The Minnesota Timberwolves successfully bounced back after an extremely disappointing loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. Minnesota responded to one of their worst outings of the year (which also included Kevin Love publicly bashing two of his teammates--justifiably so) by thrashing the Big Al-led Charlotte Bobcats that have now lost 7 of their last 8 games. While this win is important and it's GREAT, it's important to remember that the Wolves were facing a sub .500 team that is on quite the recent skid. Most want to glorify it as 'we beat the 7th-best defense in the NBA', but it's quite clear that this Bobcats team that allowed Minnesota to shoot almost 55% from the field and score 119 points (68 of them by halftime) is not the same defensive squad that was playing some pretty good basketball earlier in the season. So...while this win is great and much-needed, you've got to keep it in perspective and realize that these are the games you have to win. When the Wolves take down the Thunder, Warriors, Clippers, Spurs, Heat, Pacers, etc. Those are the kinds of games where I'm going to get really excited. All that being said, it was certainly a fun game to watch. The matchup of the night (for me) was pegged as Nikola Peković vs. Al Jefferson. Two big men that will ultimately go down as some of the best in Timberwolves franchise history. However, in tonight's battle is was undoubtedly Pek that came out as the victor. Al Jefferson got going early with 8 points in the first quarter and it seems as though he was well on his way to another big game against his former squad (remember when Pek was out last year and Greg Stiemsma had to guard Jefferson and Big Al subsequently went off for 40+). However, that was not the case! Those 8 points are all the damage he'd do in this one as the Wolves held him scoreless for the final 36 minutes (though he barely played in that fourth quarter). Pek on the other hand played 27 minutes and finished with 26 points on 71% shooting from the field as well as 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. I definitely liked Jefferson during his time in Minnesota and was sad to see him traded to Utah (for just two 1st rounders & Kosta Koufos), however that trade (and Darko's intense desire to give <10% effort in games) led to Nikola Peković's emergence as the Wolves' starting center. During Pek's time in Minnesota he's become not only my favorite Timberwolf of all-time, but also my favorite current NBA player! While Minnesota's starters had little trouble scoring at will against the Bobcats, it was the balanced attack that we saw that really gets me excited about the next few weeks for these Wolves. For the first time since March 3, 2012 Rick Adelman had a completely healthy roster at his disposal. As a result of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute returning from a groin injury that shelved him for 3 games, Robbie Hummel was inactive as was Shabazz Muhammad (currently on a D-League assignment). Everyone who was in uniform saw playing time AND everyone who played scored at least one basket. The best part about the game (beyond the starters' offensive dominance) was at long last a look at the second unit the way it was constructed. We finally saw J.J. Barea, Alexey Shved, Chase Budinger, Dante Cunningham and Ronny Turiaf take the court. The result was resounding success. With Chase on the floor and Shved playing MUCH, MUCH better, J.J. wasn't forced into the role of trying to do it all. Dante looked like he did a season ago--hitting open mid-range jumpers and playing his high-energy, hustle basketball alongside Ronny Turiaf who exudes an infectious energetic spirit whether he's on the court turning away big men at the rim, throwing the hammer down on a putback, setting a bone-shaking screen or him on the sidelines dancing after another Love triple. With the way Turiaf plays and the way he carries himself on and off the court, you can't help but love him. One of Minnesota's big problems has been the significant drop off when Adelman turns to his bench. It was so bad early in the season that Adelman knew he could no longer make 'wholesale' substitutions (in which no starter was on the floor) and instead began mixing his starting five with his underperforming reserves. We'll still see some of that for the remainder of the season, but there's no doubt that the return of Chase & Ronny has given Adelman a boost of confidence in his second unit. After a loss like the one they suffered on Wednesday and the comments that were made by Love, it was nice to see that everyone was able to move past it for the good of the team and that the team was able to respond with this blowout win. The true test will come on Sunday evening in San Antonio when they take on the Spurs. Regardless of whether or not the Wolves win, if we don't see the cohesiveness that we saw tonight, it'll be a clear indicator that the Wolves still have plenty of kinks to work out (with Chase & Ronny only being back for a handful of games...they ultimately do). Tonight's box score... The Wolves made a season-high 48 field goals and also pulled down a season-best 42 defensive rebounds while tying their season-high for total rebounds (54).
With big men like Al Jefferson, Bismack Biyombo and Cody Zeller it's somewhat surprising to see such a huge disparity in rebounding, but the Wolves held a +21 on the boards and grabbed over 91% of all available defensive rebounds. Charlotte's 4 offensive rebounds and 33 total rebounds are both season-lows for a Timberwolves opponent. The rebounding advantage is impressive, but not as impressive as Minnesota's playmaking. According to @TWolves_PR, tonight was the first time since February 22, 2009 (vs. Lakers) that the Wolves had five players with 4+ assists (Randy Foye, 6; Kevin Ollie, 6; Mike Miller, 5; Sebastian Telfair, 5; & Ryan Gomes, 4). Tonight it was Rubio & Dante with 6 apiece, 5 for J.J. Barea and 4 apiece for Love & Martin. Dante's 6 assists in 16 minutes are undoubtedly the most impressive of the pack and that sets a new season and career-high for the big fella. Sharing the rock with your teammates is a pretty good way to move past a situation in which your leader called you out in the national media. This Bobcat squad features 3 former Minnesota Timberwolves: Big Al Jefferson, Ramon Sessions and Anthony Tolliver. Of those three, the least 'high-profile' of the bunch was the one who definitely seemed to be at home playing back at the Target Center. TOLLI! The epitome of hustle and energy scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting which included a perfect 5-for-5 from deep. The Wolves ultimately decided to let Tolliver walk two summers ago (and he ultimately signed with the Hawks for one season and then signed with Charlotte this summer) and traded for Dante Cunningham. I loved watching TOLLI play and I definitely miss watching him. It was great seeing him do well tonight (and even better that we didn't lose as a result of his terrific effort). That's all for now, the Wolves will return to action vs. the Spurs on Sunday, enjoy the weekend and GO WOLVES!
0 Comments
The Minnesota Timberwolves are now 0-10 in games decided by four points or less. They're also 0-8 in their last eight attempts to get over .500. You want to know why the Wolves are a team currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture? Why they can't get over .500? It's because of games like these where limited effort is expended because after a couple of wins, the Wolves believe that the wins will simply come. Minnesota didn't play like a team wanting to win this basketball game. They didn't even look like a team that was playing not to lose. They just seemed to be going through the motions and 100 times out of 100 that's a recipe for disaster. The result is a loss to a team without one of their best players (Eric Bledsoe) in a game where you had numerous chances to get things going--AND in the final minutes to put the game away for good. Late mistakes doomed the Wolves as they let the run-and-gun Suns easily erase a five-point lead in the final minutes. With 40 seconds to play, the Wolves had the basketball and a 103-102 lead. For whatever reason they decided to let the clock run down before setting up a play with about 15 seconds to go on the shot clock. Love came up and set a pick and Rubio drove to the basket, but quickly found himself in trouble and attempted to dish a pass to an open Love. Rubio jumped up in the air to throw the pass and was off balance to boot. It travelled about two feet--right into the hands of big man Markieff Morris. The Suns quickly raced up court, but Suns head coach opted to call a timeout with 16 seconds to play and the Wolves leading by one-point. The play Hornacek drew up was a high screen by Channing Frye on Rubio to get Dragic free. Dragic came off the pick but quickly met the Minnesota bigs down low. He attempted a bad pass that nearly went out of bounds, but Markieff was able to corral it and find Gerald Green who took the fadeaway jumper that found the bottom of the net to give his Suns a one-point lead with 3.9 seconds to go. With 3.9 to go, the Wolves came out of a timeout and found Martin wide open on some low screen action and he quickly drove the lane and was hit a bit by P.J. Tucker (definitely not a foul call you'd make at that point), Martin's shot hit the front of the rim as time expired. The worst part about a game like this, is the dreaded feeling that this game was decided because the Wolves lost it and not because the Suns lost it. The way these two teams played, no one really deserved to win--it was just an ugly game. Nothing the Wolves did on offense through three quarters was good. It wasn't until a few possessions in the fourth quarter when Pek got going and Brewer nailed a couple jumpers that it seemed that the Wolves would be able to pull away for the W. Instead it was one last run in the final minute by Phoenix that sealed one of the most disappointing losses of the year. Let's take a look at the box score... The Wolves didn't have an answer for the duo of Channing Frye and Goran Dragic. Unfortunately, the "Bruise Brothers" didn't do enough.
Love finished with a double-double: 15 & 12, but shot an awful 20% from the field & 20% from deep. Unfortunately, Love just couldn't get anything going--all night long. A 15 & 12 would be great for 90% of players in the NBA, but K-Love is a superstar in this League. There's no excuse for a 20% shooting night from one of the NBA's best. Nikola Peković struggled (like most) in the first half (just 2 points at halftime), but he added 6 points in the third quarter and another 9 in the fourth. He went to work on Miles Plumlee (who fouled out late in the fourth quarter), but his 6-for-16 shooting (38% FG) is just as unacceptable. Corey Brewer & Kevin Martin definitely led the Wolves in this one. Martin shot the same 6-for-16 as Pek (but there's a difference between a number of 15-25 foot jumpers from K-Mart as opposed to 3-foot bunny shots from Pek). Martin finished with a team-high 20 points, but all of those were scored in the first three quarters as he went scoreless in the final period. Brewer went scoreless in the first half on 0-for-3 shooting. He went 6-for-7 in the second half where he scored all 15 of his points which included a couple of big shots in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter as the teams exchanged buckets. Couple that with his big block on Goran Dragic and Brewer definitely had a good game--the same can't be said for the majority of his teammates. Tonight marked the season debut of Chase Budinger. After missing the first 34 games of the season, Chase swapped his sports coat & tie for the Wolves' green, white & blue. He finished with 6 points on 2-for-3 shooting (his lone miss coming on his first shot of the game--a corner three) 1 rebound & 1 steal. We watched it take plenty of time for him return to form a season ago after returning from the same injury--he's still on the road the recovery and you shouldn't expect him to explode for a 20 point game anytime soon. That being said--it's certainly nice to have a shooter who can actually hit shots coming off your bench. The Wolves will be back in action against the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night. The Philadelphia 76ers had won their previous four games coming into tonight's matchup with a Wolves team that had suffered some major disappointment following a narrow loss to a Thunder team playing without Russell Westbrook. The Wolves & Sixers kept things close through the majority of the first half, but Minnesota went on a run midway through the second quarter to take a 16-point lead into halftime. The Wolves scored 38 points in the second quarter--Barea, Shved & Pek all had 8 points apiece in that quarter to lead Minnesota. The Wolves made a killing off their red-hot shooting (especially from deep) as well as their perimeter defense--which forced a lot of Philly turnovers that the Wolves turned into easy buckets on their end. For the first time since November 1st, Ronny Turiaf suited up for the Wolves. His presence was most certainly felt. He didn't score at all (in fact he was the only Timberwolf that played that didn't), but he took just one field goal attempt. His impact was felt on the boards where he had a season-high 9 rebounds and in rim protection--finishing with 2 blocks (he now leads the Wolves in blocks per game). It's great to have him back in the rotation and it's great for the Wolves to have someone who can protect the rim, alter shots and simply be another big body in the lane. The Wolves continued their dominance in the third quarter. They outscored the Sixers by 15, 35-20 led by Kevin Love who had 16 of his 26 points & Kevin Martin who scored 11 of his 18. With the game well in hand and the Wolves over 100 points through three quarters (105-74), the starters sat for the remainder of the game. That meant that none of the starters played over 30 minutes in tonight's game. In fact, no player on either team played more than 30 minutes--both Love & Michael Carter-Williams played a game-high 29 minutes each. Adelman was able to empty his bench in the fourth quarter and everyone who was on the active roster played. Shabazz Muhammad would've played tonight had he been on the active roster--unfortunately he was already on his way to Reno to play for Minnesota's D-League affiliate, the Iowa Energy. Let's take a look at tonight's box score... Minnesota's 46 made field goals, 100 field goal attempts and 6 blocks all tie a season-high. The Wolves 16 made threes, 61.5% from deep and 126 total points are all season-highs. They also held the Sixers to an opponent season-low 4 offensive rebounds.
The Wolves' three-point shooting was one of the many keys in tonight's victory. Tonight's game saw 7 separate Wolves nail a three-pointer. J.J.'s 3 made threes ties a season-high and Price's 1 made three ties a season-high. Robbie Hummel had a rough night offensively going 1-for-5 from the field, but did some work on the glass, grabbing a career-high 3 offensive rebounds and 8 total rebounds. Gorgui Dieng only played 6 minutes, but tied career-highs with 2 offensive rebounds and 1 steal. Kevin Martin was another player who was hot from deep, but he also played the role of playmaker and tied a season-high with 4 assists on the night. Nikola Peković played only 23 minutes, but he grabbed a season-high 9 defensive rebounds and tied a season-high with 14 total rebounds. Pek's work on the boards and with plenty of Wolves getting in on the scoring outburst, the Wolves didn't need as much from Love who finished with 26 points and just 7 rebounds. A.J. Price who is someone the Wolves may potentially waive before his contract becomes guaranteed had his best offensive game of the year. In just six minutes he made a season-high 4 field goals, attempted a season-high 6 field goals and finished with a season-high 9 points. Alexey Shved's 4-for-12 shooting are season-highs in makes & attempts, his 4 assists is a new season-high and his 3 steals not only sets a new season-high, but also a new career-high. The Wolves as a team had a career night! It really was a joy to watch after a disappointing end to their last outing. The Wolves will need to build on this victory if they want to take their first meeting of the season with the upstart Phoenix Suns (who visit the Target Center on Wednesday night). I had the pleasure of attending tonight's game. I was definitely stoked to see Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder and had hoped that the Bruise Brothers could deliver a blow to the Russ-less Thunder for a needed win over a division rival. Unfortunately, Durant exploded for 48 points and Kevin Love missed some crucial free throws in the final seconds to secure a Thunder win. After the game, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweeted this out... It definitely was a 'stunned silence'. It was a little bit eerie how quiet everyone seemed to be as hordes of people shuffled out of the Target Center and onto the skyways. Of course, there was plenty of talk about Kevin Love being 'a bum' and 'not a real superstar'--'the dude can't even hit the freebies!'. Just ignorant talk from the incredibly casual fans.
I was also stunned by something else! With 30.5 seconds to go, the Wolves were down by two points and Adelman called a timeout. So, it was our ball out of the timeout with half a minute to play and fans around me got up, put their coats on and walked out! Are you kidding me?! I understand not wanting to fight the crowds on the way out, but we had already watched 47.5 minutes of some great basketball from KD, Love & Pek and you're going to leave with plenty of basketball left to be played?! Makes absolutely no sense to me! So, beyond the annoying little kids that kept squealing and kicking the back of my seat and the college-aged guys next to me that cheered and laughed with both Durant & Jeremy Lamb got hurt...it was a great game at the Target Center. I always have a great time when I go, but I honestly only like to go to 2-3 live games a year. I find watching at home to be a lot more comfortable. The big takeaway for most from tonight's game will be Love's missed free throws. With 4 seconds to go, the Wolves were coming out of a timeout and down by 2 points. Love attempted a three for the win, but he was fouled on the arm by Kendrick Perkins and the whistle came quick (it was clear these refs weren't going to get caught up in any controversy after that Dallas game last week had the controversial end). With 2.2 seconds to play, Love stepped to the line with a chance to give his team the lead, instead he missed the first two and then missed the third intentionally in an attempt to give the Wolves a chance to rebound the ball and get the quick putback for the tie. Unfortunately his third miss didn't hit the rim and instead clanged directly off the backboard. The Thunder inbounded the ball to Durant who was immediately fouled and he hit both free throws to put OKC up by 4 points and seal the W for his team. It was a great game, but there were plenty of terrible calls from the referees--particularly against Wolves forward Corey Brewer. If you go back and watch the tape, you can clearly see that at least three of the fouls whistled against Brewer on Durant should've instead been offensive fouls. There was one where Durant elbowed Corey in the face and Brew was still called for the foul! Then, Brewer fouled out in the final seconds after Jeremy Lamb jumped on Corey's back, flipped over him and hit the floor hard (that was where the d-bags next to me stood up and actually laughed--it was really just...disgusting). The refs made a terrible call that netted Lamb two free throws in an incredible crucial moment of the game. Prior to Lamb's free throws, it was all tied at 109 with 30 seconds to play. The foul instead should've gone on Lamb as it was an incredibly blatant over the back foul. That would've sent Corey to the line for two free throws. I wanted to go to this OKC Thunder game tonight because I've never seen Kevin Durant live and I definitely picked the right game to see him go to work. It was unfortunate he had to go off for 48 and our Wolves had to lose, BUT he was so much fun to watch. It's incredible because it seems like it comes so easy offensively for him, those threes he continued to hit with Brewer all over him were just insane! The Wolves are back under .500 once again, but they'll have a chance to move back to even with a Monday night matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. Until then, thanks for reading, here's tonight's box score... The Timberwolves bench scored just five points in Monday night's loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Tonight, they had over 8 times as many points! On Monday, all five of those points came from J.J. Barea. Tonight, the Wolves bench saw five players score and three of them finished in double figures, led by Barea with 17. When you couple that great and much-needed production from the bench, with improved defensive team play that resulted in a lot of Pelican turnovers and some solid TWolves free-throw shooting, the result is a good win. The Timberwolves have definitely started 2014 out on the right foot. Here's hoping that now that the Wolves are at .500 (16-16) once again, that they won't fall below any more this season! Kevin Love's streak of 11-straight games with 25+ points came to an end tonight as he finished with 21 points and just 6 rebounds. He was on the bench for the majority of the final quarter as the Wolves had this one well in hand. Pek chipped in 22 points & 7 boards and Rubio flirted once again with a triple-double: 14 points, 8 rebounds & 9 assists (also adding 3 steals & 2 blocks). The Wolves opened up a big lead in the third quarter thanks to some solid defense that allowed a 15-0 run. All night long, they turned Pelican turnovers into fast break opportunities and more than once Brewer & Martin went outlet shopping with K-Love. One big key beyond those turnovers that resulted in easy buckets was the play from Nikola Peković. We knew coming in that the likes of Davis, Anderson & Stiemsma wouldn't be able to handle Pek on the low-block and that was most certainly the case. It was obvious that Davis would guard Love which would leave Anderson, Ajinca & Stiemsma to guard Pek and it was painfully obvious that Nik had the physicality advantage. Pek continued his recent dominance with a 22-point night. The bench was certainly impressive. Barea's stat line improved as he was playing with more teammates that were offensive threats. It's hard to get things going offensively if you have to do it all yourself. With Dante hitting mid-range jumpers and Alexey having his best game of the season thus far, it definitely opened things up for J.J. Shved did a little bit of everything tonight--playing active defense, using his long arms to get deflections in passing lanes, hitting open jumpers, finding open teammates and simply playing with energy and intensity. If he can continue what he displayed tonight, Adelman will most certainly continue to find more minutes for him. Tonight's box score... The Wolves have the next two days off before they return to action on Saturday night vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder. I'll be back in Minnesota by then (I'm currently visiting family in Tennessee) and will actually be going to Saturday's game! More on that later, until then thanks for reading and GO WOLVES!
The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to bounce back after a controversial end to their last outing. The Wolves dropped below .500 yet again after Monday's loss to the Dallas Mavericks that ended on a controversial no-call that would've allowed Kevin Love to go to the line for two free throws to send the game to overtime.
The League has admitted their mistake, though that really doesn't mean anything at all. The Wolves still lost and if that comes back to bite them in April when their vying for a playoff spot, it will make that no-call all the more painful. For now, it's in the past and we're moving on to tonight's matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans (the first of the year and thus the first since the name change). The Pelicans didn't just change their name this offseason, they also made a big splash in the NBA Draft and it wasn't with who they drafted. The Pelicans traded their #6 selection (Nerlens Noel) and a 2014 first-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for point guard Jrue Holiday. They also signed swingman Tyreke Evans. That gives them a very good young core of Holiday, Eric Gordon, Evans & Anthony Davis. This is a team with plenty of talent, though they may not get it all together this season to return to the playoffs. Their lack of depth at center is also a concern for this young squad. They're currently relying on former Wolf Greg Stiemsma (who you likely all know, I did NOT like during his time here) and Jason Smith. The Pelicans also lost Anthony Davis for a short time after he fractured his hand. The original timetable was 4-6 weeks and he returned after missing just 7 games. Davis will likely be tasked with defending Kevin Love, which should leave a player like Stiemsma or Smith on Nikola Peković. In those matchups it's pretty clear that Pek has the physicality advantage and could be in for a very big game. Remember: last season Pek set a career-high with 31 points vs. the then Hornets (he of course broke that early this season with 34). I'm expecting big things from Pek tonight. The matchup I'm most excited for is Anthony Davis vs. Kevin Love. Two power forwards who play the game very differently. Love is improving on defense, but will never been known as a lockdown defender. Davis has all the physical tools to be known as just that and should very well be a Top 5 player in this League within the next few years. Love is a Top 5 player in the League right now and is currently second in the NBA in scoring and first in rebounds. While he continues to put up some incredibly impressive statistics, the Wolves as a team have struggled to parlayed those performances into wins. Davis' offense will be a concern that the Wolves will have to find a way to deal with, but the biggest problem on defense will be defending Holiday, Gordon & Evans. The Wolves are a notoriously poor perimeter defensive squad. If they allow these highly capable scoring guards to go off tonight, they're going to struggle mightily to come out victorious. Tipoff tonight is set for 7pmCST from the Target Center. Enjoy the game, thanks for reading and GO WOLVES! |
Cody D. AndersonA Wolves fan bringing you Gameday Recaps all season long! 2014-15 Game ArchivesGameday Archives
December 2015
|