On April 13, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs officially began, and two games were arranged today: the Nets home vs cavaliers (see the last post of the detailed war report), and the Timberwolves home vs Clippers. Both groups are part of a division between 7th and 8th divisions, with the winner advancing straight to the playoffs and locking in division 7th. So this is also called "Grab 7 War"...
Take the Clippers and Timberwolves, for example, the winner locks in the 7th place in the West, the first round of the playoffs against the Grizzlies (2nd), and the loser plays the pelicans vs. Spurs winner one more time to compete for the 8th place in the West. The Clippers are 42-40 in the regular season, no. 8 in the West, and the Clippers have won more than 50% for 11 consecutive seasons, the longest record in the NBA League.
In the regular season, the Clippers and Timberwolves have played each other 4 times, and the Clippers have won 3 and lost 1. George played in three of them, with the Clippers 3-0, which wasn't good news for the Timberwolves. Clippers starters: Reggie, George, Morris, Batum, Zubac: Timberwolves starters: Beverly, Russell, Edwards, Vanderbilt, Towns.
After the Clippers opened the game, choosing to pinch Downs, Edwards stepped up and scored 7 points in a row. In the Game of the Timberwolves and Spurs on April 8, Hanako scored 49 points on 16-of-28 shooting, breaking a career scoring record! Tyronelu stuck to his defensive strategy, cutting off Russell and Towns and leaving Edwards alone.
The Timberwolves are an offensive team that hit 1,211 three-pointers in the regular season this season, third in NBA history, behind the Rockets (1,323) in 2018-19 and the Rockets (1,256) in 2017-18. Once the offense was contained, the Timberwolves struggled, trailing 20-26 in the first quarter. Towns scored 5-of-5 fouls in the quarter, with 2 points.
The worst thing today is Towns, with 4 minutes left in the second quarter, Towns still has 0 points on 0-of-7 shooting. Finally, he relied on free throws to get 2 points, not expecting to be late for his fourth foul on the defensive end. You read that right, two quarters were fouled four times, and the third quarter was dangerous. Tyrone Lu's defensive strategy against Downs is reminiscent of last night's CBA's Du Feng and Guo Allen.
Towns can't fight, you think the Timberwolves are going to be cold? Unexpectedly, the Clippers' own offense was cut off! The Timberwolves blasted a 15-3 attack wave in the second quarter to complete the rebound in one fell swoop. Towns wasn't on the field, Zubac's defensive shortcomings were exposed, and Russell scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the second quarter. The Timberwolves led 53-51 at halftime!
Towns scored just 2 points and 4 fouls on 7-of-7 at halftime, while Russell and Edwards each scored 15 points. Clippers Powell scored 14 points and George scored just nine points on 2-of-10 shooting. The Timberwolves shot 8-of-19 from 3-point range, shooting 42.1 percent; the Clippers shot 8-of-14 from three-point range, shooting 57.1 percent. So why are the Clippers still behind? The Timberwolves rebounded 24-16 to win eight.
Beverly arrived late, and in the third quarter there was friction with Morris, and the two language masters were friendly and friendly. Beverly thought Morris was going to eat a T and waved goodbye (Morris already had a T), but the referee only gave Beverly a T. Today the NBA officially announced that Beverley was fined $25,000 for insulting the referee in the last game against the Bulls.
Playing 8 minutes in the third quarter, Towns ate his fifth foul and went off again. George began to kill under the basket, using the layup to find his feel, and the outside line also soared into three consecutive points. Downs wasn't there, Tyrone lu replaced Zubac, the most threatening five squads, and the Clippers completed the rebound. George scored 17 points on 5-of-8 in the quarter, and the pickled pepper was so spicy!
At the end of the third quarter, the Clippers led by 6 points 84-78, and the final quarter showdown came! Towns re-emerged in the fourth quarter, playing two minutes for rebounding fouls and six fouls. In the whole game, Towns only played 24 minutes, 3 of 11 shots, 5 of 6 free throws, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 6 fouls and 4 turnovers, as the team boss is obviously not qualified.
As soon as Downes went off, the Timberwolves instead attacked smoothly, with 4 minutes and 39 seconds left in the final quarter, and the Timberwolves completed the 97-95 rebound. The Clippers mini five were too tall to lose, and the tallest on the court was Morris, and Tyrenlu was replaced by Zubac again. The Timberwolves immediately replaced Russell, just to beat you out! Fan Comment: The Clippers are still too dependent on Towns...
The Timberwolves, who are fighting at home, are obviously more energetic in the decisive moment! In the final minute and a half, the Clippers trailed by 6 points, and their lives were hanging in the balance. George hit a three-pointer and Edwards made a foul on a 3-pointer to re-lead to five points! With 38.5 seconds in the final quarter, George missed three points, and with Beverley completing a steal, the Clippers were on the move.
The game was over, and the Timberwolves beat the Clippers 109-104! This is the second time the Timberwolves have made the playoffs in nearly 18 years, the last time being in the 2017-18 season (8th in the West). That said, the Timberwolves made it to the playoffs with no. 7, the best in nearly 18 years! Edwards had 30 points and 5 boards, Russell 29 points, 5 boards, 6 assists and 3 blocks.
Beasley had 12 points and 6 boards, Beverly 7 points, 11 boards, 3 assists and 1 break, and at the last moment he jumped on the technical stage and roared in anger, took off his jersey and threw it to the home fans! Clippers George 34 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, 3 breaks, Reggie 17 points, 7 boards and 5 assists, Powell 16 points and 3 boards, Morris 12 points! Kuzma, who was watching at home, wrote: "Minnesota has just won the championship! (Laughing and crying)"
The Timberwolves deserve the win, the team boss got off early, and they still won the game! Hanako and Russell all stood up and watched for the Timberwolves!