The Wolves were beaten up at home by the L.A. Clippers Monday night falling 114-104.
The Clippers were missing both Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford, but it didn’t matter.
Darren Collison stepped up to lead the Clippers in their absence. He finished with 28. Chris Paul also had a big night for L.A. He added 22 points, dished out nine assists and grabbed seven boards.
DeAndre Jordan was dominant inside for the Clippers. He had a double-double as he scored 11 points and grabbed a career-high 24 rebounds.
The game was really decided in the third quarter. After an even first half in which the Wolves trailed by three at 54-51, L.A. blew the game open when they outscored the Wolves 34-15. That quarter was highlighted by a 31-5 run that created the separation.
After #Twolves took lead at 59-57, Clippers slaughter the home team 31-7 for a 88-66 lead after three quarters. (Note: No Blake Griffin.)
— Andy Greder (@twolvesnow) April 1, 2014
It was another lackluster performance for the Wolves. Kevin Love had another double-double in the loss. He scored 20 points and had 13 rebounds, but was an inefficient 8 of 21 shooting.
Wolves level of effort in 3Q indicates they think Adelman A) doesn't care or B) is a lame duck
— brittrobson (@brittrobson) April 1, 2014
The Wolves also had to go most of the night without center Nikola Pekovic. He left the game in the first quarter when his right ankle flared up.
Led by the second team, the Wolves answered with a 23-8 run in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter to cut the Clippers lead back to single digits, but they couldn’t get any closer.
Rookies Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad helped to lead the Wolves back into the game. Dieng had 14 points and Muhammad had 11. Chase Budinger also added 12.
At 36-37 the Wolves drop back below .500 on the season.
Minnesota hosts Memphis on Wednesday night.
