It was just one of those games for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
And not one of the good kind of games.
The Wolves fell 99-79 to the Clippers – a team that is going to likely end up as the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Interim head coach Sam Mitchell recognized early that his starters didn’t have it, not playing one more than 26 minutes.
All-in-all, not really a lot of positives for anyone wearing a white jersey on the night.
Rookie Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 7-for-13 from the field and 2-for-3 from the 3-point line, but he let his emotions get the best of him with a first-half technical foul. Nemanja Bjelica added 14 points, while Shabazz Muhammad had a solid all-around game, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
No other Minnesota player hit double digits.
“Well, it was a tough game. We didn’t’ shoot the ball,” said Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio, who finished with nine points and just one assist. “They play really good basketball and we couldn’t feel comfortable out there, couldn’t find a rhythm. Instead of playing as a team, we did it as one-one and taking bad shots, we weren’t making any. So, it was bad and there’s not much to say.”
Chris Paul did his thing for the Clippers, finishing with 20 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds. J.J. Redick added 17 points, 12 coming from the 3-point line. Jamal Crawford, Jeff Green and Austin Rivers each had 10 points off the bench.
The Wolves fall to 25-50, sitting in 13th in the West. The Clippers move to 47-27, fourth in the West.
Numbers Game:
Leader of the Pack: Nemanja Bjelica
It wasn’t a particularly great game for anyone, so we’ll give it to the player who the Wolves hope can give them some life down the stretch this season, hopefully carrying into next season. Bjelica finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and an assist while shooting 4-for-5 from the field, 1-for-1 from the 3-point line and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
These points may have came in “garbage time,” but for a guy who lost confidence at times this season, buckets are buckets.
Highlight of the Night:
With 3:40 left in the third quarter, Zach LaVine launched a three. Missing on the front of the rim, Shabazz Muhammad cut in the from the left baseline to throw down the putback slam.
Up Next:
The Wolves travel to play the surging-for-the-playoffs Utah Jazz on Friday night at 8. The game will air on Fox Sports North and 830 WCCO Radio.
