West Notes: Clippers, Kings, Timberwolves

Clippers

Somehow, the Clippers lost to the Bucks and the Bucks didn’t have Giannis Antetokounmpo. LA coach Tyronn Lue credited Milwaukee’s defense.

“When they went to that zone, I think we got a little jump shot-happy rather than keep attacking the basket and getting into the paint,” Lue told reporters. “I think we were in the bonus pretty early in the fourth quarter. They did a good job of going to the zone, and then we didn’t handle it well.”

The Clippers will host the Bucks in a rematch in Los Angeles on Sunday.

• In case you missed it, guard Russell Westbrook underwent hand surgery on Wednesday. The Clippers are hoping he can return before the playoffs. We have the full story here.

Kings

Coach Mike Brown suggested the Kings really blew it in Monday’s home loss to the Bulls.

“Obviously, everybody’s down because it was a winnable game,” Brown told reporters. “Even though we feel like we didn’t play well, we still felt it was a winnable game. We felt like we let this one slip through our fingers, and so it’s tough right now. It’s tough for anybody to swallow this one.”

The Kings held a 36-22 lead at the end of the first quarter and were up 56-49 at the half. They built that lead to 89-67 in the third quarter.

So yeah, this was a major meltdown.

• Sacramento also lost despite outrebounding Chicago by a 51-32 count, including 20-7 on the offensive glass.

Timberwolves

• The Timberwolves reclaimed first place in the Western Conference courtesy of Monday’s win over the Trail Blazers and the Thunder’s loss to the Lakers. Minnesota leads OKC by a half-game.
• Minnesota is now an NBA-best 30-9 against the West and 20-5 against teams under .500. The Wolves are also 23-8 at home.
• Coach Chris Finch on beating lower-ranked opponents: “It was a point of emphasis for us coming into the season.”