MINNEAPOLIS-- — The Clippers falter late leading to a 93-92 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. Los Angeles dropped to 1-2 in the group stage of the NBA Cup. The Clippers are now 12-9 and finish 2-2 on their four-game roadtrip. Next up for the Clippers is a Sunday night matchup against the Denver Nuggets.
Here are some takeaways from the Clippers loss to the Timberwolves :
Harden stuffs the stat sheet
James Harden continues to be a do-it-all player for the Clippers.
In the loss against the Timberwolves, Harden scored 20 points adding 11 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals.
Harden didn’t shoot particularly well from the field shooting just 7-for-20 and 3-for-9 from three.
He has been the engine that makes the team go or stall. When he plays well the team win and when he struggles they lose.
Harden has to do everything and more to help the Clippers succeed without Norman Powell and Kawhi Leonard.
Los Angeles fail to finish late
The Clippers held a three-point lead with 4:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. They could get the buckets and stopped needed to finish with the win.
Los Angeles went 0-5 from the field the rest of the game and had two turnovers in the last 4:10.
This was a game the Clippers had in the bag but bad execution and mistakes cost them.
The Clippers will have to find ways to win games like these if they hope to keep up in a very competitive Western Conference.
Zubac continues his double-double streak
Ivica Zubac has been one of the better bigs in the NBA this season.
His scoring in the paint and rebounding has been crucial to the surprising success of the Clippers.
Zubac was one of the few bright spots for the Clippers in the loss. He scored 16 points and added 13 rebounds to make it sixth straight double-double.
This was the 14th double-double on the season for the eighth year pro from Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Zubac has been a huge positive so far this season averaging 15.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and a block.
