Timberwolves pick up much-needed victory over Clippers, sparked by Jaden McDaniels' two-way play

LOS ANGELES – The Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, two All-Pro, All-Star players for a large portion of their careers.

But the best wing player on the floor in Tuesday's 108-101 Timberwolves win over the Clippers might have been on the other team.

Jaden McDaniels not only led the Wolves with 20 points, he also had to defend Leonard for most of the time he was in there and help out from time to time on George.

A national TV audience on TNT got to see what McDaniels brings to the table, qualities the Wolves already appreciate.

"He's such a unique talent," center Rudy Gobert said. "For him to do what he does every night and how he impacts us every night – just amazing. He can impact the game every way possible."

The Wolves don't win Tuesday without McDaniels, who played a large part in limiting Leonard to an inefficient 7-for-19 (23 points). He also added a clutch three late in the game as the Wolves, for once, executed enough on offense down the stretch of a close game to pull it out. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Minnesota.

"I enjoy guarding those guys," McDaniels said. "I've always watched them so just being able to guard them and try to make their night bad is fun for me."

Did he feel like he accomplished that?

"I think I did it a little bit for a cool amount of time during the game," McDaniels said. "At the end, started slipping, but I held my own."

His teammates might say he was underselling it. He set the tone early for the kind of night it was going to be for Leonard when he blocked Leonard at the rim, a play that sent an audible gasp through the home crowd.

He didn't let up from there. Anderson said he hoped fans across the country saw McDaniels' ceiling, which is an All-Defensive, All-Star caliber player. But most important, he said he hopes McDaniels see that in himself.

"Once he believes how good and how great he can be, I think it's going to get real scary," Anderson said. "I just like for him to see how good he is. He's unguardable."

McDaniels said one of the biggest strides he has made on offense is in the paint. He has tried to slow the game down as much as he can once he gets in there. In that way, he's taking a page from Anderson, who has had the nickname Slo-Mo because of his deliberate style of play.

"I'm trying to get slow," McDaniels said. "It works. You see how slow he be moving and can get to where he wants. I can try and do that."

He was 8-for-12 from the field, had six rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. His effort paced six Wolves in double figures, which included Taurean Prince, who returned from a two-game absence for a personal matter, with 10 points. It also included 12 points for Naz Reid, who earned some praise from Lakers forward LeBron James.

"Naiz Reid got toooo much game!!" James tweeted, and Reid noted the misspelling of his name after the game.

Reid's efforts helped the Wolves wrangle control after falling behind by 12 in the first quarter. The Wolves ended up with a much needed win after forcing the Clippers into 25 turnovers. Then they executed when it mattered most. On one sequence, Anthony Edwards (18 points), hit a cutting Kyle Anderson, who found a rolling Gobert for a dunk that gave the Wolves a six-point lead with 23.2 seconds remaining. Coach Chris Finch said that sequence wasn't a set play, but a good read by all involved.

"They put two on the ball and I saw 'Slow' coming a little bit earlier before the play started," Edwards said. "I seen them put two on the ball. I saw [Anderson] cutting and wide open. He hit Rudy for the dunk. We work on that in shootaround. It was pretty dope."

As Anderson put it: "That's what it comes down to, making plays at the end of the game. You're either going to do it or you ain't. I feel like we was tired of losing, so it's time to make plays down the stretch and we converted today."

They haven't been doing that recently. They did on Tuesday. Now to keep doing it.