Anthony Edwards scored 37 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 28 and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves ended a two-game skid on Tuesday by rallying for a 118-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, who lost Kawhi Leonard after one quarter.
Mike Conley scored 23 points, Rudy Gobert added 11 rebounds and Kyle Anderson had 10 points as the Timberwolves improved to 2-2 since Karl-Anthony Towns went down with a knee injury. Towns underwent surgery earlier Tuesday and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
Paul George scored 22 points and James Harden added 12 for the Clippers, who have lost consecutive games to the Milwaukee Bucks and Timberwolves.
Norman Powell scored 11 points and Ivica Zubac added 10 points to go along with eight rebounds for Los Angeles, which lost Leonard after one quarter because of back spasms. Leonard played all 12 minutes of the first period and had six points as the Clippers took a 34-21 lead.
Los Angeles pushed its advantage to as many as 22 points in the second quarter, but without Leonard’s defensive presence, the Timberwolves went on a 20-2 run before halftime to pull within four. Minnesota trailed 63-55 at the break.
It was more of the same in the third quarter, as Minnesota went on a 10-0 run early in the period to take a 69-68 lead. The Timberwolves closed the third on a 15-4 run to take an 84-78 lead into the fourth quarter.
A running jumper from Conley gave Minnesota a 93-83 lead with 9:42 to play shortly before Gobert departed while holding his left rib cage. He did not return.
A Conley 3-pointer with 6:16 to play gave the Timberwolves a 104-90 advantage, and his layup with 4:37 left had Minnesota up 111-94.
Conley scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and went 5 of 8 from 3-point range in the game. Walker went 5-for-6 from 3-point range as part of a 9-for-10 performance from the floor.
The Timberwolves avenged an 89-88 home loss to the Clippers on March 3 and won the season series 3-1.
–Field Level Media
