MINNEAPOLIS — The Clippers made mild progress on their turnover issues, but they couldn’t avoid a fourth straight loss.
LaMelo Ball had a season-high 24 points and seven assists as the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away for a 127-101 victory over the Clippers in the NBA Cup group-play opener for both teams on Friday night.
Jaden McDaniels finished with 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves (4-2), who snapped a two-game skid and offered a glimpse of how they can still thrive while star guard Anthony Edwards recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery. Former Clipper Bones Hyland added 19 points and eight assists off the bench.
Darius Garland scored 24 points on 10-for-22 shooting (4 for 8 from 3-point range) to lead the Clippers (1-4), who haven’t won since their season opener against the Sacramento Kings. Brook Lopez had 13 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Rui Hachimura returned to the starting lineup with 12 points after sitting out the previous game with a quadriceps injury.
Rookie guard Keaton Wagler also had 12 points but shot 2 for 11 from the field. Starting center Isaiah Jackson had 10 points, a team-best seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and four blocked shots in 22 active minutes.
The Clippers, who had been averaging a league-worst 23.5 turnovers per game, had 17 on Friday, but the Timberwolves dominated the paint, where they outscored the Clippers 62-42. Minnesota led by as much as 29 points and never trailed by more than three.
It was the first victory for Minnesota since the team lost Edwards to a knee injury for the next two months. Ayo Dosunmu made his second straight start in Edwards’ place and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Timberwolves jumped out to an early double-digit lead.
A 21-7 run put Minnesota on top by 11 points with less than a minute remaining in the first period. McDaniels made a driving layup to start the run, which included back-to-back 3-pointers by Trey Lyles and Hyland.
By halftime, the Timberwolves had increased their lead to 13 points. McDaniels missed a shot from 12 feet in the final minute of the first half, but Rudy Gobert got the rebound and made a putback layup to put Minnesota on top 69-56 with 24.6 seconds to go.
The Clippers fell further behind after the break. Derrick Jones Jr. made a floater to cut the deficit to nine points with 7:46 left in the third quarter, but the Timberwolves responded with a 17-9 run to pull ahead 94-77 with 1:46 remaining in the session.
The Clippers cut their deficit to eight points early in the fourth quarter, but Dosunmu drained a 3-pointer with 8:18 remaining to push Minnesota past the 100-point mark and kick off a 23-2 run that gave the Timberwolves a 29-point advantage. Ball, a former Chino Hills High star, made three 3-pointers during the run.
Backup guard Jaylen Clark relieved McDaniels from some of the defensive duty on Garland and helped force five turnovers by the Clippers star. Clark had five points, two steals and a plus-23 rating in 17 minutes.
Minnesota shot 53% from the field (51 for 96) and 42% from 3-point range (18 for 43) compared to 41% (35 for 85) and 40% (12 for 30) for the Clippers, who continue to play without several key rotation players who are nursing injuries, including two-time All-Star Brandon Ingram, Max Strus and veteran guard Bradley Beal.
After a 127-125 overtime loss at Cleveland on Monday, a fresh exam for Edwards indicated the need for the knee procedure after the wear-and-tear injury limited him to a career-low 61 regular-season games in 2025-26. The Timberwolves were out of sorts for most of a 119-114 loss to Golden State on Wednesday, before regrouping behind their new star Ball and the two-way excellence of McDaniels.
UP NEXT
The Clippers play at Golden State on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.