2024-03-13 06:17:31
Having struggled since Karl-Anthony Towns’ knee injury on March 5 against Portland, Minnesota got a big breath of fresh air Tuesday evening at the Crypto.com Arena. Beaten in this same room by the Lakers on Sunday (120-109), Rudy Gobert and his teammates picked the scalp of the other Los Angeles franchise, the Clippers, after a stunning scenario (118-100). Chris Finch’s players first saw the opposing star, Kawhi Leonard, leave with an injury after one quarter.
Announced uncertain for groin pain, the double NBA champion finally left his family, injured in the back. “I knew he had been playing with that for a while,” confided the Clippers’ other All-Star winger, Paul George (22 points), at the end of the match, quoted by Sports Illustrated. Showered and changed, Leonard (6 points in 12 minutes) even left the room before halftime. This loss initially did not seem to affect the Clippers. Two consecutive mid-distance baskets from Norman Powell gave the Californians a 21-point lead (28-49, 15th), also unstoppable near the circle.
Edwards in pattern
The gap swelled to 22 points (35-57, 19th) after a double step from James Harden, not very successful on Tuesday evening (12 points on 4 out of 10 shooting, 7 assists, 4 ball losses). But Minnesota didn’t wait until halftime to wake up. On the way to “his biggest game of the season” (says leader Mike Conley), Anthony Edwards (37 points, 8 rebounds) began to torture the California defense. In less than five minutes, concluded by a winning basket from behind and another from X factor Nickeil Alexander-Walker (28 points), Minnesota came back to within two lengths of its hosts (55-57, 23rd).
A metamorphosis also visible in defense, with Rudy Gobert, more bleeding in the protection of his circle. “He was at first a little slow, beaten on penetrations and did not contest [les tirs adverses] rather early. But he raised the tone with a big counter to start. And Rudy is our engine in terms of defensive intensity so we fed off his efforts,” said Chris Finch. More enterprising in defense, the pivot (8 points, 11 rebounds) also gave the Wolves the advantage, with a dunk on an offensive rebound (69-68, 29th).
Gobert injured in the ribs, without seriousness
Edwards recalled to the bench, Gobert and Mike Conley led the five which completed the gap with the Clippers. From the start of the last quarter, the former vice-captain of the France team challenged his opposite number Ivica Zubac on penetration, successfully (86-78, 37th). Then Conley (23 points) caught fire behind the arc, en route to an evening with five winning shots (104-90, 43rd).
But Gobert did not see his teammate’s last arrow. The pivot had left two minutes earlier holding his ribs. He had just delivered a spectacular fall after biting Zubac’s feint and falling back on the Croatian. “Nothing broken,” reassured the Frenchman. according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Good news for Minnesota which is coming back on the heels of Denver and Oklahoma City – beaten by Indiana (111-121) – leaders of the Western Conference. The Clippers remain fourth, four lengths from the leading group.
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