Short-handed Clippers can’t outlast Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves

INGLEWOOD — With John Collins joining Kawhi Leonard on the bench on Thursday night, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was desperate for scoring. The two starters account for a combined 41.8 points per game and they were given another day to rest their respective injuries.

Leonard was held out of Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves because of a sore ankle and Collins because of the head injury he suffered against the Lakers six days ago.

So, Lue looked to Bennedict Mathurin to fill that void in the starting lineup. In a short time, Mathurin has established himself as a reliable offensive piece off the bench, averaging 22.0 points and 6.2 rebounds.

“We need him. We need him to score the basketball,” Lue said. “We need him to be aggressive in making plays, and with Kawhi and JC both being out, we need offense on the floor. So that’s kind of what went into the decision for the start.”

The Clippers needed more than Mathurin if they had any chance of stopping the Timberwolves, who had won nine of their past 13 coming into Thursday’s game, and boasted the NBA’s third-ranked scoring offense at 119.6 points per game.

While the Clippers received scoring from unlikely corners of their roster and delivered a healthy dose of defense while building a lead through three quarters, it wasn’t enough to hold off Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves down the stretch in a 94-88 loss at the Intuit Dome.

The game was never out of reach for the Clippers despite not having Leonard, Collins or Darius Garland, and it came down to a series of makes, misses and six turnovers in the fourth quarter that led to a third consecutive loss for the Clippers (27-31).

Trailing 85-82 with 3:36 left, Derrick Jones Jr. intercepted a Minnesota pass, but the Clippers were called for a shot clock violation. Jones followed with a running layup to close the gap to 85-84 with 2:24 remaining.

Mathurin followed a pair of free throws by Edwards with a basket to get the Clippers within 87-86. The teams continued to exchange baskets, before the combination of a clutch Edwards shot followed by another Clipper turnover decided things.

Edwards, who was returning to the site of the NBA All-Star Game, where he was selected the MVP, sealed the victory with a step-back 3-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left, capping his 31-point night.

Jones led the Clippers with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Mathurin finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Kris Dunn had 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

The game turned chippy when Dunn got into a scuffle with Jaden McDaniels less than two minutes into the third quarter, resulting in the Clippers guard getting slapped with a technical foul and McDaniels a flagrant 1 foul.

Dunn’s temper flared in the first half when he thought he was fouled while shooting, but the call was ruled a non-shooting foul.

Both instances seemed to ignite Dunn, who scored, assisted on another basket and came up with a steal over the next two minutes, capped by a dunk by Jones off an assist from Dunn, to give the Clippers a 52-50 lead at the 7:19 mark of the third.

The Clippers stretched their lead to 62-56 on a pair of free throws by Bogdan Bogdanovic, who saw his first minutes in nearly a month.

The hosts maintained their momentum and took a 68-63 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Clippers managed to keep the score close in the first half, despite a lack of offense from veterans Nicolas Batum, who started in place of Collins, and Brook Lopez – and nine turnovers. The entire team struggled to land a 3-point shot, missing their first 11 attempts from behind the arc before Bogdanovic buried one with one second left in the first half to pull the Clippers within 44-38 at the intermission.

Lue said if the team had any shot of limiting Edwards and the rest of the Timberwolves, they had to play hard, especially on the defensive side. Edwards has been on a tear since All-Star Weekend, averaging 34 points over his past three games, including a 34-point performance on Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The four-time All-Star shot 12 for 24 from the field (2 for 6 from 3-point range) to go with five assists. Donte DiVincenzo added 18 points, while Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points. Naz Reid finished with 11 points, and Rudy Gobert grabbed 13 rebounds.

“We got to do a good job just trying to (create) turnovers by being physical, being aggressive, give them different looks,” Lue said before the game. “We’ve been leaving a lot of points on the table, but not finishing three-on-ones, four-on-twos, things like that. So, we got to do better with that. But we got to just try to turn them over and be more aggressive in transition.”

Lue said he didn’t think Leonard’s ankle issue would be a long-term problem, but it also didn’t sound like it would be a short-term problem, either. Lue said giving Leonard an extra day off before the next game would allow him to get “as healthy as we can get him.”

The Clippers need Leonard – sore ankle or not – if they hope to move up in the Western Conference standings. They’re currently in 10th place with 24 games to play, which would land them in the Play-In Tournament, needing to win a pair of elimination games just to earn the No. 8 seed.

“Our mindset is just trying to get to seventh or eighth, so we have two opportunities to win one game,” Lue said. “That’s our mindset, and we just got to go from there. Like you said, getting to six is going to be tough, but we got to try to get to seven or eight and have two chances to win one game.

More to come on this story.