Timberwolves offense sets batch of season worsts in loss to Clippers; Rudy Gobert sprains ankle

LOS ANGELES – After the Timberwolves loss Monday to Portland, forward Kyle Anderson was asked how the Wolves were dealing with this season's struggles.

"One saying I learned in this league is when you're going through hell, keep going," Anderson said.

It's too bad for the Wolves their shooting won't catch fire from the embers of their current location. The Wolves are still stuck there after losing 99-88 for the Clippers on Wednesday for their third consecutive loss.

They set a number of season-low marks in offensive futility thanks in part to D'Angelo Russell absence because of a left knee contusion. They set their season low for points, assists 15 and field goals 31. They tied their season-low for three-point makes (four).

"We just couldn't make a bucket," coach Chris Finch said. "We had good shots. Just couldn't get them to go in."

Their defense kept them in it, as they tried to win a brick-laying contest with the Clippers, but Los Angeles pulled away in the fourth quarter as it finally went on a run while the Wolves kept clanking.

With Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns out, Anthony Edwards faced a barrage of coverages and scored 19 points. Clippers forward Paul George had a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists while Luke Kennard had 16. Jaden McDaniels did a commendable job defending Kawhi Leonard, who scored 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting.

For most of the night, the Clippers and Wolves had a staring contest over who would go on a backbreaking offensive run first. The Clippers won, and did that throughout a 32-23 fourth quarter that put the game out of reach.

Rudy Gobert (11 points, 13 rebounds) sprained an ankle late in the game but said he should be fine. Gobert said the Clippers defense in the second-half, which was a switch-heavy scheme, made an already cold offense freeze.

"They did a good job disrupting us and it was harder for us to get open shots," Gobert said.

It didn't help the Wolves that their two point guards (Russell and Jordan McLaughlin) were both injured. It was up to Edwards to provide most of the offensive spark as the Clippers keyed in on him.

"He did a good job," Finch said. "I thought he stayed patient. They were trapping him and made it hard on him to stay within the flow of the game."

The Wolves were also without Karl-Anthony Towns and Taurean Prince, and it has been difficult for them to overcome all the injuries that has now affected about a quarter of the roster.

"It's easy to hang our hats on that, but I feel we got to take care of a lot of the little things that's going to help us get over the top and get wins," he said. "They type of wins when you don't shoot the ball well, you can still pull out wins when you hold other teams under 100 points. We got to figure those things out."

Gobert said the Wolves could try to bottle the way they played defensively moving forward. They held the Clippers to 38 percent shooting.

"I think our physicality on the ball, I think that's something we need to carry over every night," Gobert said. "Obviously, when you face players like PG and Kawhi, it's something that you need to bring. But I hope we all bring that every game."

Just leave the shooting behind.

"Obviously we want to win every night, but it's the way you lose," Gobert said. "There's some games that we win and I feel like we don't play great and I feel like there's some games that we lose and I feel there's some really good things to get out of it. I really liked the mindset that we had, the toughness we had defensively. I really liked the way we shared the ball, especially in the first half. We've got to keep building."