Kevin Garnett is now 10-0 vs. his former team since 'the Trade' and despite somewhat similar stat lines, KG bested K-Love in the 'Battle of the Kevins' (see below). The Minnesota Timberwolves hot shooting seemed to carry on to the first quarter of play tonight as the Wolves tallied 30 points in the first quarter, however by game's end, Minnesota looked like the team playing the second game of a back-to-back, while the Celtics looked like the team that hadn't played since Saturday--looking plenty rested. Minnesota moves below .500 and finish their East coast road trip 1-1. Hopefully the TWolves will get a much needed boost when they return to the Target Center. Andrei Kirilenko has missed the last four consecutive games with back spasms and I assume (or pray, rather) that he'll return to action. The Minnesota Timberwolves outscored the Celtics 51-47 in that first half, however the Wolves reverted to old habits and let a (slim) lead slip in the second half. Boston took over in that third quarter with a 32-point outburst, Brandon Bass scored 10 of his 12 points in that third quarter, Rondo added 6 and Wilcox/Terry added 5 apiece. Rondo & Pierce took over in the fourth quarter, combining for 12 of the Celtics' 25 points. Barea scored 6 and Shved added 5 in that final quarter, however thanks to that third quarter the lapse, the Wolves couldn't make that 'ground' up and lost 94-104. Let's take a look at tonight's top performers...
HOT: The Boston Celtics shooting. The Celts hit 52.6% of their shots from the field, which is the second-most mark by a TWolves opponent this season. Jason Terry & Kevin Garnett have been historically good against the Wolves, JET shot 70% from the field and despite less points & rebounds, I'd still say KG bested Kevin Love in the matchup of the Kevin's: more efficient, less minutes and MUCH better defense. NOT: The Minnesota Timberwolves shooting. A day after their hot shooting from the field and from three, they followed that up by shooting 44% from the field and 31.6% from deep. It was overlooked that the Wolves shot just 58.8% from the line last night in Philly, however tonight, their 'deficiency' from the line was a key for this loss. That 46.7% from the line is a season-worst for MIN. Also, I only put K-Love on this list because of his points/rebounds, however his efficiency continues to be QUITE undesirable, here's hoping (and praying) he gets back on track soon...LIKE RIGHT NOW! MISC. STATS: As Howard continues to start at small forward for the injured Andrei Kirilenko, he continues to play fairly well (especially for a player, working on the veteran's minimum), he finished with a season-high 3 steals and played a season-high 33 minutes... Let's take a look at the team stats...
The TWolves shot a season-worst 46.7% from the line and left 16 points at the charity stripe. The Wolves left 16 points at the line...and lost by 10. Coming out of the first quarter it was clear the Wolves' hot shooting touch from deep was still dialed in, after the first 12 minutes the Wolves hit 4 of 5 threes. Unfortunately they wouldn't knock another one down for the next 35+ minutes of action, hitting a pair late in the fourth when the outcome (a MIN loss) was no longer in question. The Celtics shot 52.6% from the field which is the second-best for a Wolves opponent, thus far this season, they also grabbed a season-high (for a MIN opponent) 39 defensive rebounds. The Celtics were the worst rebounding team in the NBA (30th overall), while the Wolves were the 4th-best, however Boston was able to edge the Wolves on the boards with a +4.
The Wolves will be back in action on Friday vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers back at the Target Center, you can find a full gameday preview of that one on this site before then, until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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The TWolves have started their East coast road trip 1-0 and hope to finish it 2-0 with a victory of the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden, tonight. The Wolves breezed past the Sixers last night in Philadelphia as the bench exploded for 57 points, the Wolves shot 53% from the field and 52% from deep. The Wolves also had seven players in double figures (none of which were K-Love or Nik Pek, who both scored 6 apiece). Alexey Shved finished with 17pts, 3reb, 4ast, 1blk; Howard (filling in for AK) had his best game as a Wolf w/16pts, 10reb, 1stl; Barea had his first point/assist double-double of the season with 11pts, 2reb, 10ast, 1stl. The other Wolves in double figures: Cunningham (13), Williams (10), Lee (10) and Ridnour (10). The Celtics have played the last two games without their all-star point guard: Rajon Rondo. He's been out because of that 'altercation' with Kris Humphries in their game vs. the Nets (11/28, a 83-95L). The Celtics went 1-1 without him and will be thrilled to get him back in the lineup, running the point. The Celts are coming off an 88-91 loss to the Bucks on 12/1. Boston scored the first 17 points of the game to jump out to an early 27-11 first quarter lead, the Bucks bounced back with a 36-point second quarter and edged Boston in the second half. Pierce finished with 19pts, 5reb, 6ast, 3stls, 1blk; Jeff Green added 18pts, 6reb, 1blk off the bench; KG had 17pts, 7reb, 4ast, 1stl, 1blk and Jason Terry added 15pts, 3reb, 11ast, 3stls paired up with Courtney Lee in the backcourt. The Timberwolves will be without Andrei Kirilenko for the fourth straight game as he misses another one with back spasms. Ricky Rubio, Brandon Roy and Chase Budinger all remain out, as they recover from knee surgeries. For the Celtics, Avery Bradley remains out as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, he has yet to play this season, though he is targeting a mid-December return. Rondo will be back following that two-game suspension and Leandro Barbosa is questionable for tonight's game after missing practice on Tuesday with an 'illness'. Let's take a look at the probable starting lineups for this one...
I like the matchup between Malcolm Lee & Jason Terry. We should get a better understanding of whether Lee is the defensive stopper he's been labeled. I do wish we had Kirilenko back to guard the Celts' leading scorer: Paul Pierce. Josh Howard should be more than capable, however. It should be an interesting frontcourt matchup, we'll see if the Celtics opt to guard Bass-Love, KG-Pek or if KG will guard the better of the two: Love (even though he's been struggling as of late). We have an advantage on the offensive end at PF & C and should look to exploit that. However, we had an even bigger advantage yesterday vs. the Sixers and the combined for 12pts on the night.
Currently the Wolves boast the 4th best defense in the NBA, allowing just 92.3 a game AND the 4th best rebounding team in the League with 45.4 a game. They'll be matched up against the worst rebounding team in the NBA, the Celtics are averaging a League-worst 37.4 rebounds a game, but (thanks in mostly to Rondo) Boston is the second-best assist team in the NBA, at 23.5 a game. That's all for now, this one tips at 6:30pmCT and a full gameday recap can be found on this site following the final horn, until then thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Coming in to tonight's game, I assumed the Wolves' inside game would be the story. I figured Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic would dominate the likes of Thaddeus Young & Lavoy Allen. That wasn't the case...in fact, the combined for just 12pts, 15reb, 7ast, 5-17 FG while both played 26-27 minutes. With your two best players struggling and being without their starting small forward (Kirilenko, with back spasms) you'd assume loss. You wouldn't have figured that the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA (coming into tonight's game) would catch fire from deep and connect on 13 of their 25 attempts. Shved knocked down 4, Williams nailed 3, Howard & Lee both hit 2 and Love/Barea finished with one apiece. After just one quarter the Wolves led 34-21. Howard scored 10 (of his 16) in that first quarter and Lee added 7 (of his 10). With 3:35 to play in the second quarter the Wolves hit the 60-point mark and led by 22, 60-38. The Sixers did have a lot of great offensive sets that led to a lot of open looks, but the struggled to knock them down or stop the Wolves on D, their perimeter defense was especially poor. At halftime the Wolves led 65-47. The Wolves shot 60% FG in the first half and 58% from deep. The Wolves bench had scored 32 (of their 57) points by halftime. Keys to grabbing that big lead: knocking down shots, bench scoring and decent D, too (by then they were on pace to hold PHI to 94). The Wolves themselves were on pace for 130 by the half. Every Minnesota Timberwolf was shooting over 50% coming out of halftime (excluding their best player: Kevin Love). The Wolves weren't quite the offensive juggernaut they were in the first half (scoring 40 in the second half--65 in the first), but they were able to hold the Sixers to just 41 second half points for the 105-88 win. Glad to see Minnesota hold a lead and finish with a W. Let's take a look at tonight's top performers from each team...
HOT: The Minnesota Timberwolves bench. Cunningham added 13 and D-Will had 10 as the Wolves had 7 players in double digits (starters Malcolm Lee & Luke Ridnour added 10pts apiece). NOT: The Philadelphia 76ers. This isn't the same playoff squad from 2011-12, without Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bynum unable to play due to faulty knees, this doesn't look like a postseason-bound squad (to me). MISC. STATS: Barea's 10 assists ties a season-high and it's J.J.'s first points/assists double-double of the season.....Malcolm Lee tied season and career highs in points (10), FGM (4) and 3PTM (2).....Love played just 26 minutes but finished with a season-high, 5 assists.....Shved's 4 made threes ties a season-high.....Williams' 3 made threes is a new season-high......Howard set new season-highs in points (16), FGM (7), FGA (12), 3's made (2), 3's attempted (3), defensive rebounds (8), rebounds (10) and minutes (29)..... Let's take a look at the team stats...
The Minnesota Timberwolves set new season-highs in FG% (53.2%), 3PTM (13), 3PT% (52%). Their 41 FGM, 28 assists and 105 points are all the second-most in their categories for the Wolves this season. Those 57 bench points were vital for this win, on a night when Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic score 6pts apiece and Andrei Kirilenko is injured with back spasms, bench scoring becomes vital.
The Wolves are back in action tomorrow (Wed. 12/5) in Boston at the TD Garden vs. the Celtics. That one tips at 6:30pmCT and a full gameday preview can be found on this site before then. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! After just one game back at the Target Center following that four-game West coast road trip, the TWolves head back on the road, this time for just two games--and on the East coast. The Wolves face the Sixers on Tuesday and the Celtics on Wednesday. Unfortunately they'll almost certainly be without their starting small forward for both of those games. Andrei Kirilenko is expected to miss the road trip with back spasms. This will be his third and fourth consecutive games missed. The Timberwolves are 7-8 on the year, 3-5 on the road, 3-7 in their last ten games and winners of 2 of their last 4 games. The Sixers are 10-7 this season, 6-4 at home, 6-4 in their last ten games and winners of 3 of their last 4 games. The Sixers were on a three-game winning streak heading into their game with Chicago on Saturday (12/1). Philly got crushed on the boards 50-37 and lost 88-93 to the Bulls. Jrue Holiday had 23pts, 3reb, 7ast, 2stls; Thaddeus Young added 22pts, 7reb, 1ast, 4stls, 4blks and Evan Turner finished with 12pts, 4reb, 7ast, 3stls. The TWolves returned to the Target Center on Friday and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 95-85. Five TWolves scored in double-digits and the Wolves bounced the Bucks in the Border Battle. Shved scored 16pts, 3reb, 5ast, 2stls; Ridnour added 16pts, 4reb, 2ast; J.J. started at shooting guard and tallied 15pts, 1reb, 5ast; K-Love was battling an illness but still had 15pts, 14reb, 1stl and Nikola Pekovic dominated with 14pts, 16reb (new season-high/tied a career-high), 1ast, 2stls, 3blks. The Timberwolves will continue to be without Brandon Roy/Chase Budinger/Ricky Rubio (as they all recover from knee surgeries), Andrei Kirilenko is out with back spasms and Malcolm Lee (groin) & Kevin Love (illness) are both expected to play. The 76ers are expected to be without Nick Young who missed Saturday's game with a hyperextended left big toe. Like the Miami Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers have been playing with a 'small-ball' lineup. I say, 'like the Miami Heat' because they're the team everyone talks about when you're discussing starting lineups without a true center. The Minnesota Timberwolves are the complete opposite of a 'small-ball' lineup. The TWolves have one of the most physical imposing starting frontlines in the NBA. The Sixers start a frontcourt of Thaddeus Young & Lavoy Allen. Philadelphia was a part of the trade that sent Dwight Howard to L.A., Andre Iguodala to Denver and Andrew Bynum to Philly. Unfortunately Bynum has had numerous setbacks with his knees and the Sixers have ultimately left his return up to him, he does have an MRI set for Dec. 10th. With this in mind, let's take a look at the probable starting lineups...
With Andrei Kirilenko out, the TWolves will likely continue to start Josh Howard at small forward. Both Kevin Love & Malcolm Lee practiced on Monday and are expected to be able to play. It's uncertain whether Adelman puts Lee back in the starting lineup or sticks with J.J. Barea (8.6ppg, 3.2rpg, 4.4apg) as his starting shooting guard.
For the Sixers, they may decide to start Spencer Hawes (7.2ppg, 5.2rpg, 1.2bpg) at center in this one, to better match up with Minnesota's big starting frontline. If not, expect Adelman to exploit that advantage all night. These two teams match up very well offensively and defensively. The Wolves average 92.5ppg, the 76ers 93.1. The Wolves allow 92.6ppg, the 76ers allow 93.9ppg. The play of Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic will be key in a Wolves victory. That's all for now, tipoff for this one is set for 6pmCT and a full gameday recap can be found on this site following the final horn. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and 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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