The story for the Clippers on Wednesday night was their list of injured players.
Yet, even without four key players, the Clippers had no choice but to push on against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Intuit Dome.
The problem was the Timberwolves pushed back harder in a dominating 108-80 win that included Minnesota taking a 41-point lead at one point.
Playing seven games in 11 days hasn’t helped the Clippers weather their injury issues.
Read more: Norman Powell and James Harden lead Clippers to dominant win over Portland
Kawhi Leonard remains out with what the Clippers are calling right knee recovery. He was joined Wednesday by Terance Mann (left middle finger fracture), Norman Powell (left hamstring injury management) and Kevin Porter Jr. (left ankle sprain).
The Clippers said Mann will have surgery Thursday and be reevaluated in three weeks. The team also said Kobe Brown has a herniated disc and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Porter missed his third consecutive game and Powell, the Clippers’ leading scorer (23.9 points per game) had played in two straight games after missing the previous six with the hamstring injury. But with this being a back-to-back game, the Clippers felt it was best to rest Powell.
“In our mindset, no matter who is on the floor, every night we want to play hard and compete on the defensive end,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Like, that’s got to be our staple every night and that’s what our team has given us so far these first (23) games. And, so, the next guy in the rotation, the next man up, they are going to come in and do the same thing. So, nothing really changes.”
From the start Wednesday, the Clippers could see 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, shooting 28.6% from the field and 21.7% from three-point range.
Meanwhile, the Clippers’ defense gave up 33 points in the first quarter.
Minnesota shot 54.2% from the field and 46.7% (seven for 15). Julius Randle scored 16 points in the first quarter, and he finished with 20 points.
James Harden missed his first eight field-goal attempts, four of them three-pointers. He scored his first points of the game 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-pointer.
He completed his night going one for 10 from the field and one for six from three-point range, scoring just five points.
Bones Hyland led the Clippers with 18 points.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
