In the previous finale of the regular season, the Los Angeles Clippers successfully defeated the Russian City Thunder, thus entering the key play-off area with a fiery five-game winning streak. Looking back at the journey of the regular season this season, the core of the team has been absent due to injuries, and the Clippers have struggled. But all this was slowly downplayed with the return of Powell and Paul George. There is no doubt that Tyronelu is no longer a tricky woman to cook without rice, and the Clippers have slowly returned to the right track. According to the rules of the play-off zone, the Clippers only need to win one game to make the playoffs.
In the first game of the playoffs, they came to Minnesota and played away to the Timberwolves, who are located there. As a fish-belly team that has been in the league for many years, the Timberwolves' rise this season is indeed somewhat surprising, but that doesn't mean the Timberwolves are not good. On the contrary, Wolves not only sit on the double, but also the eye-catching Russell who tore off the parallel label. With their help, the team is back on the right track and also has the opportunity to impact the playoffs.
At the beginning of the game, downs, the timberwolves' home star, fell into the freezing point of shooting, and it was 0 of 5 in a single quarter, which did not help the team share the pressure on the scoring end. At the same time, the Clippers, who played on the road, were naturally able to seize the opportunity, and with paul George's 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in the first quarter, and Powell's 100% shooting rate in the single quarter, he sent 7 points to successfully play a 26-20 score and get a 6-point lead. The game began with a feat of domination, and the Clippers were really no ordinary team.
However, after entering the second quarter of the showdown, the Timberwolves, who were in a backward position, quickly counterattacked accordingly. Towns was still in poor shape, but Russell stepped up, sending a crucial 14 points from 100 percent of the 5 shots in the quarter, successfully helping the team score 33-25 in the quarter and achieving a 2-point comeback with a 53-51 score. Even if the star Don Slach, shooting 7 of 7 at half-time, only 2 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, the team still achieved a half-time reversal with the help of the other two core players.
In fact, Edwards and Russell did well in the first half. Edwards, who shot 6-of-10 in the half, delivered 15 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, and Russell also had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. On the side of the Clippers, who saw them trailing by 2 points on the road, George's form was not very good, with only 2 of 10 shooting, and he delivered 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists at halftime. However, we have to admit that Powell, who came off the bench, played a three-point scoring miracle, shooting 3 of three points, shooting 100% of the time, and also sent a key 14 points at halftime, effectively alleviating the overall scoring pressure of the team.
The first half had just ended, the point difference between the two teams was not very large, and either side had a chance to win the game and qualify early from the play-off area. So, if the Clippers want to save energy, they still have to make more efforts in the second half.