Timberwolves hold down Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 18 as the Minnesota Timberwolves shook off the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers to earn a 94-88 victory on Thursday in Inglewood, Calif.
Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert added 13 rebounds as the Timberwolves improved to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 2-0 to start a three-game road trip that ends Sunday at Denver.
Derrick Jones Jr. put up 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who were without Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and John Collins (head/neck).
Kris Dunn scored 11 points for Los Angeles, which has dropped three consecutive games for the first time since a five-game skid from Dec. 5-18.
The Clippers continue to await the debut of Darius Garland (toe), who was acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers at the trade deadline.
Frustration rose to the surface less than two minutes into the second half when McDaniels was called for a flagrant-1 foul on Mathurin and got into a shoving match with Dunn, who assessed a technical foul.
Despite struggling for offense in the first half, the Clippers led by as many as six points in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth.
The Timberwolves went up for good with 7:40 remaining on a reverse layup from Edwards. A layup from Jones bought the Clippers within 89-88 with 1:05 remaining before Edwards hit a 3-pointer over two Los Angeles defenders with 42.9 seconds to go for a 92-88 lead.
The Timberwolves led 44-38 at halftime after DiVincenzo scored 12 points and Edwards added 11. Minnesota held Los Angeles to 18.2% shooting from the floor and 11 points in the second quarter. It was Los Angeles' lowest-scoring first half of the season.
Minnesota's Naz Reid returned to the locker room with 4:45 remaining before halftime due to an elbow injury but returned in the third quarter.