Battle for the top spot in the West: Timberwolves keep first and Clippers drop third The top four are only 1.5 wins away
On February 13, Beijing time, the Clippers played against the Timberwolves at home, and the Clippers lost by 21 points in the third quarter 19-40 in the first half of the game while maintaining a 4-point advantage, and collapsed with a 20+ gap in the final quarter. The Clippers were crushed by the Timberwolves in the interior competition, and finally the Timberwolves killed the Clippers twice this season to retain the first place in the West, and the Clippers lost 2 of the last 3 games and fell to the third place in the West. With only 1.5 wins separating the top four in the West, the battle for the top spot will continue.
Changes in the top four rankings in the West:
1. The Timberwolves are 37-16
2. The Thunder are 35-16
3. The Clippers are 35-17
4. The Nuggets are 36-18
No player from the Clippers' Big Four scored 20 points, with Kawhi Leonard 18 points, George 18 points and six rebounds, Harden 17 points and six assists, and Willis 11 points. On the other hand, the Timberwolves Big Three combined 64 points, Edwards 23 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, Towns 24 points, Gobert 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks, leading the team of 6 to score double-doubles.
In the first meeting of the season, the Clippers lost 105-109 to the Timberwolves. In this game, the Clippers scored five double-doubles, Leonard had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists and Powell 24 points, Harden 14 points and 8 assists and Wei Shao 12 points and 13 assists. Five Timberwolves scored in double figures, Edwards had 33 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, Gobert had 15 points and 18 rebounds and Towns had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
The two sides ushered in the second meeting of the season, and this game is a battle for the top spot in the West, with the winner in first place in the West and the loser falling out of the top two in the West. In such a high-profile card battle, the Timberwolves were extremely bad in the first quarter with 1 of 8 three-point shots, but 10 of 15 from two-point shooting were efficient, and all seven players on the team scored. On the other hand, the Clippers were less than 4 of 19 in the first quarter, including 2 of 4 three-pointers, Leonard scored 11 points on 5 of 10, and the rest of the players combined for 2 of 9, and the Clippers trailed the Timberwolves 24-28 in the first quarter.
Entering the second quarter of the game, Harden and George gradually recovered to lead the team to chase points, Harden scored 9 points in 3 of 6 in the second quarter, and he scored 14 points in 4 of 9 in the first two quarters. Leonard didn't score in the second quarter, and George scored seven points in the second quarter to lead the Clippers to a two-point two-point lead at 29-21 in the second quarter, and the Clippers outscored the Timberwolves by four points at 53-49 at the end of the first half. The Timberwolves had just one player in double figures in the first two quarters, with Towns scoring 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
T, the Clippers were completely blown up on both offensive and defensive ends, especially the Clippers on the inside were beaten by the Timberwolves' three major interior lines, Gobert, Towns and Reed. The Clippers lost 19-40 in the first quarter by 21 points and collapsed, resulting in a 17-point gap of 72-89 in the first three quarters. In the first three quarters, Towns scored 24 points and Edwards 18+7+7, leading the Timberwolves to 4 gorgeous, the Clippers also had 4,000, Xiaoka 18 points and George 14 points, Harden 17 points and Wei Shao 11 points.
At the beginning of the final quarter, the Timberwolves expanded their 22-point lead, and the Clippers fought back to chase the gap within 20 points. With less than four and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Clippers extended their lead to 24 points at 111-87, and both sides pulled their main forces into garbage time early, and the Clippers were finally beaten and lost.
(Text/Drunken Sleeping)