The Los Angeles Clippers play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

The Timberwolves (13-14) come into this matchup losing seven of their last 10 games. An injury to Karl-Anthony Towns (calf) is the thing that started this poor stretch, and it's hard to see this team getting much better without their superstar center. D'Angelo Russell, Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards have all been much better since he went down, but it's tough for any team to compete when their best player is sidelined. It's a sad revelation, too, because many people had this team pegged as a potential breakout. There's still time for them to do that but sitting below .500 through 27 games is certainly not an encouraging sign going forward.

The Clippers (16-13) just pulled off their most impressive win of the season on Monday. They manhandled the Boston Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA. More importantly, they had Kawhi Leonard play his best game of the year, dropping a season-high 25 points on 10-of-12 from the field. They've been waiting for this superstar to return to that form, and it's a scary sight for the rest of the NBA. Paul George and Marcus Morris all played well in that win, and it's the first time all year that those three guys have been clicking. That's why many experts picked the Clippers to go deep into the postseason, and this could be the start of a lengthy winning streak if this sort of play continues.

These teams played four times last season, with LA winning three of those. That gives the Clippers nine wins in their last 11 matchups with the Timberwolves.