In a tremendous basketball battle with a knife in their mouths, the minnesota timberwolves survived this Tuesday Los Angeles Clippers in a convoluted and exciting ‘play-in’ match (109-104) and will face the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.
The Wolves, seventh in the West and who had only played in the playoffs for the ring once in the last 17 years, prevailed over a Clippers, eighth and who were very close to suffocating them with their defense. The Angelenos unhinged Karl Anthony-Towns, who was ejected for fouls and who only played 24 minutes (11 points on 3-for-11 shooting). However, the Clippers were unable to contain Anthony Edwards (30 points and 5 rebounds) and D’Angelo Russell (29 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists), excellent in a great run of 26-11 in the last nine. minutes to close a fantastic comeback without Towns.
The one who best symbolized the warrior character of the Wolves was Patrick Beverley, incendiary and inexhaustible on each ball, who celebrated the victory in tears and who has become an idol in Minneapolis. The Minnesotans are now awaited by Ja Morant’s exciting Grizzlies, the revelation of the season as second in the West. For their part, the Clippers will host the winner of the game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs (ninth and tenth in the West) on Friday to see who will meet the fearsome Phoenix Suns in the first round.
The Clippers came to dominate from 10 points in the last quarter and Tyronn Lue seemed to have won the tactical battle by stopping some Wolves who were the highest scoring team of the regular season, but in the end they deflated despite the great game of Paul George (34 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists). The meeting had everything, even an environmental activist who jumped onto the track during the match and tried to stick to the ground with glue to launch her messages.
fierce battle
The Clippers made it clear from the start that this was not a game for the faint-hearted. Lue engineered constant two-for-ones on Towns, first defended by a short (Batum almost always) and then helped by a tall (Zubac). The meeting had a very tight tone, with numerous protests, countless frictions and physical demands on each play. Examples of it? An overexcited Beverley had three fouls in the first quarter, Towns closed the opening quarter without scoring after missing all five of his shots, and between the two teams they had 13 turnovers in the first twelve minutes. This dynamic benefited a Clippers experienced in dogfights and in which Morris and Powell set the pace in attack (20-26 after the first quarter).
Edwards offered some light to some thick and stuck Wolves in the second quarter. The Minnesotans also played with fire: Towns added his fourth foul in the second quarter and Beverley and Edwards each had three before the break. It seemed that the Clippers, without taking off on the scoreboard, had eaten the morale of the Wolves, but then Russell appeared to wake up the local team. With 14 points in the second quarter, Russell opened the Clippers’ lock and led his team into halftime ahead (53-51) after a 14-6 run to conclude the first half.
ultimate pride
The one who enjoyed the most in such a turbulent duel was Beverley. Totally into his sauce, the former Clippers player was about to send Morris to the locker room as soon as the third quarter began by forcing a scuffle between the two. But the referees, who had indicated techniques for Beverley and Morris (the Angeleno already had one from the first quarter), finally they retracted in a decision as clumsy as it was controversial.
Oblivious to Beverley’s tricks, George hit the table hard in the third quarter. After a poor 2-for-10 shooting in the first half, the forward returned control of the game to the Clippers with 17 points in the third quarter as the Wolves trembled as a frustrated and out-of-game Towns drew his fifth foul before reaching the last partial (78-84).
Things got worse when Towns closed out his awful night with a sixth foul at 7.34 in the fourth quarter. But when the situation seemed worst, the Wolves emerged with rage and pride, Edwards and Russell took it upon themselves to pierce a broken and unresponsive Clippers, and Beverley put the icing on the cake with his sacrifice to a huge comeback that is worth a ticket to the playoffs. .