Kawhi Leonard scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals on Sunday to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 National Basketball Association (NBA) victory in Minnesota.
The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27.
“Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said.
“Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.”
Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest.
“Just wanted to come out early in the game and set a tone for us on the defensive end,” Leonard said. “I reached for the ball, I got it and we got off in transition.”
After dealing away James Harden and Ivica Zubac at the NBA trade deadline, the Clippers played with spark as they awaited the arrival of new players.
“We’ve got a good group,” Leonard said. “Guys are level-headed. They love to play basketball. We’re just going out and competing every night.”
Leonard delivered 24 points in the first half on the way to his fourth 40-point performance of the season for the Clippers, who closed the second quarter with a 20-6 run for a 54-42 half-time lead and never looked back.
Days after French big man Rudy Gobert had called out teammates for “unacceptable” poor effort, the T-Wolves struggled again with their second-fewest points in any game this season.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 23 points while Julius Randle added 17.
Kris Dunn of the Clippers was ejected late in the fourth quarter after shoving Randle in the back to spark a shoving match that was broken up by teammates.