Wolves shake off slow start, beat Clippers with new-look starting lineup

Just days after indicating he had no plans to make changes to the starting lineup, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch decided to reverse course and make a change. Donte DiVincenzo made his third start of the season on Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers in place of Mike Conley. This time his start wasn't because of an injury absence.

Conley wasn't ruled out for injury or rest; he was active and saw his usual workload. It appeared to be an intentional change to try and jump-start a Wolves team that's had a tendency to be slow-starters this season. The new-look starting five didn't fix that issue, but the Wolves overcame a slow start in a 108-106 win over the Clippers Monday in Minneapolis.

The win snaps a three-game skid for Minnesota.

Anthony Edwards made sure the Wolves would snap the skid in the final minutes. He hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with just over three minutes remaining, then another go-ahead 3 with just over a minute remaining, and after the Wolves (18-17) stopped the Clippers (20-16) on the other end, Edwards hit another 3 for a 106-101 lead with 34.4 seconds remaining.

Edwards finished with a game-high 37 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

It wasn't a pretty start for the new starters. They scored just seven points in their first six-plus minutes of action, and the Wolves trailed 13-7 when Finch made his first substitutions. Things started to snowball through the rest of the first quarter and into the second, and Minnesota found itself down by as many as 19 points during the second frame.

But a familiar lineup made an appearance in the new rotation featuring Conley, Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid — the group that was Minnesota's starting five during Karl-Anthony Towns' injury absence last season. That unit closed the second quarter on a 23-11 run over the final 7:29 to cut their deficit to 53-46 at the halftime break.

Then the new-look starting five found its rhythm in the third quarter. They opened the third on a 23-13 run, and Edwards scored 15 points in the quarter as Minnesota was able to turn the tide and take a 77-76 lead into the final quarter of play.

Conley looked more like himself, particularly in the lineup with Reid, Edwards, McDaniels and Gobert, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists off the bench. DiVincenzo had 15 points and eight rebounds in his start.

Reid added 18 points off the bench, and McDaniels scored 11. Rudy Gobert had eight points and 18 boards.

Norman Powell led the Clippers with 25 points. James Harden had 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.