Edwards drops 31, lifts Wolves over Clippers

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The final possession felt inevitable.

With no Kawhi Leonard in uniform and the offense searching for late-game composure, the Clippers were hanging on by a thread Thursday night at Intuit Dome. And then Anthony Edwards grabbed the scissors. Edwards walked into Inglewood and dropped 31 points, punctuating the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 94–88 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in front of 17,649 fans with a cold-blooded dagger that sucked the air out of the building.

With 42.9 seconds left and Minnesota clinging to an 89-88 lead, Edwards caught the ball on the wing with little space and less sympathy. Guarded tightly and fading toward his own bench, he rose and buried a three-pointer that felt like it traveled in slow motion. It was his 29th point of the night — and the one that mattered most.

Two free throws on the next trip sealed it, giving Edwards 31 points, five assists and three rebounds in 36 minutes. He shot 12 of 24 from the field and 2 of 6 from beyond the arc, but efficiency hardly captured the impact. When the game tilted, Edwards pushed it over.

The Clippers, meanwhile, felt the absence of Leonard most when the fourth quarter tightened. In a game that was 44-38 at halftime and never found much rhythm offensively, execution late separated the teams. Minnesota outscored the Clippers 31-20 in the final period, winning the turnover battle and controlling the defensive glass when it counted.

The Timberwolves forced 19 Clippers turnovers, converting live-ball mistakes into needed offense in a grind-it-out contest. They also held the Clippers to 22.7 percent from three-point range — a number that underscores how difficult clean looks were to come by without Leonard’s shot creation.

Edwards had help. Donte DiVincenzo knocked down four of nine from deep and added 18 points, repeatedly punishing defensive lapses. Naz Reid chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench, shooting 50 percent from the field. Rudy Gobert scored just three points in 35 minutes, but his 13 rebounds and interior presence discouraged drives and erased second chances.

For the Clippers, the effort wasn’t absent — the closer was.

Derrick Jones Jr. led the way with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting in 32 minutes, providing energy and slashing when the offense stalled. Bennedict Mathurin finished with 14 points and six rebounds but struggled to find efficiency, shooting 4 of 14 and 0 for 4 from distance. Brook Lopez endured a tough night as well, going 2 of 12 from the floor for eight points.

The bench kept the Clippers afloat for stretches. Jordan Miller and Yanic Niederhauser each scored 10 points, Kobe Sanders added nine in 19 minutes, and Bogdan Bogdanovic chipped in eight. The Clippers’ reserves totaled 37 points — enough to compete, but not enough to counter a star finding his rhythm in winning time.

This is where Leonard’s absence resonates most. In tight games, when possessions shrink and defenses lock in, the Clippers lack the steady hand who can manufacture a clean look or settle a frantic sequence. The young core battled, but when Edwards rose for that fading three, the contrast was unmistakable.

The loss drops the Clippers to 27-31, now four defeats in their last five home games — a troubling trend for a team trying to stabilize after reshaping its roster at the trade deadline. They remain below .500, still searching for consistency and late-game clarity.

Sunday night brings the New Orleans Pelicans to Inglewood. If the Clippers are going to stop the slide, they’ll need more than effort. They’ll need a finisher.