LA Clippers seek to avenge loss to Timberwolves in rematch

After a heartbreaking loss in Minnesota on Sunday night, the LA Clippers will seek revenge against the Timberwolves in Los Angeles.

The LA Clippers will again face off with the Minnesota Timberwovles tonight, this time in Los Angeles. The Clippers suffered a tough one on Sunday, losing 112-106 after hanging around all night with one of the Western Conference’s premier teams. Austin Rivers scored a career-high 30 points, Lou Williams went off for 23, and DeAndre Jordan chipped in another 17. However, LA failed to get significant contribution from the rest of the squad.

In order to win tonight, the Clippers will need to increase pressure on the defensive end and crash the glass. The Timberwolves hauled in 14 offensive rebounds the other night, 6 of which were grabbed by forward Taj Gibson. That’s an issue that needs correcting. Of course, that can be remedied by inserting Montrezl Harrell into the starting rotation with Jordan. But effort has been an even larger issue for this Clippers team, and that’ll be a much more difficult fix.

In addition, they’ll need to balance the scoring. Only three Clippers scored 10+ points on Sunday. Wesley Johnson struggled in particular against his former team, going for just 2 points and connecting on 1 of 10 FG attempts. It was an unusual performance for the 7-year veteran, who has experienced a revival this season.

The Clippers will not see Milos Teodosic return tonight. He’s appeared to completely recover from his plantar fascia injury suffered just 2 games into the season, and he even teased his return in an Instagram post yesterday, but the time still isn’t right. However, Danilo Gallinari is listed as questionable. His return is seemingly moments away.