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Clippers still working out lineup, suffer 108-101 loss to Timberwolves

Just as Minnesota snapped their three game skid, Los Angeles extended to a three-game losing streak Tuesday night.

LOS ANGELES – Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is still deciding how to move around his team full of veteran players and new additions but the clock is running out.

Following a 108-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, the Clippers with new additions Russell Westbrook, Bones Hyland, Eric Gordon and Mason Plumlee are now 0-3. Just five weeks before the start of the postseason the pressure is on Lue to make some difficult decisions with his stacked squad and return the Clippers to their winning ways.

How it happened: The Timberwolves entered the fourth quarter with an 86-75 lead. Just when Westbrook gave Clippers fans a glimmer of hope their team might comeback with a three-pointer to make it 101-105, Rudy Gobert responded with a dunk to suck the energy out of the building and essentially sealed the game.

The Clippers’ largest lead came came in the first quarter when they lead 32-20. Gobert gave Minnesota their first lead in the second quarter with a dunk to make it 53-51. An assist from Westbrook to Paul George allowed the Clippers to keep the gap close at the end the half with the Clippers trailing Minnesota, 58-56, but that would be as close as the Clippers would get to taking the lead.

What it means: The Clippers shut out February with a losing record of 4-6. Lue is still trying to figure out where to move his pieces, old and new, on the court. Nonetheless the team only has 18 games to figure it out and try to move up the standings. Tuesday’s loss, has the Clippers sitting at 33-31 and sixth in the Western Conference standings. 

Hits: Paul George and Kawhi Leonard led the way in scoring with 25 and 23 points, respectively. Ivica Zubac returned to the court after missing the last two games with a calf injury. Zubac scored 12 points and had nine rebounds and one steal in 28 minutes. Jaden McDaniels put on a show for Minnesota tonight with 20 points, six rebounds, one steal and a block.

Misses: What perhaps hurt the Clippers the most in this matchup was the amount of turnovers. The Clippers finished with 25 turnovers compared to the Timberwolves’ 19. Minnesota scored 29 points off of those turnovers. Marcus Morris went 0-3 in both field goal and three-point attempts. Meanwhile Norman Powell scored 13 points, but went 4-14 from the field. 

Stat of the game: Russell Westbrook continues to put up consistent stats for this Clippers offense. Tonight Westbrook finished with 14 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds on a 45% field goal percentage. In his first two games Russ combined for 18 assists and finished with 17 points and five rebounds in each.

Up next: The Clippers will now head up north for a two-game road trip, stopping first in San Francisco to face the Warriors and then in Sacramento for a re-match against the Kings. The Clippers are currently 18-16 on the road and the Warriors have all the momentum on their end heading into the matchup. Golden State won their last three games with their most recent one coming Tuesday night against the Trailblazers.

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