Wolves record: 13-26
Six weeks after hitting rock bottom and rebooting the organization following an embarrassing 23-point home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Wolves exacted revenge Monday afternoon at Staples Center with a 94-86 victory.
Continuing their surprising midseason surge, the Wolves won for the seventh time in eight games and are 9-3 in their past 12.
The Wolves opened a 16-point lead in the first quarter and led wire to wire, closing out the hapless Clippers with staunch defense and a pivotal Al Jefferson three-point play in the final minute.
Monday’s victory signaled how far the Wolves have come in a short time, and it embodied the way they have played since McHale became coach. They exploit uneven matchups, and Monday that meant L.A.’s own Craig Smith — who drove to Wolves practice Sunday in his Bentley convertible — outscored the Clippers 16-10 by himself in the game’s opening 10 minutes.
By then, the Wolves led 26-10, a lopsided advantage that the Clippers chopped to as few as two points in the game’s final 83 seconds but couldn’t reduce any further. The Wolves again fell in love with jump shots after grabbing that big lead, but they ultimately prevailed when it mattered most.
From the Associated Press:
The Timberwolves scored 58 points in the paint against a beat-up Clippers roster missing Zach Randolph, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Mike Taylor and Jason Hart – and now Marcus Camby…
For the seventh time this season, Los Angeles never had a lead. Minnesota opened the game with a 24-8 run fueled by 14 points from Smith. Miller, Sebastian Telfair and Rodney Carney all missed 3-pointers in the final 74 seconds of the first quarter, enabling the Clippers to reduce the margin to 10.
“I looked at our coaches and told them I wish that big run that we had happened in the fourth quarter and not the first quarter – because we immediately came down and jacked up probably five or six jump shots with about 18 seconds on the shot clock,” McHale said. “We weren’t doing a good enough job of running to get layups and fouls.”
MVP
Al Jefferson, Wolves
L.A. guy Craig Smith gets consideration, but Jefferson’s 20-point, 17-rebound game that included a decisive three-point play with 55 seconds left gets the nod.
Coach Kevin McHale said it wasn’t Kevin Love’s best game (six points, eight boards). Perhaps coming home to LA is difficult – since he didn’t do much when the Wolves visited the LA Lakers earlier in the season.
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