Shooting woes and low-water marks on offense further thwart Timberwolves

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 to 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's absence because of a left knee contusion. They had 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."

Rudy Gobert (11 points, 13 rebounds) sprained an ankle late in the game but said he should be fine for Friday's game in Oklahoma City.

It didn't help the Wolves that their two point guards (Russell and Jordan McLaughlin) were both injured. It was up to Anthony Edwards (19 points) 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," Anderson 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."