The Timberwolves stayed close all game, but they just didn't have enough to close this one out as the Jazz looked unstoppable late in the fourth quarter. The Wolves move to 7-9 on the year and remain at the bottom of the Northwest Division. Minnesota was fresh off a three-point win over the Clippers and had a chance to move to .500 in this game, but the offense went stagnant late as Utah ran away with this one. Minnesota got double digit scoring outputs from all five starters as well as two reserves, but it just wasn't enough. This also became the first game, this season, that Kevin Love as unable to register a double-double. We'll get to some individual stats in a moment though... The Utah Jazz big men definitely outperformed Minnesota's, but ultimately the entire Jazz team just looked a step faster. Probably because they had yesterday off before tonight. Let's take a look at some of those individual statistics from tonight's key players...
Clearly, the Utah Jazz big men got the best of Minnesota's--they were the first team (of 16) that were finally able to halt Love's double-double streak. Millsap's mid-range jumper was unstoppable as he seemed out to prove he's talented enough to be an All-Star in this League. Big Al was facing his former team, he struggled with his shot a bit, but he crushed the boards & did plenty of damage in the paint. Devin Harris was recovering from a stomach flu and played just 22 minutes. Earl Watson stepped in and had a great game off the pine. For Minnesota, it was the third game in a row in which they had a different leading scorer. Tonight it was Ricky Rubio with a double-double (17pts, 11ast). The Wolves had plenty of scorers in double-digits. Even Wesley Johnson seemed to come alive, as he hit his first 5 shots, before missing a three in the final minute of the game. That's what Minnesota needs, especially when Love doesn't score 20-30 in the game--AND the Wolves are without their second leading scorer: Michael Beasley! Darko & Pek had 10 & 8 respectively and it's great to see those guys being successful on the offensive end. Kevin Love got in early foul trouble which allowed Williams to get into the game earlier. He finished with a bit of a mirror of Kevin Love's stats--both had 15pts & 8rebs, but Williams also added 2stls, turned the ball over just once, had fewer fouls and shot a higher percentage on less attempts in less minutes! Great game from D-Will, mediocre game from K-Love!
Had Minnesota's three-point shooting held out in that final quarter, they could have easily stole this victory, however they went cold in the final minutes and the Jazz cruised! The Jazz shot an amazing 52% from the field, doing a lot of damage in the key and on mid-range jumpers. Minnesota got crushed on the boards as the Jazz held a +11, a team with Kevin Love on the roster--shouldn't have that happen--BUT, all the Wolves' big men need to hit the boards! Surprisingly, the Timberwolves were once again able to limit their turnovers to just 11 and allowing 13 points. The Wolves were able to force 15, BUT they weren't able to convert as many points off of those!
That's all I've got for now, tomorrow the Wolves have the day off. I'll have some pictures from tonight's game up soon and I'll also be updating our home & stats pages. Tomorrow we'll have a video recap/highlights, updating our quotes page and putting ut a gameday preview for Monday's game vs. Houston! Stay tuned for all of that within the next 24 hours. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The Timberwolves are back-in-action this evening following an exciting three-point win over the Clippers in Los Angeles, last night. Minnesota is riding a three-game win streak and hopes to extend that in today's game in Utah. The Wolves' in-division rivals currently sit at #3 in the Northwest behind the Thunder & the Nuggets. Utah is currently 9-5 on the year and sits at #5 in the Western Conference.
The Jazz have certainly been one of the surprises of the NBA this season. Utah may have lost their franchise point guard, but they've got a plethora of capable big men: Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter, Paul Millsap & Derrick Favors. There biggest concerns remain in the backcourt starting Devin Harris (who Utah says they'll move sometime this season) & Raja Bell. And replacing Andrei Kirilenko whose contract expired this offseason, as he decided to not sign with any NBA team but rather stay in Russia to play this season--Gordon Hayward is Utah's new starting small forward. Minnesota's biggest advantage could easily be in the backcourt. If Ricky Rubio & Luke Ridnour can get themselves out of their shooting slumps and Wayne Ellington continues to come off the bench and score in double-digits. Kevin Love will have to battle in the paint against some of the best Western Conference big men. I highly doubt Darko will even come close to the output he had vs. the Clippers (22pts, 7rebs, 2blks on 10-of-15 shooting), Nikola Pekovic obliged with another solid game off the bench--8pts on 4-of-4 shooting! The Jazz are coming off a 3-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Utah dropped it 91-94 on Thursday in Utah. They'll come into tonight's game "fresh" and ready to play this upstart Wolves team, that's been just as much a surprise as them. Versus Dallas Big Al had 22pts, 9rebs, 2stls and Millsap had 16pts & 13rebs. C.J. Miles came off the bench and had 17pts in 22 minutes (this, of course, was the same guy who dropped 40pts on the Wolves in a game last season). Minnesota will again be without J.J. Barea. He didn't make the road trip this weekend, with a sore ankle, but should be back for the Wolves' games next week. Minnesota, will also, again, be without Michael Beasley as well as Malcolm Lee, Martell Webster & Brad Miller. Webster & Miller made the road trip, but aren't playing. Utah has three players that all COULD play, but they also MAY NOT play. Devin Harris is considered a gametime decision with a 'virus'. Josh Howard has a quadriceps injury, he was limited in practice yesterday and is considered day-to-day. Lastly, reserve guard Jamaal Tinsley was inactive for Thursday's game with an illness, no word on if he's doing better, a good chance he plays--especially if Harris can't go. If Harris is out, expect Earl Watson to get the start at the point. The Wolves were able to defeat the Clippers last night, but they were also able to limit some of their best players' minutes. Going down the line, Ridnour played 38 minutes, Love with 36 minutes, Darko with 34, Rubio with 32 minutes & Ellington with 31 minutes off the bench. Tipoff tonight is set for 8pmCT from the Energy Solutions Arena in Utah. A full gameday recap can be found on this site following the final horn. As always, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Writing this, my heart has not stopped pounding, I don't think a Timberwolves game has got me THIS excited, in years! If you went to bed early, I pray you've got it on your DVR! The battle was fierce and once again--the Wolves didn't give up and persevered! Let's just recap the final seconds, because my hands are still a little shaky! :) (I might be being a bit dramatic) With 20 seconds left in the game, Ricky Rubio found himself wide open for a corner three, right in front of the Clippers bench. He made just one field goal on the night--and it was that tying three-pointer with just 20 seconds to go. Clippers ball, tied 98-all, 20 seconds to go, of course they're going to Mr. Big Shot: Chauncey Billups. With just 6 seconds to go, Billups drove the lane on Rubio and went for the layup, Rubio was able to just barely tip the ball and the shot rolled off, a tenacious rebound by Kevin Love--Rick Adelman called the timeout with 0.9 seconds to go. The refs added 0.6 more on the clock--for 1.5 to go--still tied at 98. The final play, Kevin Love popped out to the arc and found himself wide-open, rose up and knocked it down as the buzzer sounded and the Wolves rolled out of the Staples Center with a 3-point W! If Love doesn't get that extension by early next week (before of course the Jan. 25th deadline), you're going to have a lot of furious Wolves fans (and you can trust me, when I say, there's A LOT more of them this season!). Surprisingly, Kevin Love didn't lead the Wolves in scoring! It was big man....Darko Milicic. We'll get to those stats in a moment however. The Timberwolves mounted a comeback after Clippers reserve guard Mo Williams was ejected. Over the final 6:21 of the game, the Timberwolves went on a 16-9 run which was part of a 24-9 run to close the game. The Clippers were without two starters: Chris Paul & Caron Butler. Paul out with a strained hamstring & Butler out with a hyperextended knee. The Wolves were without J.J. Barea who's missing this weekend's road trip with a sore ankle and of course, once again--Michael Beasley. Beyond the other three players (Lee, Webster, Miller) who haven't played this season. Let's take a look at some of tonight's key players...
Darko! was tonight's high man--he went up against he League leader in blocks per game: DeAndre Jordan and took his one post move as well as a handful of two-hand jams all over the Clippers post defense--that lead to a Minnesota +22 advantage in points in the paint (46-24). Kevin Love was happy to oblige with a bit of that paint dominance--along with him, Nikola Pekovic who had 8pts all very close-in shots: 4-4 FG in 12 minutes off the bench. The Wolves' guards struggled a bit tonight, but the boost came from the big men and Darko & Pek were A LOT of fun to watch! For Ricky & Derrick Williams, they each had 9 points in the game--all 9 of which (for each) came in the fourth quarter. For the Clippers, it was the opposite--the guards dominated. Williams & Billups led the way with two of the Clippers' top players out (Bulter & Paul). If Williams hadn't gotten ejected in the second half, his continued offense may have buried the Wolves permanently! Blake Griffin did outscore Love, but you've got to give the edge to Love--with that buzzer-beating, game-winner!
There were certainly a few things that caught my eye here. The first? The Clippers are averaging just 12 turnovers a game this season (an NBA low), however the Wolves were able to force them into 18--and grabbed 19 points off of them. For Minnesota--they turned the ball over just 11 times, but did allow the Clips to score 16 points. Obviously that has something to do with the Clippers being without their star point guard: Chris Paul--both on turning the ball over--and forcing turnovers! The second? The assist totals. Again, the Clippers without Chris Paul, 12 assists makes sense. The Wolves had a lot of better ball movement and had a +9 total. Lastly? The Timberwolves' +22 advantage in points in the paint. Blake Griffin did his damage inside, however DeAndre is clearly not a scoring center--of course, Darko usually isn't either! A lot of credit to Darko, Pek, Love & D-Will!
All right, I think I've recovered, it was an incredibly fun final quarter and I hope you stayed up late to catch it. I'll be posting some pictures tonight. I'll also be updating the stats & injury report pages tonight. Tomorrow we'll have some updates on the quotes page as well as a video recap/highlights and tomorrow's gameday preview vs. Utah. Thanks for reading HOWL! GO WOLVES! The Timberwolves will be facing the Los Angeles Clippers in this first of a two-game road trip (the Wolves face Utah on Saturday). The Wolves will be facing, arguably, the best team in Los Angeles! That title being thrust at them with the additions of Chris Paul & Chauncey Billups and the Lakers' loss of Lamar Odom. The Wolves are 6-8 on the season and 11th in the Western Conference, while the Clippers sit at 8-4 in this young season.
The Wolves are coming off an 8-point win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, where for the first time in a VERY long time--the Timberwolves won this one on the defensive end. Minnesota never gave up and heading into the final quarter with the outcome still in doubt, the TWolves were able to actually close a team out and secure a victory. The Clippers are coming off an exciting 2-point win over the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks. That game also took place last Wednesday--so both of these teams have had a day off. The Clips were without their new star Chris Paul who's sidelined with a hamstring strain (there's a chance he won't play tonight either). The game came down to the final seconds or second rather. With just one tick remaining on the clock, Mr. Big Shot rose up for a three and knocked it down. Billups hit the three to win 91-89. For the Clippers, their starting backcourt saw Chauncey Billups running the point and former-TWolf Randy Foye at the two-guard. Followed by Caron Butler, Blake Griffin & DeAndre Jordan. If Chris Paul isn't able to go tonight, I'd expect the same lineup OR the backcourt could be Mo Williams & Chauncey Billups who could match up well vs. the TWolves starting backcourt: Ricky Rubio & Luke Ridnour. For the Wolves, it'll likely be the same starting five: Ricky, Luke, Wes, Kevin & Darko. The only change I could see would be Nikola Pekovic into the starting lineup. I wouldn't count on it, but I'd be nice to see considering how awful Darko has been as of late & how effective Pek has been as of late. A bruiser like Pek vs. an athletic monster like DeAndre Jordan would be interesting to watch. Tonight, perhaps, Minnesota will prove their not the only team who can create "eye candy" alley oops via Ricky Rubio & Derrick Williams/Anthony Randolph. While Chris Paul, Mo & Chauncey toss up dimes to Jordan & Blake. Watching TNT last night, Shaquille O'Neal stated that if Blake didn't outperform Kevin Love tonight he would do the show in his underwear next week. A regular 25-15 performance from the TWolves' All-Star won't be out of the question. Blake is averaging 21.3ppg & 11.8rpg while Kevin Love counters with 25.2ppg & 14.5rpg. A Blake Griffin--Kevin Love matchup is clearly the key matchup tonight! If Chris Paul can go, it'll be fun to see how Ricky Rubio matches up with one of the top point guards in the League, as well. Ultimately, I'd expect a very exciting game in LA tonight. If the Timberwolves are able to come out and execute early on and contain the Clippers running game, while shutting down Blake on both ends, the Wolves could potentially snag a win on the West Coast tonight. That's all for now, we'll have a full gameday recap following the final horn as well as game pictures, video recap/highlights, updated stats & quotes page on on your MnTWolves Basketball Site: HOWL! Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves came into tonight's game looking awful from the very beginning. As a matter of fact it took them nearly four minutes to score their first basket (a 3 from Love). Things took a turn in the final quarter and Minnesota ran away with in the final minutes to seal a 93-85 victory for their 6th win of the season (making this their best start in 5 years!). While sending Detroit to a dismal 3-12! The Timberwolves mustered just 17 points as Detroit took a 17-20 lead after one quarter. The second quarter didn't go much better (shooting-wise), luckily Minnesota was able to keep it close through one half; 36-42. Detroit continued to let Minnesota hang around as they just couldn't push the lead far enough out of reach. Through three, Detroit lead by just 7 points; 71-64. It wasn't a pretty three quarters, however if you turned it off through three you missed a solid TWolves finish. Their bench got Minnesota back in the game (and kept them in the game!). The first ten points of the fourth quarter all came on Derrick Williams at the free throw line and two threes by Barea! Tolliver & Ellington then took the reins and a two threes by Tolliver, a BEAUTIFUL dunk and three from Wayne, made it 88-81 Minnesota with just under four minutes to go. Minnesota's final six points all came from the line (via Love & Rubio) as they sealed the win. Let's take a look at some of tonight's statistics from each team's key players...
Minnesota got a great game from their bench and Tolliver and Ellington are just a couple contributors of what was a 46-point outing in bench scoring for Minnesota. Their play in the final quarter helped create distance on the scoreboard and allowed Minnesota to cruise to a W in the final minutes. Love had his 65th career 20/10 game, played an astounding 43 minutes and grabbed an impressive 17 rebounds (6 offensive!). Ricky Rubio may have struggled to score from the field, however he stuffed the stat sheet in just about every other category. Right down the line 9pts, 8ast, 7rebs & 6stls. Just 1pt, 2ast, 3rebs & 4stls from a quadruple double! I'm seeing at plenty of triple doubles for the Euro-phenom in coming years! For Detroit, Tayshaun Prince & Ben Gordon kept them close. During the first three quarters it seemed like everytime Minnesota would score, Prince would knock down a jump shot on the other end. Plenty of times when Minny didn't score which allowed Detroit to get out to a 16-point lead at one point. Tolliver locked down on him in the final quarter, allowing him to score just 4 points in crunch time when Detroit desperately needed a bucket. Let's compare some team statistics from tonight's game...
The story? Minnesota's bench thrashed Detroit's! A whopping +30 advantage in points off the bench for Minnesota. The Wolves did a better job of limiting turnovers, but an even better job of limiting the points scored off of turnovers. All the while, they forced Detroit into 19 TO's which led to 23 Minnesota points. Beyond that, the Pistons left 11 points at the line, while shooting a solid 44% from the field. They make at least 15 of those 21 attempts it's a different last few minutes!
The Timberwolves also got reserve guard J.J. Barea back, he played 14 minutes and had 8 points, 6 of which came on two 3s in the final quarter. Check the injury report for updates on Beasley, Webster, Lee & Miller. Minnesota hits the road tomorrow as they'll face the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, followed by the Jazz on Saturday, before returning home on the 23rd vs. Houston. Thanks for reading HOWL! we'll have some pictures from tonight's game up soon as well as an updated stats page. Tomorrow we should have a video recap/highlights as well as a postgame report from Adelman. GO WOLVES! Before I moved forward with the preview, I'd like to point out (if you haven't noticed already) that we've changed the name of this site. We're now known as HOWL! Previously dubbed WeeblyWolves, it just didn't make sense to anyone (or me). Hope you enjoy the new name, but our same coverage all year round!
Wednesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be hosting the Detroit Pistons, in their 14th game this season, the NBA season is almost a fifth of the way over. At this point, the Wolves stand at 5-8 on the year. As of today (1/17), the Wolves are 5th in the Northwest Division and 11th in the Western Conference. The Detroit Pistons are currently 3-11 on the year and their new coach (Lawrence Frank) doesn't seem to be getting through to his new team. In their previous game, the Pistons lost by eight points to the Golden State Warriors; 99-91. Greg Monroe had a great game as there was simply no one who could match up with him in the post. Nikola Pekovic & Darko Milicic will have their hands full with Monroe who's actually playing much better under Frank. Detroit has looked for Monroe to be more of a scorer in the post. Opposed to last season where Kuester only asked him to defend and grab rebounds. The TWolves are coming off a 99-86 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday. A full gameday recap of that one can be found in the previous post of this section. However, it was Kevin Love (33pts, 11rebs) and Luke Ridnour (25pts, 9ast) leading the way for a Minnesota victory. I've been extremely impressed with Luke Ridnour. I don't know why or how he's playing so well lately, but it's just a lot of fun to watch. I think after retaining the starting job all last season, he doesn't want to be just a veteran backup and mentor and he's proving it with incredible scoring outbursts on surprising efficiency (leading MIN in FG% with 52%). Having Luke move to the two-guard in the starting lineup also helps him as he's being set up beautifully by the Wolves' rookie phenom Ricky Rubio. The Pistons have changed their starting lineups a few times this season. In that game vs. Golden State they started rookie point guard Brandon Knight, sharpshooter Ben Gordon, lengthy veteran defender Tayshaun Prince, versatile big man Jonas Jerebko & improved big man Greg Monroe. They've decided to move Gordon from the sixth man spot to the starting lineup and have moved Rodney Stuckey to the bench as their new sixth man. That's a pretty solid sixth man (he played 27min. vs. GSW and had 14pts, 6ast). For Minnesota, they'll be getting reserve guard J.J. Barea back into the rotation as he hasn't played since the Chicago game (where he sprained his ankle) that'll be great for the Wolves, especially since their two healthy point guards these past few games are both starting (which means a lot of minutes and two tired bodies). Michael Beasley & Malcolm Lee are still out and didn't practice yesterday. Martell Webster & Brad Miller did participate in practice, but neither will play today. For Detroit, Charlie Villanueva won't be playing as he's day-to-day with an ankle injury and didn't make the trip. Willy Bynum missed the game vs. Houston, with an ankle injury as well, but I haven't heard anything on him, so I'm not positive if he'll be playing. Damien Wilkins also missed the Houston game for a 'family matter'. Like Bynum, I'm unsure if he'll be playing tonight. It appears the Wolves will have just 11 healthy players tonight (up one from the past two games). The biggest concern for me is the reserve big men stepping up. These past few games, Anthony Tolliver & Anthony Randolph haven't been playing very well (at least on the offensive end). When the Wolves have just 10-11 healthy players, they're going to need output and scoring from the guys they've depended on less in the past. 2-4 point games from the "Anthonys" isn't enough. Big man Darko Milicic is playing less, but his defense seems to be picking up a bit as of late--he had 3 blocks in limited minutes vs. Sacramento and is leading Minnesota with 0.9bpg. Nikola Pekovic has also been a good punch off the bench, now that Adelman is giving him some minutes. Coach says Pek will get plenty of minutes vs. teams who have a big presence in the paint as he thought he did a really good job vs. Sacramento and their bruiser: DeMarcus Cousins. The matchup I'm most looking forward to is the battle at the point. Two rookie point guards, with very different approaches to the game and their position. This will be the third time I've watched Brandon Knight play. In the two games I watched, I only caught a quarter or so of both games, so it'll be fun to see how Knight fits into this Detroit team in a full 48. That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading, I'll be updating the injuries page shortly as well as adding some quotes from the past few days to our Quotes section so look for both of those within the next few hours. Lastly, this is the first post under our new name: HOWL! Hope you enjoy the new name and our continued coverage of your Minnesota Timberwolves. GO WOLVES! The Timberwolves were able to snap a three-game home skid, by defeating the Sacramento Kings 99-86 tonight. Minnesota was able to get back on track after a let-down loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night. The Kings were out to get a win as well, coming off a 39-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks. It was a great bounce back win for Minnesota. Ricky, Luke & Kevin were once again the reason for a W. We'll get to that in a second though. It looked bad early on for the Wolves as they let the Kings hang around. Luckily they were able to close the game out in the fourth behind 11pts from Love & 8pts from Ellington! It was a bit back and forth in the early going. Through the first quarter the TWolves took a 6-point lead; 28-22. In the second quarter, the Kings turned it up and outscored Minnesota by 10pts, leading 42-46 at the half. The Wolves bounced back in the third quarter. Outscoring the Kings 25-16; taking a 67-62 lead. After three quarters, Rick Adelman told his guys, they're in the exact same position they were after the first quarter, this time they need to build on it and close this game out, they did just that and grabbed their fifth win, on the year. Let's take a look at some stats from each team's key players tonight...
Kevin Love delivered his third-consecutive 30+ point game tonight vs. the Kings. An even crazier stat? The 11 rebounds he had in tonight's win, was his season low! I've got to admit, I think I'm more impressed with Luke Ridnour's play tonight. Luke had a season-high in both points and assists. Watching the game tonight and going forward, Ricky is certainly beginning to rub off on his teammates. A no-look pass from Luke to the paint tonight was a key example. Playing both Ricky & Luke together is incredibly effective--on both ends of the floor. Adelman has even said that he's pleasantly surprised that, that backcourt is doing a great job of guarding bigger guards. Ricky flirted with his first triple-double of his career and as always, he just makes his teammates better. Ellington had an awesome game and was a big part of closing out tonight's game. Coming off the bench, he had 15pts, 8 of which came in that final quarter. For the Kings, they didn't really have anyone lead the team. Their highest scorer(s) were: Marcus Thornton, Francisco Garcia & Jason Thompson--all with 12pts. Tyreke had a solid game running the point, however, he is averaging over 17ppg (before this game) and is a very capable scorer, had just 9pts on 27% shooting. The Kings also lost DeMarcus Cousins in the second half after he was 'hit' in the face by Pekovic on a rebound. Let's take a look at a comparison of team stats from tonight's game...
Minnesota's 24 assists is a season-high, as they were led by Ridnour (9) & Rubio (8). The Timberwolves shot well from deep, the field and the line, 24% from deep from Sacramento on 17 attempts didn't help them as they threw up a handful of threes in the waning moments of the fourth quarter. The Wolves turned the ball over just 13 times, which is one of their lower stats this season, however Sac-town was able to parlay those into 23 points! That's producing on just about every TO! In blocks, Minnesota had 7 of those within the first half!
Minnesota will practice tomorrow and Brad Miller & Martell Webster are both expected to participate in full-contact practices! J.J. Barea is also expected back. There's a very good chance J.J. will play Wed. vs. Detroit, though I wouldn't expect to see much of (if at all) Martell & Brad. Beasley will be re-evaluated tomorrow as well, but I doubt we'll see him on Wednesday, when asked, he said he'd be playing now if he could. Malcolm Lee did shoot a bit earlier today, but he's still a couple weeks away. A full injury report can of course be found under the "Team Report". That is all I've got on this one. I'll have some pictures up very soon and a video recap/highlights up tomorrow. Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES! Monday night, the Timberwolves are back home in the Twin Cities to host the Sacramento Kings. The Wolves are coming off a two-game road trip, facing the Hornets & the Hawks on back-to-back nights. The result? A 7-point win over New Orleans and a 2-point loss to the Hawks. The Timberwolves are now 4-8 on the year. The Kings are coming off a humiliating defeat at the hands of the defending champs: Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs crushed the Kings by 39 points; 99-60! You can expect these 4-9 Kings will bounce back and it should be a great battle at the Target Center.
The Wolves are looking for a bounce back victory following that 2-point loss to Atlanta, they had an 18-point advantage at one point, but the Hawks' second unit got them back in the game and they were able to steal the win in the final seconds of the game (you can find a full gameday recap in the previous post in this section). Kevin Love has returned to form after a couple of rough nights; shooting from the field. Love shot his way out of the slump during the two-game road trip. Against New Orleans Love had 34pts & 15rebs while shooting 47% from the field. In the game vs. Atlanta, Love had 30pts & 13rebs while shooting 46% from the field. Clearly, for the Wolves to be successful Love needs to contribute with these kinds of scoring and rebounding outputs. During that two-game road trip, Ricky Rubio got his first two starts of his NBA career and will likely now be a fixture in the Wolves' starting five. Against New Orleans, in 44 starter minutes (including all 24 second half minutes) Rubio had 12pts, 6rebs, 9ast, 3stls and shot 43% from the floor. In less time vs. Atlanta (35 min.) he had an even better game, scoring 18pts, 4rebs, 12ast, 5stls while shooting 48% from the floor. There's no doubt; when Rubio is on the court the Timberwolves play MUCH better, Luke's been playing great, but a small starting backcourt of Ricky & Luke has been more effective than I originally thought. For the Kings, looking at their starting lineup, they basically start three shooting guards. At PG: Tyreke Evans, SG: Marcus Thornton, SF: John Salmons. You could also argue their starting frontcourt is two power forwards: J.J. Hickson & DeMarcus Cousins. Chuck Hayes was the starter until he dislocated his shoulder and is currently out. The problem with starting three shooting guards? There's no one looking to facilitate! No one who wants to get the assists! The Kings are currently 30th in the League averaging 14.2 assists per game. A lot of one-on-one basketball! For Minnesota, you can expect they start that same lineup: Ricky, Luke, Wesley, Kevin & Darko. Against the Kings--they have a smaller starting lineup. That'll likely allow Luke to guard John, Wes to guard Tyreke & Ricky to guard Marcus. Against the Hawks, they struggled to match up vs. such a big lineup. I'm curious to see if Darko begins getting less and less minutes. Nikola Pekovic had a great game vs. Atlanta, in his first REAL game action (not just garbage time) in 17min. off the bench he had 7pts & 3rebs on 75% shooting. For a starting lineup looking to begin games "quicker" a better scoring center may move himself into the starting lineup... It'll be a battle at the Target Center Monday night, I'm going to the game in what will likely be a packed house thanks to Kevin Love's ticket offer. I won't be going to the free Detroit game, but if you haven't checked out his 'offer', you should definitely do so, it's very cool! If you buy a ticket to the Kings game, Kevin Love will purchase your ticket to the Pistons game of the same value! That's all I've got for now, I'll probably put up a few pictures and some updates via Twitter from the Target Center on Monday. You can follow me @donnycersado27 for that! Thanks for reading, enjoy the game, I know I will, GO WOLVES! Not just trouble closing out the game tonight, but also maintaining the lead. The TWolves were up 18 late in the third quarter and seemed on their way to a back-to-back victory, but in the final 15.5 minutes of the game, the Hawks went on a 40-20 run, erasing that once sizable lead and running away with a narrow 91-93 win. With under 30 seconds to go, Ricky Rubio found himself open for a three. He drained it, which tied the game at 91. The ensuing possession, Josh Smith threw up a three which came off as a long rebound over Kevin Love's head. The Hawks rookie Ivan Johnson snagged the board, plowed over Kevin Love and was fouled on the shot. He went to the line for two and nailed 'em both. Following a Timberwolves timeout, and 4.1 on the clock, Kevin Love took a three for the win, didn't find the bottom of the net & the Hawks sealed the W. Looking back, the questionable call came in the final seconds. That Ivan Johnson rebound and attempted putback where he plowed over Love, clearly looked like a charge the first time I saw it. On the replay, it still looked sketchy. But, I played it back about ten more times, he was set and it should've been a charge! Tough call to make for the refs...but they didn't even make one blocking or charging. Nothing you can do now. The Wolves drop to 4-8 on the year as Atlanta improves to 9-4. Let's take a look at some of tonight's key players statistics tonight...
Minnesota got a huge lift from Kevin Love & Ricky Rubio. 13 of his 30 points came in the 3rd quarter. The Hawks did a solid job of keeping him off the boards in the first half, allowing just 4rebs through the first two quarters. Ricky had his 5th double-double of the year and every minute he's on the bench isn't good for Minnesota! Ellington came off the bench and 9 of those 13 points came in the 4th quarter, the other 4 in the second quarter. Nikola Pekovic also saw the floor quite a bit today, in 17min. he had 7pts, 3rebs, 1ast, on 3-of-4 FG, 1-1 FT, but also 3tos & 3fls...could be in line for more playing time...or he only saw the floor so much, because he was going up against Zaza Pachulia & Jason Collins. For Atlanta, they got a great lift off their bench from Ivan Johnson. 4 of his 11 rebounds came on the offensive end, including that big one that got his team the win, in the final seconds. I watched the final quarter of that Miami-Atlanta game last week and I remember Chris Bosh postgame, when asked about Ivan Johnson, he responded: Yeah, he was huge for Atlanta tonight, I'm gonna be honest he wasn't even on our scouting report (I'm paraphrasing, of course). For Joe Johnson, he had a good game, the Wolves simply didn't have any big guards to match up with him. Wesley did all right, but he's just too good a scorer. For Teague, it seemed way too easy for the quicky guard to slice his way into the lane. Let's take a look at some statistics for each team tonight...
Minnesota had a rough night from three and for a team that relies on that a lot, shooting under 20% hurts, big time. After getting to the line 38 times last night, the Wolves went to the line just 12 times, but made all but one. The Hawks held a +11 on the boards as well as a +20 on fast break points, led mainly by Jeff Teague. The Timberwolves were actually able to force the Hawks into more turnovers and turn them into more points. If you look at the stats, for such a close game, there's few things you can point to and say: that's why they won! Atlanta did grab 22pts at the line and with seven made threes they snagged 21 points.
The Timberwolves have tomorrow off, they'll be back in action vs. the Kings on Monday. I'm heading up to the game, should be a good one back at the Target Center with Evans, Thornton & Cousins coming to town. Stay tuned for a gameday preview of that one coming out tomorrow as well as some pictures and video of tonight's game...coming soon. Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES! Back in action. The Timberwolves will be facing the Atlanta Hawks in the second game of this two-game road trip. The previous--yesterday's win over the New Orleans Hornets; 87-80. The Timberwolves have had just 10 healthy players for this road trip, as they're without key players: J.J. Barea & Michael Beasley (and of course three players that haven't played at all this season: Martell Webster, Malcolm Lee & Brad Miller). Minnesota currently sits at 4-7 on the year, while Atlanta is 8-4.
For the Hawks, they should be 'fresh' as they haven't played a game since Thursday: a 111-81 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, in there first game without starting center: Al Horford. Horford, of course, is out, likely for the season with a torn pectoral. Before losing Horford, the Hawks really looked like contenders in the Eastern Conference. Without Al down low, I'm not sure they've retained that status. That being said, I think they'll still make the playoffs: on the backs of Josh Smith & Joe Johnson. In the game vs. the Bobcats, the Hawks were led by J-Smoove himself, with 30pts & 13rebs & Joe J. with 23/7/8. In that game, they were without two swingmen: Marvin Williams & Tracy McGrady. Williams with a sprained left ankle and T-Mac with back spasms. Starters for that one: Teague, Johnson, Radmanovic, Smith & Pachulia. I haven't heard anything about T-Mac or Marvin, but I'd assume at least McGrady be able to go. Against the Hornets, the Timberwolves were also debuting a different starting lineup. Rubio, Ridnour, Johnson, Love & Milicic. Ricky Rubio got his first career start and I wouldn't expect any changes to Ricky as Minnesota's starting point. Johnson, who had been struggling had a solid game with 9 points, 7 of which came in the first quarter. Love of course had another great game: 34pts & 15rebs! For this one, Minnesota needs to contain the likes of Smith & Johnson if they want to win. A matchup of Smith & Love is definitely an intriguing one. An athletic, lengthy, high-flyer Josh Smith vs. a face-up shooting rebounding machine Kevin Love. Two players with entirely different styles, battling in the paint. We could also see a Johnson vs. Johnson matchup (Wes & Joe). I wouldn't expect this to be a great matchup, I just wanted to write Johnson vs. Johnson (twice!). With Pachulia as the starting center, it'll be 'amusing' to watch him in Darko go at it. I'm also excited/hopeful to see Tracy McGrady. I only caught a couple Detroit games last season. And looking at the box scores for Atlanta this season, T-Mac's always gonna be fun to watch. For our final score, I'm going with Minnesota by 3; 101-98. I'm not sure who Atlanta is going to get to score for them beyond Joe & Josh, but I'm feeling a close one, favoring Minnesota, moving them to 5-7 on the year. That's all for now, thanks for reading. If you haven't already check out the pictures and recap from the Hornets game under the "Gameday" section as well as the newly completed "All-Time Roster" under the "History" section on this site (and A-Z of every TWolves player--EVER!). GO WOLVES! |
Cody D. AndersonA Wolves fan bringing you Gameday Recaps all season long! 2014-15 Game ArchivesGameday Archives
December 2015
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