LA Clippers @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 3:30 PM ET
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN | Game ID: 22300873
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIN 30 16 22 20 88LAC 18 31 18 22 89
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kawhi Leonard scores 32 points, Clippers edge Timberwolves 89-88 in physical, defensive game
MINNEAPOLIS -- — Kawhi Leonard had 32 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 89-88 on Sunday in a physical and defensive game between two of the top four teams in the Western Conference.
Norman Powell matched a season high with 24 points, and Paul George added 15 points but shot just 5 of 16 from the field and was 3 of 11 from 3-point range.
“This was an old-school, 1985 game,” Los Angeles coach Tyronn Lue said. “But I loved the way we kept competing and kept guarding, defending.”
The Clippers played without Russell Westbrook after he fractured his left hand in a home victory over Washington on Friday night. Ivica Zubac returned after missing two games with an illness.
Anthony Edwards scored 27 points for Minnesota, which dropped a half-game behind Oklahoma City for the West lead when the Thunder won at Phoenix later Sunday. The Timberwolves lost back-to-back games for just the third time this season.
“It was a very physical game,” said Minnesota's Rudy Gobert , who had 12 points and 16 rebounds. “I thought there was a lot of touching, grabbing, just like a playoff game. I thought we started the game the right way. I think, over time, it was hard for us to get what we wanted.”
Leonard broke an 84-all tie with a layup with 2:01 remaining and added a free throw after being fouled by Karl-Anthony Towns .
Towns’ dunk with 1:40 left brought Minnesota within one, but Anthony Edwards missed a 3 and Towns was off the mark on a jumper before Leonard closed out the game with a pair of free throws.
Minnesota had one more possession but couldn't find an open 3 and Edwards ended up driving for a layup. But the Wolves couldn't foul on the inbound pass as time ran out.
“It was a tough game, neither team shoots over 40% from the field, but that’s on me,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “I got to take a timeout, get us organized on that second-to-last possession we had there. It’s a hard-fought game. Just didn’t make enough shots.”
The Timberwolves had won four games in a row in the matchup with Los Angeles, including the first two games this season.
“We just had to stay in it, stay with it," George said. "Shots weren’t falling for both sides. I thought we just stayed in and played a full 48 minutes. We weren’t making shots. Only other thing we could have done is made it tough for them to make shots.”
Towns had 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Minnesota shot 38.8% and had 15 turnovers, leading to 20 points for the Clippers. Los Angeles shot 37.6% but had just nine turnovers, including six over the final three quarters. Partially as a result, the Clippers held a 19-0 advantage in fast-break points.
James Harden had 10 assists for Los Angeles but was 0-for-10 shooting.
MIN KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MINAE A. Edwards
JM J. McDaniels
KA K. Anderson
KT K. Towns
MC M. Conley
MM M. Morris
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
LACAC A. Coffey
BH B. Hyland
DT D. Theis
IZ I. Zubac
JH J. Harden
KL K. Leonard
NP N. Powell
PG P. George
TM T. Mann
MIN/LAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur