Despite the defeat, this season is not over for the Clippers as their hopes for the playoffs remain alive. They will now play the winner of the play-in game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs. The winner of this game will secure the eighth seed in the West and face the first Phoenix Suns in the first round. However, before moving on to the play-in tournament, take a look at three key points from Minnesota’s win over Los Angeles

1. An epic poor performance by Karl-Anthony Towns

It’s hard to explain how badly Karl-Anthony Towns played against the Clippers, although his raw numbers help tell the story. Towns had just 11 points in 3 of 11 shots from the floor, along with five rebounds and four errors. He could not find any kind of rhythm in the attack, and he was clearly bothered by the physicality of Los Angeles. Foul problems forced him to be a coward defensively, so he did not play much of a role at the defensive end either. In the end, Towns fouled after playing just 24 minutes in the game. What is particularly worrying is the fact that Towns’s last two fouls showed a complete lack of awareness at the end. When you already have trouble, and how important Towns is to your team, you can not be reckless on the floor, and that was it. Towns finished the game with more fouls (six) and caps (four) than goals (3). It is amazing that the Timberwolves were able to win the game despite Towns’ poor performance, which brings us to our second package.
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2. Anthony Edwards, D’Angelo Russell rescues Minnesota

Towns chose a difficult time to undoubtedly have their worst game of the season, but fortunately for Minnesota, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell opened the scoring. Both players made big shots for Minnesota, and their combined production was a major catalyst in the competition. Edwards finished with 30 points and five rebounds and Russell had 29 points and six assists. Both players were awesome and certainly gave the Minnesota fans a reason to be optimistic about a difficult series with a very good Grizzlies team. If these two can continue to play at a high level – and the Towns are back – it will be difficult for Memphis.

3. Paul George did his thing

The Clippers could not leave with a victory, but not due to lack of effort on the part of Paul George. In 41 minutes of action, George scored 34 points (including 17 in the third quarter alone), grabbed seven rebounds and shared five assists while playing his usual solid defense at the other end. He also failed six of his 12 long-range attempts. Eventually, George’s production was not enough and he could have used a little more help. Reggie Jackson (17 points) was the team’s second top scorer and only two other players – Norman Powell and Marcus Morris Senior – scored in double digits. In their next game, the Clippers will have to do a better job by giving additional scores around George.