This time the TWolves play a decent three quarters of basketball, until the wheels fell off in the fourth quarter and Minnesota lost their fifth-straight game. The Warriors backcourt simply dominated Minnesota's, combining for over forty points, compared to just two from Ridnour & Lee. Without a true shooting guard on this team, the Wolves will continue to struggle, however that's not to say this loss lies solely on the shoulders of Malcolm Lee. A terrible shooting night for the entire team from deep and for Kevin Love overall, equals another Wolves loss. The Timberwolves held a four point advantage at halftime (51-47) and had forced the Warriors into 10 turnovers through two quarters, while also holding a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint. The Warriors were able to tie it at 66 with just 2:25 to play in the third quarter, but Minnesota would regain their four-point lead at the end of the third quarter, leading 74-70 after three. By that time, the Wolves had a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint and a 35-10 advantage in bench points. The Warriors went on a furious rally in that fourth quarter, with just over four minutes to play the Wolves were down by five and that's as close as they'd get, losing by 11 and falling to 5-7 on the year, after starting the season 5-2. Watching the Fox Sports North broadcast, they said the Wolves made just 12 baskets in the entire second half! There's absolutely no doubting that this Wolves team has some issues to sort through. If they lose to the Kings on Tuesday, I think we all have permission to go into full panic mode. A few sidenotes...
Let's take a look at tonight's top (statistical) performers for each team...
For the Wolves, Kevin Love was able to add 15pts & 15reb, however his 15pts came on 6-of-20 shooting. It's taking him quite some time to get back in his shooting groove (not surprising considering he broke his shooting hand). A number of missed and heavily contested hook shots in the fourth quarter didn't help, at all! The entire team struggled shooting from deep, Barea went 1-for-3, AK47 missed all five of his attempts, Love knocked down 1 in 5 tries. Anyone else miss B-Roy & Chase? The Warriors got great production from their starting backcourt. It was a key we highlighted in our preview and it's no surprise that the likes of Curry & Thompson combined for 44pts, matched up against Luke Ridnour & Malcolm Lee. The Wolves starting backcourt finished with just 2pts (from Luke). The W's also got some great play from Carl Landry off the pine, he chipped in 18pts, 10 of which came at the free throw line. Let's take a look at the team stats...
The Warriors held the edge on all shooting percentages, out-rebounded Minnesota by a +9 and finished with a +4 in fast break points. At halftime the Wolves held an advantage on the glass, however over those final two quarters, the likes of Barnes (11), Landry (9), Lee (8), etc. got the better of the Wolves' bigs. The Warriors absolutely destroyed Minnesota in points in the paint in their matchup last Friday, however tonight, with Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic back in the lineup, the Wolves help a +10 advantage (though the Warriors were able to slow them down in the second half, contesting their shots at the rim very well).
That's all for now, the Wolves will be back in action Tuesday vs. the Kings in Sacramento. Tipoff for that one is set for 9pmCT and a full gameday preview of that one can be found on this site, before then. Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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Cody D. AndersonA Wolves fan bringing you Gameday Recaps all season long! 2014-15 Game ArchivesGameday Archives
December 2015
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