NBA – At the heart of a hyper defensive match, Kawhi Leonard (32 points) showed the way to the Clippers on the Wolves floor (88-89).
The Wolves’ reaction did not take place. Beaten on their floor two days earlier against the Kings, the Minnesota players could not resist the good outing of Kawhi Leonard (32 points), Normal Powell (24) and the Clippers, who had to defend very hard to s ‘impose.
Considering Wolves’ fiery start to the match, we initially thought that we would be heading towards a solid score, at least on one side. But not at all. The Wolves, led by Karl-Anthony Towns (12 points at 5/5 before missing his next 10 shots…), started very strongly (16-2). But the intensity initially displayed quickly came down with the entry of Norman Powell opposite. His three 3-point baskets allowed the Clippers to finish the first quarter on a better note (30-18), despite less than 30% success.
Then the visitors pushed on a 13-0 run to even take the lead. Too clumsy with the ball in hand (eight balls lost in the second quarter), the Wolves had to wait five minutes and an “alley-oop” from the KAT to Rudy Gobert to score their first points of the period. But the damage was done: the awakening of Kawhi Leonard, to respond to the offensive activity of Anthony Edwards, was enough to put the Californians in front at the break (46-49).
Paul George and especially James Harden in the tough
A real feat compared to the levels of skill displayed by Paul George, glued to his 3-point line without success, and James Harden who finished without a basket scored in the game.
The defenses being very well installed on both sides, the following minutes would take on the appearance of a trench battle. With still, basically, Edwards in charge on one side and the Leonard – Powell duo on the other, the latter scoring a new basket at the quarter-time buzzer at 3-points (68-67).
It was now clear that this battle was going to be played out in “money time”. While Paul George finally got into his match, “KAT” found color again. But Minnesota had to wait until an improbable blind pass from Rudy Gobert to Jaden McDaniels for the equalizing dunk (84-84), two minutes from the end.
The action of the match would then occur, after a timeout, on a marvelous pass on the ground from James Harden to Kawhi Leonard in the backdoor, for a finish with the foul. “The Klaw” then did not tremble on the throw line and the Wolves were unable to make a mistake on the very last action. Clippers victory.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Big defensive battle. Seeing two teams under 100 points in today’s NBA is no longer common. The two teams, limiting each other to 38% success, including 30% from 3-point range, stood out more for their defensive intensity than their offensive success. If the Wolves have their best defense in the league, the Clippers have shown that they can defend too. A telling statistic from their season, when they limit their opponents below 100 points, victory is automatic (9 successes).
– Counter-attacks, the splits. The Wolves having lost twice as many balls as their opponents, they were logically more exposed in terms of counter-attack. It didn’t fail, like Norman Powell’s “windmill dunk” in the fourth quarter after a stolen ball from Edwards. The locals conceded 19 points in this context, and, even more problematic, did not register a single one on their side.
– The Clippers are back in the race for first place. With three victories behind the Wolves ahead of this meeting, the Clippers (39v-20d), 4th, now only have two. The Wolves (42v-19d) temporarily relinquish their first place to the Thunder (41v-18d) who can confirm by winning against the Suns. The Nuggets (42v-19d) now have the same record as that of the Wolves.
Minnesota / 88 Tirs Rebonds Joueurs Min Tirs 3pts LF O D T Pd Fte Int Bp Ct +/- Pts Eval J. McDaniels 33 3/9 0/4 0/0 0 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 +5 6 3 R. Gobert 40 5/7 0/0 2/2 3 13 16 2 3 0 1 3 +4 12 30 K. Towns 34 7/18 2/7 2/2 4 5 9 8 5 0 3 0 +14 18 21 M. Conley 28 0/4 0/3 0/0 1 6 7 5 2 0 3 0 +8 0 5 A. Edwards 37 9/20 3/10 6/6 0 5 5 2 1 3 3 0 +10 27 23 K. Anderson 14 2/5 0/1 4/4 0 3 3 3 2 0 1 1 -5 8 11 N. Reid 21 0/7 0/3 3/4 3 8 11 2 1 0 2 1 -18 3 7 M. Morris 11 2/4 2/2 0/0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 -9 6 5 N. Alexander-Walker 21 3/6 2/3 0/0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 -14 8 7 31/80 9/33 17/18 12 42 54 24 14 4 15 7 88 112 LA Clippers / 89 Tirs Rebonds Joueurs Min Tirs 3pts LF O D T Pd Fte Int Bp Ct +/- Pts Eval P. George 34 5/16 3/11 2/3 0 4 4 1 0 1 3 1 +2 15 7 K. Leonard 38 12/26 1/4 7/8 1 4 5 1 1 2 2 1 -11 32 24 I. Zubac 19 1/2 0/0 0/0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 -11 2 3 J. Harden 34 0/10 0/6 4/4 0 5 5 10 1 1 1 2 -10 4 11 T. Mann 19 2/3 0/1 2/2 2 2 4 1 4 0 0 0 -17 6 10 D. Theis 29 2/7 0/4 0/0 4 9 13 1 1 0 1 0 +14 4 12 B. Hyland 14 0/3 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 +11 0 -1 A. Coffey 25 1/5 0/0 0/0 0 4 4 0 1 2 0 1 +8 2 5 N. Powell 27 9/13 6/8 0/0 0 3 3 0 4 1 1 0 +19 24 23 32/85 10/34 15/17 7 33 40 17 12 7 9 5 89 94
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
2024-03-03 23:30:12
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