Timberwolves beat Clippers 118-100 after making biggest comeback in 12 years

LOS ANGELES - The silver lining around how badly the Timberwolves played for the first 18-plus minutes of their game against the Clippers on Tuesday was they left themselves plenty of time to mount a comeback.

They stunned anyone who might have turned off this after-bedtime special when they were down 22 by coming away with a 118-100 victory in what they knew was one of their most important games of the season.

Consider all this: the Wolves were trying to prevent their first three-game losing streak of the season, and keep their season from derailing after the loss of Karl-Anthony Towns, who had successful surgery to repair a torn left meniscus, the team said. They were also trying to keep pace with Oklahoma City and Denver atop the Western Conference standings and put some distance between themselves and the No. 4-seed Clippers, while winning the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.

They accomplished all this with their largest comeback in team history since 2012.

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“It was no secret, it was probably the biggest game of the season for us so far,” guard Mike Conley said. “Having lost a couple in a row, the way we lost them, who we’re playing, the Clippers are right with us in seeding, so it meant a lot.”

The Wolves trailed 57-35 with 5 minutes, 13 seconds to play in the second quarter, and it seemed like that was a mere warm up for what came after. They scored the next 10 points to make it a game again and by halftime, they were within eight. Their defense continued ramping up in a third quarter they won 29-15 and, they won going away in the fourth. It was the most remarkable in-game turnaround the Wolves had all season. How did it happen? Before Anthony Edwards poured in 37 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a season-high 28 and Conley added 23 in his best offensive game in a while, Rudy Gobert picked up his defensive intensity, coach Chris Finch said.

The Wolves did lose Gobert (eight points, 11 rebounds) in the fourth quarter to a rib injury he suffered after a hard fall trying to defend Ivica Zubac. After the game, Gobert said nothing was broken after initial testing and that he would be fine. But he sat at his stall and labored to move and breathe for most of the media’s open locker room period. He kept a hand on his left chest. The Wolves have three days off before their next game in Utah. Before he checked out, he sparked the Wolves’ comeback with strong defense at the rim, which enable the Wolves to clamp down on the Clippers’ shooters, who began the night 8-for-11 from three-point range.

“Rudy did a great job,” Edwards said. “We did a great job of sending everything down to him and he did what he does best at the rim. We was able to get out in transition.”

It certainly didn’t hurt the Wolves’ comeback efforts that Kawhi Leonard left the game in the first half after scoring six points. But the Wolves took advantage of the Clippers’ misfortune, especially Edwards, who found a little more room to operate with one a highly-reputed defender out of the game. Edwards was 15-for-29 and got going from all levels, including the midrange, after the slow start.

BOXSCORE: Timberwolves 118, L.A. Clippers 100

“Finchy did a great job of telling me this morning that when I get into my midrange, the shots that I work on, don’t pump fake, don’t second-guess it,” Edwards said. “Get into your shot. You got to take what they give you, because they double me all night.”

“It was just . . . being in the moment,” he said. “I think it was very peaceful just enjoying being out there and just making reads. I think when we got down, I was more focusing on trying to play to win. Bring a spark, bring energy, play hard.”

The energy was infectious. The night began as a laugher, but by the end, the laughter came from an unexpected place.

“We definitely framed this game as a huge game for us, as a bounce back from our performance from the other night,” Finch said. “Team’s not lost three in a row all year, and I think that was important to them as well. There were a lot of reasons this was a big game.”