Only 3-for-10 on his first 13 free-throw attempts Sunday, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert made four consecutive ones when it mattered most in a 109-105 victory over the surging Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center.
His four made without a miss in the final minute allowed his Wolves to push back against a Clippers team that trailed by 17 points early in the fourth quarter but by as few as three at 103-100 with little more than a minute left.
But Gobert’s late-game shooting helped the Wolves regain a 109-103 lead they never lost. The victory enabled the Wolves to keep the best record in the Western Conference at 28-11, after Oklahoma City had matched them on Saturday night.
Anthony Edwards scored 20 of his 33 points in the third quarter. The Wolves had quietly listed Edwards as questionable on their injury report Saturday night because of a left knee contusion. But coach Chris Finch called him “good,” and he was in the normal starting five along with Karl-Anthony Towns, Gobert, Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels.
Good, he was. Better than that in the third quarter.
Held to 11 points in the first half, Edwards’ big third quarter helped lift his team from a 46-45 halftime advantage to an 81-68 after the Wolves outdid the Clippers 35-23 in the period.
He did so by getting to the basket at will and with three-pointers hoisted, including a made one that ended the quarter.
The Wolves led by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter’s opening minutes. The Clippers weren’t done, but Gobert’s free throws helped the home team hang on. Towns scored 17 points and Gobert had 15 points and 18 rebounds.
The Clippers arrived Sunday night winners of three consecutive games, five of six and 17 of 20. They won Friday at Memphis 128-119. That stretch followed a six-game losing streak back in early November.
They led the league in three-point percentage, at 39.3%, as well.
At 25-13, they also arrived in fourth place in the West, two games behind the Wolves.
The Clippers had done so with three stars — Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and newcomer James Harden — in their starting lineup and another, Russell Westbrook, coming off the bench.
George and Leonard both arrived averaging nearly 24 points a game while Harden averaged 17.1 points and 8.5 assists.
A 10-time All-Star guard, Harden was acquired in a seven-player, five draft pick trade with Philadelphia last October, just as the season started.
“He makes everybody better with his passing,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said about Harden before the game. “He’s an elite passer, sees the floor. In pick-and-roll, he can make every pass on the floor and he can score for himself, both going downhill and step back for the 3. So when you watch him play now, he’s almost playing the perfect game, just really is.
“He’s out there distributing, staying aggressive when he needs to, making his teammates better, putting a ton of pressure on the defense, whatever coverage they’re in. He’s always making the right play.”
The Wolves trailed 5-2 early, but they responded quickly with a 14-2 run that featured both Towns and Edwards and built the Wolves a 16-7 lead by midway through the first quarter.
They led by as many as 13 points in that first quarter, using a 5-1 disparity in three-pointers made to create that double-digit lead.
The Wolves led 29-19 after the quarter, but the Clippers answered back with an 18-9 run of their own that was punctuated by Leonard’s three-pointer created by Harden penetration and pass with 4:40 remaining before halftime.
The Clippers trailed 46-45 at halftime after Wolves point guard Mike Conley finished the first half with a three-pointer with 1:18 left and Edwards ended the half’s scoring with his 10th and 11th points.
Leonard made both threes he attempted and scored 14 point first-half points. George, meanwhile, was just 1-6 on threes and 1-10 overall with McDaniels defending him defending him all over the floor. Harden was 0-3 on threes himself and 1-6 overall from the field.