Here’s an interesting fact for you. The Minnesota
Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Clippers have played each other three times so
far this season. You know what the record is between these two teams? 3-0
Minnesota.
Yeah that surprised me too. How can a team that is composed
of Kevin Love and a band of misfits beat a team with Blake Griffin and Chris
Paul three times in a row? This is the same Clippers team that has already
beaten the Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas
Mavericks this season. They can’t beat the Timberwolves even once?
This is why basketball is such an interesting sport. No
matter how good a team is there is always a team out there that will give them
matchup headaches. For the Clippers it seems to be the Timberwolves.
And one Timberwolf in particular that seems to haunt them
the most is Kevin Love. Two of the three games that these two teams have played
against each other have been decided by three points or less.
The very first game was in Los Angeles back in January. Love
hit a three at the buzzer to pull out a 101-98 victory for the Timberwolves in
that one.
Love’s statistics weren’t very lofty in their second meeting
which was also on the Clippers’ home court. Love only managed 10 points and
seven boards but they won by a 12-point margin despite huge games by Paul and
Griffin.
So after two losses in Los Angeles the Clippers were set on
exacting their revenge on Minnesota’s home court on Monday. Love wasn’t having
that though and ended up having the biggest game of any player who has
participated in the series so far this year.
Love erupted for 39 points and 17 rebounds going 13 of 25
from the floor, 5 of 10 from behind the arc and hitting 8 of his 11 free throw
attempts. Although the highlights on Sports Center featured Griffin’s athletic
dunks, they failed to showcase the dominant game that Love had over Griffin on
the night.
Lob City has been great for the sports show highlights but
three straight losses to the Timberwolves shows that there are still some major
deficiencies that the Clippers need to address.
One major issue is Griffin’s need to improve his game away
from the basket. We all know he can jump over tall buildings in a single bound
but when will he ever develop a consistent jump shot?
Many of Griffin’s numbers are down from last season which has
to be baffling to Clippers’ management who were hoping that Paul’s presence
would help Griffin improve but it has not. Griffin’s rebounds, scoring, assists
and free throws are down from his rookie season.
Love has also seen his rebounding numbers and his shooting
percentages decrease but he has improved his scoring by almost five
points-per-game. Love has increased his scoring by at least three points per
game every year he has been in the league which is impressive considering the
inconsistent play Minnesota has had at the point guard position during Love’s
time in the league.
So can we expect more dominance by the Timberwolves over
their Lob City foes? Even if Minnesota makes it to the playoffs it is doubtful
these two teams will see each other then unless both make it to the second
round.
They do still have one more regular season game to play in
Minnesota on April 12th so the pressure is on the Clippers not to
get swept. I can imagine that Timberwolves’ fans will have their brooms ready
for that one though.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and is also an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist and add him on Facebook Roosevelt Hall Thesportmentalist.
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