Timberwolves edge Clippers 109-105 to stay atop Western Conference

The Timberwolves stayed big in Sunday night's 109-105 victory over a star-studded Los Angeles Clippers team built to play small — and 7-1 center Rudy Gobert stood biggest when it meant the most.

Gobert was 3-for-10 from the free-throw line in the game's first 47 minutes, then went 4-for-4 in the final 59.1 seconds to help repel the Clippers. The Clippers trailed 97-80 with 5:38 remaining but only 103-100 with 1:10 left before Gobert stepped up and saved the Wolves.

Entering Sunday's game, Gobert was shooting 63.1% from the line. Then add his 3-for-10 start, and the Clippers threatened to steal a victory.

"It feels good to see the ball go through the net," Gobert said after finishing 7-for-14 from the line. "I was upset about missing the easy ones early in the game. I just have to trust it and take my time and knock them down."

He said he changed nothing in his approach when he turned a 103-100 lead into a five-point advantage with 59.1 seconds left and then 17 seconds later stretched the lead to 107-100 by sinking two more foul shots.

The Clippers never got closer than four points again.

"Just stick with the same," Gobert said. "The worst you can do is think about it. I shoot at practice every day. I make them every day. Just shoot it."

Gobert again anchored a defense that limited Clippers guard James Harden to 4-for-14 shooting and forward Paul George to 5-for-19 from the field for a team that had won 17 of its past 20 games and arrived Sunday at 24-14 overall, fourth in the Western Conference and only two games behind the first-place Wolves, whose victory enabled them to move a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City.

Gobert roamed all over the court and blocked four shots — including Kawhi Leonard's mid-ranger — during his 15-point, 18-rebound performance.

The Clippers tried to spread the game and run Gobert off the court, something like they did in a playoff series two years ago when Gobert played for Utah.

"We have to be who we are," Gobert said. "They have to adapt to us for us. Credit to the coaching staff for trusting us. When we go big, they want to go small. Whether it's me or KAT or both, we have to punish them."

The Clippers' plan didn't work. They fouled Gobert 13 times and sent him to the foul line 14 times.

"Rudy has been playing awesome, man," Wolves guard Anthony Edwards said. "Let's say that first. Tonight, he was great again, protecting the rim, getting us in the bonus early, making his free throws, just getting all the rebounds and making sure they don't finish at the rim. Defensive player of the year, for sure."

Edwards was asked whether he had any doubt when Gobert stepped to the line for those final two foul shots.

"No, hell no," he said. "When he goes to the line, I tell him: 'Hey, go knock them down. Let's go.'"

Edwards scored 20 of his game-high 33 points in the third quarter. The Wolves made quick decisions and moved the ball crisply in the first and third quarters, outdoing the Clippers 29-19 in the first 12 minutes and 35-23 in the third.

The Wolves quietly listed Edwards as questionable on their injury list because of a left knee contusion. But coach Chris Finch called him "good" and said he would be in the team's normal starting five along with Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels.

Good, he was. Better than that in the third quarter.

Held to 11 points in the first half, Edwards starred in the third quarter and helped lift the Wolves from a 46-45 halftime advantage to an 81-68 lead by quarter's end.

He got to the basket at will and drained threes, including one that ended the third quarter and sent the Wolves into the final 12 minutes up 13 points.

"He got us started in the third coming out being aggressive all the way through," Finch said. "He made all the right reads. I was very pleased with his game [Sunday]."

Finch said the game's ending "wasn't the cleanest finish in the world."

"But we got the big stops when we needed them, so all credit to our guys," he said. "Our defense was outstanding all night long. Our one-on-one defense was elite, and Rudy was absolutely huge in there. Offensively, we did enough against a really good defensive team."