and 4-6 from the line while collecting 14 rebounds in 31 minutes. However, it was not Zu’s counting stats that stood out, but his defense. With Nic on Towns, Zu was free to “guard” Jarred Vanderbilt or Jaden McDaniels, which really meant lurking in the paint as a free help defender. He dominated around the rim on defense, swallowing up numerous Wolves’ shots and preventing even more. The Wolves are tailor-made for him defensively, and he won’t play this well every game, but hopefully this is the turning point of the season for him.

PGDPOY: This doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as PGMVP, but it might be just as applicable eight games into the season. Paul George has been absolutely monstrous on the defensive end. He’s been a menace on ball at the point of attacking, walling off drives to the rim and slithering around screens to keep with shooters and ball-handlers. He’s also been everywhere as a help defender, continuously pickpocketing drivers and snatching wayward passes to ignite the Clippers in transition. And, most impressively, he’s even supported the Clippers around the rim, going vertical to prevent easy layups at the hoop. Averaging three steals per game undersells how good George has been on that end. On a night he didn’t shoot well, he dominated on defense and with rebounding (he’s averaging around 9 per game on the year after tonight). He’s locked in right now on both ends.

Ty Cuts the Rotation: After writing about how bad Justise Winslow has been so far in the previw, Ty Lue showed he and the staff were thinking along the same lines, excising him from the rotation. However, instead of adding someone else, they just went with eight players, with Mann, Kennard, and Hartenstein being the lone bench players to check in before garbage time. While that worked well in tonight’s game, the minutes load is simply untenable – George played 38 and Jackson 37 in this one. Someone has to step into that 9^th man role, whether it be the returning Marcus Morris or someone else. If it’s not Winslow, maybe Amir Coffey or even Brandon Boston can get a look. But the eight-man rotation assuredly won’t last long.

Bledsoe’s Shooting Struggles Continue: After a miserable first half where he was a -20 and the worst Clipper on the court, Bledsoe made a huge impact in the second half, particularly the third quarter. His defense was on point, and while he still couldn’t make any shots, the pressure he put on the Wolves in transition led to fouls and follow up points for the Clips. That kind of stuff is well and good, but Bledsoe not only can’t shoot from three, eh can’t make shots around the rim or get his midrange jumpers to fall. Those weaknesses in the halfcourt are devastating for spacing, and it’s just tough to justify him continuing to start when Terance Mann continues to excel on both ends and Luke Kennard hits every three in sight. Hopefully the second half helps turn him around.

Nic Batum is Awesome: That’s it, and that’s all. What a signing. What a player.

That about does it for this rollicking, feel-good recap of the Clippers’ win over the Timberwolves on the road. The Clips are now .500 despite some real injury issues, so celebrate in the comments below!

Clippers vs. Wolves Recap: Clips Dominate in Second Half for 104-84 Victory
Robert Flom