The story for the Clippers on Wednesday night was their injured list. But even without four key players, the Clippers had no choice but to advance against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Intuit Dome.
The problem was that the Timberwolves pushed back harder, leading by as much as 41 in a 108-80 victory.
Playing seven games in eleven days hasn’t helped the Clippers overcome their injury problems.
So when Clippers coach Tyronn Lue sat down at the podium to talk to the media, he smiled and quickly said this about the 28-point beatdown:
“I’m flushing it,” Lue said.
Read more: Norman Powell and James Harden lead Clippers to dominant victory over Portland
His team was playing its third game in four nights, and this one was a back-to-back.
“We just didn’t have a lot of pop,” Lue said. “I’m missing three of our four rotation guys. [Minnesota] came out and played well.”
Kawhi Leonard has yet to play this season as his right knee recovers. He was joined on the bench Wednesday by Terance Mann, Norman Powell, Kevin Porter Jr. and Kobe Brown.
The Clippers said Mann has a broken left middle finger and will undergo surgery Thursday and be reevaluated in three weeks. Brown has a herniated disc in his back and will be reevaluated in two weeks.
Porter missed his third straight game due to a sprained left ankle and Powell, the Clippers’ leading scorer (23.9 points per game), rested after playing two straight games — including the night before — after missing the previous six due to a left hamstring. injury.
The Clippers have three days off before playing the Houston Rockets at home on Sunday.
“This is a good time for us,” Lue said. “I think playing every day, or every other day for the entire month of November, was a tough schedule. But our guys fought through it. What, we’re 14-10? Twenty-four games in 43 days. I thought our guys really rose to the challenge every night and this was the one game where I thought it got away from us from start to finish, and that happens.”
From the start, the Clippers knew it was going to be a long night.
They were held to 14 points in the first quarter, shooting just 27.3% from the field and 15.4% (two for 13) from three-point range. They scored 32 points in the first half, 28.6% overall and 21.7% from three.
Meanwhile, the Clippers gave up 33 points in the first quarter. Minnesota shot 54.2% from the field and 46.7% (seven for 15) on threes. Forward Julius Randle scored 16 of his 20 points in the quarter.
“Julius got them going and got off to a good early start,” Lue said. “And we couldn’t score the basketball.
“It’s quite difficult when you play from the back, you can’t score and you can’t make a shot. … They came out and punched us in the mouth, but we weren’t ready to go yet.”
James Harden missed his first eight attempts, including four three-pointers. He scored his first points on two free throws late in the second quarter. He made his first field goal with 6 minutes, 21 seconds left in the third, on a three.
He completed his night by going one for 10 from the field and one for six from three-point range, scoring a season-high five points after averaging 22.3.
Backup guard Bones Hyland led the Clippers with 18 points.
“We just didn’t play well,” Lue said. “Like I said, that was probably one of the few games of the season where we really couldn’t score, we couldn’t defend and we were a step too slow. So it happens. It will probably happen a few more times before the end of the season. But it just depends on how you deal with it, how you bounce back from it.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
