Bill Simmons had Ryen Russillo on his Sunday podcast to break down all the biggest happenings in the NBA. They touched on LeBron James scoring 40,000 career points, disappointing players, and the Boston Celtics’ win over the Golden State Warriors. But first, they touched on the Los Angeles Clippers’ win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon.
“I think we should start with the Clippers’ win,” offered Russillo.”
“Okay, let’s go,” prompted Simmons. “What did you see?”
“Well, they lost the first two against Minnesota,” said Russillo. “So, as you’re trying to figure out all the top teams in the West, going like, ‘Okay, do the Clippers have a Minnesota problem? Does this team have an OKC problem?’”
“The rock, paper, scissors thing?” Simmons clarified.
Russillo then dove into the Clippers-Wolves game and how it highlighted some of Minnesota’s issues.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Perfectly said. And one of the things I was looking for with [Russell] Westbrook having this injury now, would that change Ty Lue wanting to go small? Because when I went back to Game 1, which Ant went off in the third quarter of that one, and it ended up being a close final score.
Game 2 wasn’t close at all, so we didn’t have to worry about some of the Minnesota clutch numbers, so that was something else that you were looking for here. Because after a great start by Minnesota [in Game 3], they’re up 30-15, Clippers went on a 16-0 run. It was just back and forth, a game in the 80s, not something we’re necessarily used to, although I guess in the last couple days (there have been more games with that score).
But when I look at the combination of center minutes in Game 1, it was 38 minutes. In Game 2, it was 37 minutes. But I felt like they were smaller or tried to get back in that one smaller, but that one’s kinda misleading because the score was so lopsided. But [Game 3] was 48 minutes of bigs, and it was [Daniel] Theis, for the most part. He played almost 30 today.
“In crunch time, too,” Simmons added.
Russillo continued.
Yeah, so you wonder if the Clippers’ small strategy at times is something against Minnesota, where it’s like, even though other teams have tried to get Gobert stuck by having to chase a lot of people, getting them away from the rim, and maybe Thies, in theory, is supposed to pull Gobert away a little bit, you also have to worry about the Towns part of it.
Whatever you think of Towns, and he wasn’t great today, to have the two bigs, it was just something I was looking for, and it was an increase in minutes there, at least for Theis and the combined center minutes we got from that group, and Kawhi [Leonard] and Norm [Powell] carried it.
Simmons looked at how Westbrook’s absence affected the matchup.
But no Russ, because Russ hurt his hand, and he was out. And that was like one of Lue’s kinda fun, weird small-ball lineups, with Russ basically as the point-center, or whatever the hell he was. So he didn’t have that option, which is one of the reasons he did the center thing.
I was struck by the score and how hard it was for people to get good shots. The final score was 89-88, which, a lot of times, is like heading into the third quarter of games you’re watching in the ‘24 season. Neither team is over 39% shooting, and a lot of my fears for Minnesota were borne out by what I watched the last five, six minutes.
I just don’t love the shots they get, Russillo, and if you’re gonna play, ‘Let’s pick apart each contender, that would be how I picked apart Minnesota. There’s a little bit of a knucklehead factor of them down the stretch. But I don’t love the shots, and it basically turns out to be either Edwards or Towns with not a lot of help, not a lot of action. Those guys are either gonna one-on-one or posting up. It just feels stiff to me.
I don’t know whether this team gets bounced in Round 1 or they make it to the Western Finals, but neither outcome would surprise me at all. But if they get bounced in Round 1, it’s gonna be because of the shot selection late. I just don’t like it. I just think other teams have better options.
“You think they’re gonna lose to an 8-seed if they’re the 1-seed?” asked Russillo.
“I’m just saying everything is on the table for me with them,” Simmons clarified.
Russillo disagreed.
I wouldn’t go that far. But I’m sharing the same concern, although three or so minutes to go, I started tracking the possessions. And believe it or not, they actually had some good possessions there late after what looked like a grind. So, we’re agreeing here. I’m just going, ‘Okay, how many times are they actually gonna get a good look the last three minutes, and there are a few in there?’
Russillo goes on to raise concerns about Anthony Edwards’ late-game execution, and Simmons questions whether the Wolves got fair value on Mike Conley’s contract. They also make a case for the Timberwolves to go on a championship run.
Regardless of whether you agree with Simmons and Russillo on each point, the entire segment is worth a listen. The Timberwolves have suddenly become one of the most intriguing teams in the NBA.
