Timberwolves fall to Clippers 89-88 for second home loss in a row

There were a few mea culpas going around the Timberwolves following Sunday’s 89-88 loss to the Clippers, and it might come as no surprise to those who follow the team closely that the mistakes were related to the team’s late-game execution.

First was coach Chris Finch, who regretted not calling a timeout on the team’s second-to-last offensive possession when it was down one. The Wolves ended that one with a missed runner from Karl-Anthony Towns, but Finch said he should have gotten the Wolves back into something when the possession didn’t start the way they would have liked.

“That’s on me,” Finch said. “I got to take a timeout, get us organized on that second-to-last possession we had there. It’s a hard-fought game. Just didn’t make enough shots.”

Then there was Anthony Edwards, who opted for a layup with three seconds left on the Wolves’ final offensive possession of the night when the team was down 89-86. The Wolves had the ball with 13.1 seconds to play, and another timeout left, so they could have taken a quick two and fouled again to extend the game. But Edwards tried to get a look at a three, and also tried to find Towns, before ultimately going for a two.

His decision to take the bucket came too late, and the Clippers were able to run out the clock after inbounding it. The Wolves never put up a shot that would have tied the score and instead lost their second game in a row at Target Center.

“I really wanted a three,” Edwards said. “Finchy was like, take the two if we got it. But I wanted the three, so I was trying to get the three. I tried to turn around and hit KAT, but his man was there. Bad read by me.”

Edwards then added: “I didn’t know it was three seconds left when I took the two. I would’ve just tried the step-back and take the three.”

“We’re getting it all out of the way right now. Playoffs is gonna be great,” forward Kyle Anderson (eight points) said with a smile. “We’re still a young team. People forget we got a lot of young guys out there. Of course we got to grow up and figure it out.

The Wolves didn’t execute offense late in the game as they wanted. They also didn’t do it for a majority of the game. Their day started promising enough, as they led 23-7 and hit seven of their first eight shots. They were 33% after that. Towns (18 points) started the game 5-for-5, then went 2-for-13.

“It’s shots we took that were good,” Towns said. “I thought they were cool shots, we just didn’t make ‘em. And on top of that, they made it difficult for us on some shots as well. So, double-edged sword.”

Naz Reid was 0-for-7 and Mike Conley was 0-for-4. But it wasn’t just missed shots. The Clippers’ switching defense gave the Wolves issues, as multiple switching defenses have, and that caused the Wolves to commit 15 turnovers, eight in the second quarter. That led to a 19-0 edge in fast-break points for Los Angeles.

“I think, sometimes, we weren’t on the same page,” said Rudy Gobert, who had 12 points and 16 rebounds.

BOXSCORE: L.A. Clippers 89, Wolves 88

The Wolves defense kept them in it as they held he Clippers to 38% shooting and James Harden to only 0-for-10 and four points. But Norman Powell’s 24 points off the bench kept the Wolves from making it a blowout early.

Then Kawhi Leonard steadied the Clippers with 32 points on 12-for-26 shooting even as Paul George struggled to 15 points on 5-for-16.

A decisive moment came when Leonard beat Towns on a back cut for a three-point play with 2:01 remaining. It was the kind of easy bucket the Wolves rarely get in late-game situations that a more veteran team was able to generate in a key moment, even after struggling much of the afternoon.

“We just got to figure out a way to put the ball in the basket,” Anderson said. “We’ll figure that out.”