The Minnesota Timberwolves are playing themselves out of the playoffs. I gave up hope of the 2012 Postseason when the TWolves lost to the Boston Celtics last week, at the Target Center. Tonight, the Wolves may have been short-handed, but CLEARY this was a WINNABLE game!!!! We were up by 20 points mid-way through the second quarter. The W's soon answered with a big run. It started in that second quarter. The Warriors were able to cut it to a 12-point TWolves lead heading into halftime. The Warriors outscored the Wolves 38-20 in the third quarter to take a 6-point lead heading into the final quarter. The Warriors scored 39 points combined in the first half and 38 points in the third quarter! The TWolves battled back and thanks to Wayne Ellington were able to tie it at 94. The Wolves then had the ball with 20.4 seconds to play. For some reason unbeknownst to anyone watching, J.J. Barea threw up a contested shot that the Warriors rebounded. The TWolves had a chance to win it with just 0.7 second to play and the Warriors up by three points. Kevin Love threw up a three that was right on target, but drew iron for his seventh three-point miss and the Timberwolves loss. After blowing the 20-point lead and allowing the Warriors to take a lead, the boos rained down at Target Center. Kevin Love said after the game that the Wolves deserved every boo, tonight! I don't believe you could find anyone who could/would disagree with that. What we saw was another poor defensive effort for a Timberwolves team that hasn't won a game in April since 2009. With just 10 games to go, the Wolves will likely snap that skid....but, the sooner the better! Minnesota falls to 25-31 on the year and 13-14 at home. They'll have a chance to snap this, now, 4-game losing streak Saturday vs. the Hornets. Let's take a look at some of tonight's top performers for each team... Top Performers
HOT: David Lee. Lee won the PF matchup and his team won the game. D. Lee outscored Love by a bucket, had four less rebounds, two less assists, two more blocks and shot 52% from the field (Love shot 43%). Lee had a lot more help too. Charles Jenkins was also 'hot' for the W's. Jenkins was key to the Warriors win as he scored 7 of his 19 points in the final quarter for the Warriors win. For the Wolves, it was Wayne Ellington. Ellington got the Wolves back in the game with his play in the fourth quarter. He had 10 of his 17 in the final quarter (the other 7 all came in the second quarter). He did so efficiently, too (7-for-11 on the night, 64% and 3-for-5 from deep, 60%). NOT: J.J. Barea. J.J. was thrust into the starting lineup with Luke Ridnour out with an ankle sprain. J.J. did scored 15 points, however....he shot 6-for-15 on the night (40%) and had 7 turnovers, while posting a -13 on the night. Martell Webster was no help tonight either. Webster played 25 minutes, but failed to score (0-for-5) and posted a +/- of -14. MISC.: Despite Webster's rough shooting night, he did grab a season-high 8 defensive rebounds and finished with 9 total on the night......Johnson tied a season-high with 3 blocks and set a new season-high by playing 38 minutes......Ellington tied season-highs in points (17), FGM (7), 3PTM (3) and offensive rebounds (2). He also set a new season-high/tied a career-high with 7 rebounds......Kevin Love's 5 assists ties a season-high....... Team Statistics
KEY STATS: The Warriors shot a higher percentage from the field, had more assists, steals, blocks, fast break points and points in the paint. The Warriors also forced the TWolves into 19 turnovers in which they scored 24 points 'off of'. The big key are those turnovers. Had the Wolves cut those down by just a couple, we might have seen a different result tonight at the Target Center.
UP NEXT: Saturday, April 7 vs. the New Orleans Hornets, at the New Orleans Arena, tipoff 7pmCT Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The Minnesota Timberwolves' quest for a playoff berth presses on, but now the losers of three-straight, the TWolves are falling farther and farther out of the Western Conference playoff picture. Minnesota now sits 4.5 games behind Houston for the 8th seed in the West.
The TWolves will look to end this three-game skid. They may be able to pull that off vs. the Warriors as they look for their second win of the season vs. Golden State, in just under two weeks. It's no secret that the Minnesota Timberwolves have struggled since losing Ricky Rubio. Since that time the Wolves have gone 4-11. They lost Ricky for the season, but they've also been without J.J. Barea, Michael Beasley and Nikola Pekovic for stretches and now it's sounding like Luke Ridnour could miss some extended time with a sprained ankle he suffered Monday night vs. the Kings. With just three weeks left in the season, it's uncertain when he'll return. Despite all the injuries to all these key players, there's one thing or player, rather, that you can always count on. Over the past seven games Kevin Love is averaging 31.4ppg and 13.1rpg. The last time the Wolves faced the Warriors, Love dropped 36pts & 15reb in a 97-93 Wolves win. These are two teams that are currently struggling mightily. Since trading away Monta Ellis the Warriors are losers of 11 of their last 13 games. The Warriors are currently on a 6-game losing streak, 2-8 in their last 10 games, 20-32 overall this season and 9-16 on the road. The Timberwolves are currently on a 3-game losing streak, 3-7 in their last 10, 25-30 overall and 13-13 at the Target Center. For the Timberwolves, they may be getting some of their injuries players back. J.J. Barea & Michael Beasley sound as though they're near a return. With Luke Ridnour out, Barea's return would be a HUGE boost for the Wolves. If J.J. is able to play, he'll likely be inserted into the starting lineup to run the point. Obviously conditioning will be a factor. If J.J. can't play, Malcolm Lee will get his first NBA start. Even if J.J. can play, Lee will certainly be seeing some extended minutes. Michael Beasley could also return from his sprained toe and his scoring punch off the bench has been sorely missed. The Warriors' last game was a 94-98 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies last night. The Grizzlies overcame a 12-point Warriors lead in the fourth quarter with a late rally. David Lee had 22pts & 13reb and Nate Robinson added 18 points off the bench. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starters for each team... Barea/Lee vs. Charles Jenkins (4.4ppg, 2.1apg, 0.5spg) Webster vs. Klay Thompson (10.6ppg, 2.0rpg, 1.8apg) Johnson vs. Dorell Wright (9.9ppg, 4.5rpg, 1.5apg) Love vs. David Lee (19.8ppg, 9.6rpg, 0.9spg) Pekovic vs. Tyler (2.6ppg, 2.1rpg, 0.2bpg) The Warriors traded Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and the injured Kwame Brown to Milwaukee at the deadline, for the injured Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson (who they later traded to the Spurs for Richard Jefferson). Ellis was clearly a big part of the Warriors, he averaged a team-high 20.3ppg, a team-high 5.9apg as was as 1.4spg (second-most on the team). Ekpe Udoh averaged 5.5ppg, 4.1rpg and a team-high 1.7bpg. AccuScore lists the Minnesota Timberwolves as the clear favorites (70%-30%). Minnesota by 7.0 with an over/under of 208.0. That's all for now, tipoff is set for 7pmCT at the Target Center, a full gameday recap can be found here following the final horn. Until then, thanks for reading and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves had their chances but their lackadaisical defense or often their non-existent defense can be pinpointed as the reason for tonight's loss in Sacramento and their now three-game losing streak.
I'm going to keep this short, because I've already wrote this recap twice now and had my internet server time out and erase everything. I'm getting pretty frustrated, so I apologize for not having our usual material. The Wolves' playoff hopes to another hit with this loss and that's not just because Minnesota lost the game, they may have also lost Luke Ridnour for an extended period of time. Ridnour sprained his ankle pretty severely in the third quarter and had to be helped off the floor. Here's hoping J.J. is healthy come Wednesday vs. the Warriors, back at the Target Center. Minnesota falls to 25-30 on the year as playoff hopes are becoming playoff dreams. It wasn't all bad, though. Brad Miller got the start at center to match up with the Kings' big frontcourt (Thompson & Cousins). He finished with a season-high 11 points (all in the 1st quarter) he also set season-highs in FGM (4), FGA (7), 3PTM (3), 3PTA (4), assists (6) and minutes (22). He also tied season-highs in offensive rebounds (1) and rebounds (2). Nikola Pekovic also returned to the lineup. He came off the bench and in 19 minutes had 17pts & 4reb on 7-of-8 shooting. Love added 23pts & 7reb. The Wolves got a nice balanced scoring effort: Ridnour (13), Miller (11), Tolliver (9), Ellington (9), Johnson (8), Williams (8), Lee (6) and Webster (4). Tyreke Evans had 24pts, 10reb and 7ast. DeMarcus Cousins added 20pts & 9reb. Jimmer Fredette had 19pts off the bench and point guard Isaiah Thomas had 17pts & 5ast. The Wolves were able to battle back in the third quarter and take a lead. After three quarters they were down just 1 point. The Kings battled back in the fourth quarter and took a decent lead. The Wolves were able to get within 4 points with 30 seconds to play, but that was as close as they'd get as the Kings won 108-116. Up next is the Golden State Warriors back at the Target Center on April 4th (Wednesday), tipoff 7pmCT. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves are down--but aren't quite out of the Western Conference playoff picture. With last night's loss to the Blazers, the TWolves have fallen to 5th in the Northwest Division and 12th in the Western Conference. The TWolves now trail Houston 3.5 games for the 8th seed in the playoffs.
"We've got to win almost every game now, so it's still there for us, but we need a tremendous amount of luck on our side as well."--Kevin Love A win against the Kings would be a small step in the right direction. A loss would be yet another big blow to Minnesota's playoff hopes.The Timberwolves currently sit at 25-29, 12-16 on the road, but 3-7 in their last 10 games. Sacramento is 18-34 on the year, 13-12 at home and 4-6 in their last 10.This will be the fourth and final meeting between these two this season. Minnesota has taken two of those three games as they go for the series win this season. The first game came Jan. 16th--a 99-86 Wolves win. The second was on Feb. 7th, an 86-84 Wolves win. The third came on Mar. 18th when the Kings were able to take down MIN 99-115. For Minnesota they'll continue to play without key players. They'll once again be without J.J. Barea & Michael Beasley. Who are back home nursing thigh (J.J.) and toe (Beasley) injuries. Hopefully they'll be able to play on Wednesday, back at the Target Center vs. the Warriors. We may see starting center for the first time in a long time. Pek has now missed 7 consecutive games and 8 of the Wolves' last 9 with ankle injuries. He's currently dealing with some bone spurs in his right ankle. There's a chance he'll be able to play tonight and he'll be a gametime decision for this one. He'd be a big help for the Wolves vs. center DeMarcus Cousins. For the Kings, they may be without swingman John Salmons. Salmons has missed three straight games with a hip injury and he's currently listed as day-to-day and will likely be a gametime decision for this one. Let's take a look at tonight's probable starting lineup matchups... Luke Ridnour vs. Isaiah Thomas (10.6ppg, 3.7apg, 0.8spg) Martell Webster vs. Marcus Thornton (19.0ppg, 2.0apg, 1.4spg) Wesley Johnson vs. Tyreke Evans (17.0ppg, 5.0rpg, 4.8apg) Derrick Williams vs. Jason Thompson (8.8ppg, 7.0rpg, 1.2apg) Kevin Love vs. DeMarcus Cousins (17.7ppg, 11.1rpg, 1.3bpg) If Pek is able to play, he'd start at center, moving D-Will to the bench and Love to power forward. Pekovic vs. Cousins is an exciting matchup and I pray he'll be able to play. A matchup of Love & Cousins would be good in itself. Love has played 2 of 3 games vs. the Kings this season and has averages of 27.0ppg & 11.0rpg. Cousins has played in all three games this season vs. Minnesota and has REALLY struggled in three games his totals are 29 points, 16 rebounds, 10-of-29 FG and in all three games hasn't played more than 25 minutes while totaling 13 fouls in three games. AccuScore has Minnesota as the 52%-48% favorites. It's Kings by 3.5 and an over/under of 217.0. Tipoff is set for 9pmCT from the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento. Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves missed out on a MUCH needed win tonight in Portland. With it, they dropped to 5th in the Northwest, 12th in the Western Conference as Portland moved ahead of them in the standings. There's a good chance that with this loss, Minnesota has fallen out of the playoff picture. There's obviously still a chance, but the Wolves need to make a BIG push and even if they have a 'friendly' schedule, it's looking grim. The Timberwolves move to 25-29 on the year and have now lost 7 of their last 9 on the road. The Blazers outscored the TWolves in every quarter en route to a 13-point victory over their division rivals. With this victory the Blazers avoided the first TWolves season series sweep since the 2004-2005 season. The TWolves end this season 2-1 vs. the Blazers as this was the third and final meeting of these two teams. Despite Portland basically 'blowing up' their roster by trading away starters Gerald Wallace & Marcus Camby for role players and bench warmers (Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet, Shawne Williams and Mehmet Okur). Then they waived oft-injured center and former #1 pick Greg Oden and fired head coach Nate McMillan. Despite all that, the Blazers defeated a TWolves team (to be fair--without three of their top four scorers: Michael Beasley, Nikola Pekovic, J.J. Barea) 106-113. Let's take a look at some of tonight's top performers for each team... Top Performers
HOT: Tonight the TWolves finally got a solid performance out of Derrick Williams starting at power forward, since Nikola Pekovic has been out with bone spurs in his ankle. Had a solid and efficient shooting night. For the Blazers it was LA & Batum. Batum lit it up from three and LA controlled the paint as we saw the battle between Love & Aldridge. Ultimately it was a pretty even matchup between these two. LA shot a higher percentage and had more blocks, but Love had one more rebound and had more assists and steals. NOT: The TWolves defense. The Timberwolves just didn't get stops in the fourth quarter or all game for that matter. Minnesota allowed Portland to score 119 points on 52% shooting. Enough said. MISC.: Ellington added 12pts off the bench.....Hickson added 15pts & 9reb starting in the frontcourt with Aldridge.....Ray Felton nearly had a triple-double, he finished with 10pts, 8reb & 11ast......Off the bench Jamal Crawford added 12pts & Luke Babbitt added 8pts...... Team Statistics
KEY STATS: The TWolves shot a decent percentage (obviously Portland hit higher percentages in every category) and the Wolves only committed 8 turnovers--allowing just 10 Blazer points, while forcing Portland into a couple more for 19 points! Minnesota's downfall was being beaten out on the boards, a +8 for the Blazers. And ultimately, it comes down to something that's a little hard to read on a stat sheet, but--the Wolves' lackluster defense, they allowed 27 points in the first quarter and that was the lowest-scoring quarter for Portland tonight (30 in the 2nd and 31 in both the 3rd & 4th quarters).
UP NEXT: Monday, April 2nd vs. the Sacramento Kings at Power Balance Pavilion, tipoff 9pmCT Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! |
Cody D. AndersonA Wolves fan bringing you Gameday Recaps all season long! 2014-15 Game ArchivesGameday Archives
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