On February 13, Beijing time, the Timberwolves defeated the Clippers 121-100 to win two consecutive victories. The Clippers led by four points at the end of the first half, but in the third quarter, the Timberwolves went on a 40-19 run to lead by 17 points. After this game, the Timberwolves stabilized their first spot in the West, while the Clippers dropped to third in the West, and the Thunder returned to second place in the West.
The Clippers' Big Four played well in the first half, with 11 points and 4 rebounds on 5-of-12 shooting, George 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal on 3-of-7 shooting, Harden 14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal on 4-of-9 shooting, and 8 points and 2 assists on 2-of-4 shooting. Although it didn't particularly explode, it still led the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves' big three did not play well in the first half, Towns scored 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block on 6-of-10 and 1-of-5 three-pointers, Gobert scored 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks on 1-of-4 shooting, and Edwards was 3-of-9 and 0-of-6 from three-point range with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Fortunately, the Timberwolves' second team played better.
But the situation changed suddenly in the third quarter, Edwards had 12 points and 3 assists in a single quarter, Towns scored 10 points and 1 assist in 2 of 2 in a single quarter, Gobert scored 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block in 3 of 4 in a single quarter, and the Big Four on the Clippers side had no advantage in playing, the Timberwolves directly played a 40-19 climax and won by 21 points, and the Clippers' defense had a huge problem, and the Timberwolves were 12 of 19 in a single quarter, with a shooting rate of 63.2%.
The Timberwolves quickly opened up a gap of more than 20 points in the final quarter, and Tyronn Lue gave up the game with nearly five minutes left, and Towns ended the game before he even played. Edwards dubbed a three-pointer in the final quarter and silenced the Clippers home fans as they exited. Edwards' 17 points and 4 assists in the second half was very strong.
The Clippers' Big Four scored only 64 points in total, while the Timberwolves' Big Three scored 64 points.
Text/Yan Xiaobai's basketball dream