Rowan Kavner
Score: Part of learning how to finish is learning how to answer.
A Clippers team (9-8) which allowed double-digit leads to slip away in each of their first three losses of the season had no issues finishing Sunday for the second straight time, coming up with every answer down the stretch in a 107-99 win against the Timberwolves (8-9) to earn their third win in four games.
Next Game: 11/30
The Clippers shot 52 percent from the floor, as Blake Griffin finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Chris Paul added 20 points and nine rebounds. More importantly, the points came at the perfect moments to swing momentum back the Clippers’ direction.
When the Timberwolves brought the Clippers’ 11-point halftime lead down to four midway through the third quarter, the Clippers answered with a 7-0 run, eventually taking a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter.
Runs are inevitable on both sides throughout an NBA game. It’s more about the response, and Sunday a Clippers team that had struggled to finish down the stretch early in the year came up with every answer.
Following five straight points from Paul Pierce in the fourth quarter to get the Clippers’ lead to 15, Minnesota went on an 8-0 run. The far-from-comfortable lead sat at 88-83 with four minutes remaining when J.J. Redick hit a 3-pointer.
Head coach Doc Rivers started Luc Mbah-a-Moute for the first time this season, marking the eighth different starting lineup this season for the Clippers, and Rivers decided to keep him in with the starters down the stretch.
It paid dividends, as a steal from Mbah-a-Moute led to a bucket from Chris Paul. Suddenly, a five-point lead had doubled in less than a minute. The Timberwolves then began intentionally fouling DeAndre Jordan in a desperation move and managed to dwindle the Clippers’ lead down to six.
But Griffin had the answer at the other end, just as the Clippers did all day, hitting a jumper to put Minnesota out of reach. The Clippers will play again Monday at home against the Trail Blazers.
