LOS ANGELES — Losing large double-digit leads has become an unnerving trend in the NBA. Many teams, whether they are top-tier or sit near the bottom of the standings, have seen significant leads evaporate amid a barrage of 3-pointers.
The Clippers have experienced this phenomenon a few times this season, most recently Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
After trailing by as many as 21 in the first half, the Timberwolves picked up their scoring in the second and came away with a convincing 118-100 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
More devastating than the Clippers’ collapse was the loss of Kawhi Leonard, who left the court after playing 12 minutes because of thoracic spasms that made it difficult for the All-Star wing to sit. He left Crypto.com Arena during the second quarter.
By then, the Timberwolves were just getting warmed up.
Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards picked up the slack left by the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns, who is out with a left meniscus tear. Edwards scored 29 of his game-high 37 points in the second half and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added a season-high 28 points to lead the Timberwolves to their third victory in four games against the Clippers this season.
The game was big, not only in terms of the Western Conference standings but as a potential tiebreaker. The loss left the Clippers (41-23) sitting 3½ games behind first-place Oklahoma City Thunder and gave the tiebreaker edge to the third-place Timberwolves, who are now three games ahead of the Clippers in the standings.
“We got to get better and understand that all these games mean something,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Not just Minnesota tonight with the tiebreaker, but the other 18 games after this; they all mean something. So, we’ve got to have the right approach, understanding what we want to do on offense, what we want to do on defense and actually execute it.
“That’s got to be our mindset for these last 18, 19 games.”
Especially if Leonard is out for any length of time. The two-time NBA Finals MVP sat out a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday because of left groin soreness and there wasn’t any word about how the back spasms will affect his availability going forward.
Fellow All-Star Paul George picked up the slack for Leonard, scoring 22 points on 5-of-11 shooting and making all 10 of his free-throw attempts. James Harden had a quiet 12 points and seven assists, while Norman Powell finished with 12 points.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves made their move largely after Leonard departed, going on a 20-2 run that nearly erased the work the Clippers did early in building a 22-point lead. Behind Edwards’ long-range shooting, Minnesota pulled to within 59-55 with 51 seconds left in the first half.
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The Timberwolves struggled from 3-point range for much of the first half. Without Towns, the team’s second-best 3-point shooter, they languished. It wasn’t until the late shooting spree that they managed to find the basket from behind the arc.
The Clippers managed to regroup and hang on for a 63-55 halftime lead, but that lead wasn’t safe, either.
After George buried his second 3-pointer to put the Clippers ahead 66-57, Minnesota went on a 12-0 run to grab the lead at 69-68 with 7:21 left in the third quarter and led 84-78 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Clippers failed to capitalize offensively, coming up empty on their final seven possessions of the quarter, which allowed the Timberwolves to take over and open their own 22-point lead.
More to come on this story.
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