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Minnesota Timberwolves 108 – San Antonio Spurs 95

April 19, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Game Summary

The Pups had a chance to close the season on a winning note Wednesday night in San Antonio after losing their last home game at Target Center to Utah on Monday.  The Spurs came into Wednesday’s game a little banged up and it shouldn’t have been too surprising to see them give their regulars limited roles in the game.

Nikola Pekovic sat out Wednesday’s game again, finishing the season having missed 20 of the 82 games, allowing legitimate questions about his durability given his forthcoming free agency.  That said, taking out Love’s 18 game season, Big Pek led the team in scoring and rebounding, with 16.3 and 8.8 per game respectively.

The Timberwolves opened the game with Rubio, Ridnour, Kirilenko, Williams, and Stiemsma.  The Spurs countered with Tony Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, and Matt Bonner.  Minnesota actually got off to a pretty strong start, jumping out to an 11-4 lead.  About halfway through the 1st quarter, the Wolves held a 20-11, with Tim Duncan looking like the only Spur to have brought a live body to the court on the evening.  Conversely, each Pup starter was on the board with at least one basket, led by Rubio and Williams.

In typical Spurs fashion, they continued to chip away into the lead over the next few minutes, tying the game at 24 with about one minute to go.  Rubio and Budinger hit a pair of three points in the final minute or so to give the Wolves a 30-24 lead going into the 2nd quarter.

JJ Barea started off the 2nd quarter with two missed shots, further supporting my plea to exile him.  Seconds later, Chris Johnson – with surprising early minutes – threw down a tremendous dunk.  The early minutes of the quarter were entertaining until the Spurs went on a 12-2 run to take a 50-46 lead with a few minutes left in the half.  The Wolves tried to answer, but Tony Parker took over in the final minute of the half.  At halftime, Spurs led 61-56.

Here are a couple of halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • League Pass Mobile was, surprise-surprise, bumpy at best on Wednesday.  I had to give up the Benz-Peterson combo to listen to Sean Elliott halfway through the 1st quarter.  This wasn’t a good thing.
  • Derrick Williams had a nice half of basketball, and I’m hoping the team can maximize his value this summer – in whatever capacity is best for this team’s future.

Return trip from Italy the night before will lead to some quick thoughts the rest of the way, as I was in and out of consciousness for much of the second half, excluding the final few minutes when I wedged toothpicks between my eyelids to keep them open to see the end of the season.  (That last part of the story is not true.)

After starting hot in the 3rd quarter, the Wolves went cold in the final few minutes.  However, the Spurs did nothing to take advantage of this situation, as they also struggled to make a shot in the final minutes as well.  At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Wolves held an 80-76 lead.

In the 4th quarter, the Wolves were able to build a double digit lead as Duncan and Parker remained on the bench for the Spurs.  Despite what felt like a slow, final few minutes, the Wolves were never really threatened and pulled out their first victory in San Antonio since January 2004, snapping a 16 game losing streak.  (Ouch.)

Our Pups finished the season with 31 victories, the most since ‘06/’07 when they had 32 victories under Dwane Casey and Randy Wittman but certainly not something to brag about.  A season filled with so much promise ended without the playoffs in the team’s immediate future, largely due to the team being ravaged by injury.  The franchise goes into another offseason with more questions than answers:

  • Will Rick Adelman return?
  • Will Taylor resign David Kahn?
  • What will happen with Nikola Pekovic’s impending free agency?
  • Can the team afford to keep Chase Budinger?
  • Can the front office find a SG in free agency or the draft?
  • The NBA draft is always a question mark with this franchise …
  • Can we please get rid of JJ Barea?
  • Assuming Love is healthy, should the Wolves move DWill?

Keys of the Game

  • Three point shooting – One more time, the Wolves put together a nice showing when they shoot the ball well, specifically from beyond the arc Wednesday night.  Minnesota hit 12 three pointers (?!) in San Antonio on 41% shooting, including 3 makes from both Rubio and Budinger.
  • Active hands – Combining steals and turnovers here as they go hand in hand in many cases.  The Wolves held an 11-5 advantage over the Spurs in steals and forced 17 turnovers for the home team.  Noteworthy stat: Greg Stiemsma had 5 steals and 1 block.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Derrick Williams – Solid performance from DWill to close out his season – 21 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
  2. Greg Stiemsma – Very active game from Stiemsma, finishing with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and as referenced above, 5 steals and 1 block.  Greg played over 30 minutes and was 6-8 from the floor for one of his best performances of the season.
  3. Tim Duncan – You have to give the old man a lot of credit; 17 points and 14 rebounds in 27 minutes and Duncan continues to perform at a high level.  Unbelievable.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 80, Utah Jazz 96

April 17, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Greg Smith, USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Greg Smith, USA TODAY Sports

Game Summary:

The Timberwolves returned home on Monday night to take on the Utah Jazz for the second time in four days. Coming off a career-high 40 points against the Pups on Friday night, Al Jefferson looked to will his team to another victory with the Jazz continuing to fight for the eighth seed in the Western Conference with less than a week to play in the regular season.

In their second to last game of the 2012-13 season, the Wolves went with the starting lineup of Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour, Andrei Kirilenko, Derrick Williams, and Greg Stiemsma. Nikola Pekovic sat out his third consecutive game with a left calf contusion.

The Jazz got off a hot start, outscoring the Wolves 14-2 in the first four minutes prompting Rick Adelman to call a timeout. The Pups had initial difficulty swinging the ball in the half court offense with no Pekovic in the paint to keep Utah’s perimeter defenders honest.

After torching Stiemsma on his way to a career high-tying 40 points in the Jazz’s Friday night victory over Minnesota, Big Al got his wish as Pek was forced to sit out Monday’s contest as well. Known primarily for his defense, Stiemsma has not been able to prove his defensive competence in his first season as a Pup.

Minnesota responded to an early 16-2 deficit with an 8-point run of their own. The Pups had a difficult time creating offense without both of their primary scores in the paint and they trailed 26-18 heading into the second quarter.

Scoring a season-high 23 points against the Jazz on Friday, Minnesota needed similar production from JJ Barea with the Wolves’ offense stagnant. Utah’s game plan was clearly geared toward shutting down the Wolves’ primary bench scorer, and Barea had difficulty getting the type of separation and penetration that he did in the previous matchup between the two squads.

The Wolves trimmed Utah’s lead to 36-34 with five minutes remaining in the second quarter due some frontcourt foul trouble by the Jazz. Barea looked to be in a rhythm offensively in the first half, just as he was red-hot in the first two quarters in the last meeting against Utah. The spark plug point guard was the sole Timberwolf getting it done from beyond the arc, adding two long balls late in the second quarter.

On the other side, Jefferson provided 12 first half points for Utah and he looked very comfortable backing down Stiemer on the low block. The formula for the Jazz was simple: feed the bigs in the interior and keep shooters on the perimeter in the event of double-teams. Utah closed out the half with a pair of Gordon Hayward free throws capping a late 6-0 run putting them up 49-41 heading into halftime.

Playing a very poor first half was Rubio, whose jump shots were horrifically flat giving him virtually no chance of making them. Utah defenders picked this up early and forced him to shoot, with the Spaniard obliging. However, after several ugly attempts clanking off the rim at nearly every angle, Ricky ultimately fell into complete pass-mode as he clearly lacked the confidence to continue shooting.

In order for Ricky to take the next step in his game, he must drastically improve his shooting this summer and make it his primary offseason focus. It is clear that he currently lacks necessary strength in his lower body in order to be able to get proper arc on his shots. This is news to nobody given that he returned from ACL surgery only a few months ago, and lucky for Ricky is that there is just one game to play this season. However, it has arrived time to start planning for the summer   and an offseason regimen directed at building back lower body strength will prove to be extremely beneficial for nearly all aspects of his game. With some of the best trainers in the world at his side, I have no doubts that Rubio will make great strides on his jumper and that we will see noticeable improvement by week 1 of next season.

Similar to how the two teams competed in their last contest, the Jazz and Wolves played one another very evenly in the third quarter. However, a late run by Utah in the final two minutes put Utah ahead 71-60 with one period to play.

Barea went cold in the second half after an impressive second quarter, and the Wolves could not gain any momentum facing a double-digit deficit. Utah extended their lead to 2 points with only a few minutes remaining, and the Jazz ultimately won by a score of 96-80

Keys of the Game:

  • Three-point shooting - I am a broken record. We all know how terrible the Wolves are at shooting from deep, but Minnesota provided an especially wretched performance on Monday night shooting 2-17 from three. The Jazz had a tough game themselves hitting only 3 of 10 attempts.
  • Interior presence - The Jazz were able to space the floor very well with Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap attracting attention on the low block. This created space for Utah’s perimeter players and gave players like Randy Foye and Mo Williams an extra step or two on their mid-range jump shots. Minnesota, on the other hand, had zero inside presence which allowed Utah’s guards to lock down on the perimeter.

 

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Al Jefferson - Surprise, surprise. Jeffeson played 32 minutes and recorded 22 points (8-15 FG) and 8 rebounds against his former team, helping Utah to win their ninth game in the past eleven games. Big Al will need to come up big in the team’s final game against Memphis on Wednesday in hopes of securing the final playoff spot in the West.
  2. Mo Williams - Despite aggravating a right thumb injury at the end of the first half, Utah’s starting point guard fought through irritation to play 32 minutes while finishing with 15 points (7-15 FG), 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 turnovers.
  3. Derrick Williams - Derrick was one of three Wolves who scored in double-digits and led Minnesota with 18 points (7-13 FG), 6 rebounds and no turnovers in a game-high 40 minutes. The 21-year-old leaper showed improvement in his slashing game on Monday night and displayed a few new moves that he used off of the dribble. He appears to be learning how to score dribble-driving from the perimeter, and his ball-handling looks to be steadily improving. Williams still needs to keep the ball lower and tighter to his body, as he tends to get too wide on his crossovers instead of making more precise movements. A popular cliche among basketball coaches is that the shortest route between two objects is a straight line. This being said, Derrick needs to take more direct routes on his drives as it would give his opponents less time to block his shots from the weak side and it will force his defenders to make quicker decisions when guarding him in one-on-one situations.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 105, Phoenix Suns 93

April 14, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Jim Mone, Associated Press

Photo Credit: Jim Mone, Associated Press

Game Summary:

Having lost their previous three games on their West coast road trip, the Minnesota Timberwolves came home on Saturday night to host the Phoenix Suns in their last matchup of the season with fomer Wolf Mike Beasley missing the game due to the birth of a new child. Congrats, Beas.

The Wolves faced off against their former fourth overall selection Wes Johnson who has become a starter for the dreadful Suns. While I will admit that the former Syracuse star has somewhat expanded his game since his days in a Timberwolves uniform, he is still a long ways away from being a productive player on a competitive NBA team as evidenced by his 10.31 Player Efficiency Rating.

Ricky Rubio looked much more comfortable against the soft defense of Goran Dragic than he did the previous night against the Utah Jazz. The Wolves immediately had an easier time gaining penetration in the half court and found openings in the short corner on back cuts from Derrick Williams and Andrei Kirilenko.

The Western Conference-worst Suns jumped out to an early 17-10 lead nearly midway through the first period. Neither team did a good job of capitalizing on the others mistakes and the first quarter came to a close with Phoenix leading 28-22.

Getting the start once again for the day-to-day Nikola Pekovic, Greg Stiemsma saw increased minutes against a weak Phoenix frontcourt. Stiemer had a much easier time matching up against Luis Scola and Hamed Haddadi after being torched for 40 points by Al Jefferson on Friday night in Utah.

After back-to-back threes from Derrick Williams and Alexey Shved, the Wolves cut the deficit to 34-29 as Phoenix led with 8:48 remaining in the first half. A Wes Johnson airball gave possession right back to the Pups.

The two teams traded turnovers throughout the second period and neither team was able to gain a serious edge over the other heading into halftime. Some late quarter scoring from Rubio and a plethora of turnovers from Phoenix brought the game to 53-50 as the Suns led heading into the locker room. Ricky led the Wolves with 13 points and 6 assists while Luis Scola recorded 12 points and 8 rebounds in the first half.

The Wolves grabbed the lead with 7:19 to go in the third as a D-Will layup put the Pups ahead 60-59. However, some hot shooting from Markieff Morris put the Suns right back ahead. A dazzling sequence involving a Rubio behind-the-back pass for a D-Will slam tied the game up again at 64 apiece.

The Wolves out-scored the Suns 14-2 in the paint in the third quarter and headed into the final 12 minutes leading 77-73. A JJ Barea three-pointer pushed the Timberwolves lead to 84-76 nearly two minutes into the final period.

Phoenix broadcaster Eddie Johnson put it well when he said, “This game has been a nightmare for how to run fast breaks” midway through the final quarter. To put it bluntly, this game was a battle over who could squander the least amount of opportunities and the Suns ultimately took the cake behind 27 total team turnovers.

The Pups held off the Suns in the final minutes to win by a score of 105-93. Minnesota improved to 30-50 on the season and a decent home record of 20-20. The Wolves have only two games remaining in their disappointing 2012-13 season and will face off at home against the Jazz on Monday night and will finish their season in San Antonio on Wednesday night.

 

Keys of the Game:

  • Turnovers - With the worst record in the Western Conference and the third worst record in the NBA, the Suns committed an atrocious 27 turnovers with the Timberwolves still committing 18 themselves. Saturday night’s game was anything short of a marquee matchup as both teams are lottery bound this coming June.
  • Points in the paint - Without Marcin Gortat patrolling the interior, the Wolves outscored the Suns 44-30 in the paint. It was not only Minnesota’s bigs getting it done near the rim, as the Pups’ guards also did a good job of getting to the hoop from the perimeter.

 

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Ricky Rubio - Rubio broke out of his recent slump and finished with the monster stat line of 24 points (8-18 FG), 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 turnovers in 36 minutes. Facing the porous Phoenix defense, Rubio had his way gaining penetration while finding teammates on back cuts. Ricky’s legs may be tired, but he is not about to go into the offseason on a low note.
  2. Markieff Morris - The better Morris twin had a very productive night as he scored 20 points (8-11 FG, 3-4 3Pt) to pair with 9 rebounds and 3 assists in 38 minutes. Phoenix faces some major reshuffling heading into the offseason, but Morris has shown that will likely be apart of their future roster.
  3. JJ Barea - After scoring a season-high 23 points in Utah on Friday night, JJ had another strong outing against the Suns as he scored 16 points on an impressive 7-9 shooting from the field while turning the ball over 3 times.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 100, Utah Jazz 107

April 14, 2013 by

AlJeffersonGame Summary:

The Minnesota Timberwolves travelled to Utah on Friday night to battle the Jazz in a critical game for Utah’s playoff hopes. With the Los Angeles Lakers and Jazz fighting it out for the final seed in the West, the Jazz looked to their bigs to help them past the lottery-bound Timberwolves.

Nikola Pekovic sat out Friday night’s meeting against the Jazz with an injured left calf. The frontcourt matchup was made increasingly more difficult with the absence of the Wolves starting center. Minnesota defended the interior well in the first period despite facing mismatches in Utah’s favor. The Jazz led 11-10 after the first timeout about midway through the first quarter.

Utah began to expand on their lead following Ricky Rubio’s second foul with around four minutes remaining in the first. The starting Jazz bigs of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap did a nice job of running the floor in transition.

Gordon Hayward capped off a nice first quarter with a half court drain as the first quarter buzzer sounded to give Utah a 30-22 lead after one. JJ Barea was a big factor early as he was one of the only Pups gaining penetration against Utah’s half court defense. Barea hit two quick three-pointers to begin the second period with the second make coming from at least five feet behind the arc. After a pair of Barea free throws and a layup, the Wolves tied the game at 32 with Barea having scored half of Minnesota’s points only two minutes into the second quarter.

A Rubio and-1 gave the Wolves a 52-51 lead with nearly 1:30 to play in the opening half. The two teams traded turnovers before the break and led by a 19-point first half from Barea the Pups went into the locker room with a 54-53 lead.

Derrick Williams started the second half hot scoring six quick points out of the break. On the other side, Al Jefferson continued to be a steady presence in the paint and looked unfazed by the defense brought on by Greg Stiemsma. The Pups held a five point lead with 5 remaining in the third.

The Jazz got hot at the end of the third quarter and entered the final period wih a 82-81 lead with Jefferson approaching his career high for points in a game. Utah continued to fee their man in the middle and whenever the Wolves would collapse on him, Big Al did a tremendous job of finding one of the numerous Jazz three-point shooters waiting patiently on the perimeter. With just over nine minutes left, the Jazz led 90-88.

Jefferson continued to inch closer to his career-high 40 points as he sat at 34 with just under seven minutes to play. The other former Timberwolf, Randy Foye, hit his fifth three-pointer of the game which was not soon after followed by a Jefferson hook shot extending Utah’s lead to 97-90 midway through the final quarter.

With 4:49 remaining, Derrick Favors got issued with a flagrant 1 foul on Barea after Minnesota’s undersized point guard was thrown to the hardwood. Two free throws and back-to-back threes from Rubio gave the Wolves a one point edge at the three minute mark.

While the Wolves made this game very interesting, they were only able to score two points in the final three minutes and the Jazz left with a 107-100 victory. Jefferson tied his career-high with 40 points and came through in the clutch as Utah is currently in a dog fight for the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference.

 

Keys of the Game:

  • Three-point shooting - Both the Wolves and Jazz recorded 8 made three-pointers, but needed 22 and 13 attempts, respectively. While the Wolves shot relatively good from long distance, Utah shot much more efficiently.
  • Points in the paint - Led by Jefferson on the low block, Utah scored 44 points in the paint compared to only 32 by the Pups.

 

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Al Jefferson - Scoring a game-high 40 points on 19-27 FG to pair with 13 rebounds and 6 assists, Big Al was all over the floor in his 41 minutes of play. Since being acquired by Utah from Minnesota, Big Al has had several big performances over his former squad and he absolutely torched Minnesota’s interior defense on Friday night.
  2. JJ Barea - Minnesota desperately needed offense in the first half and Barea kept them afloat with an impressive 19 points in the opening half. Although he scored only 4 points in the second half, his 23 points (6-14 FG, 2-6 3Pt) were the most scored by any Pup despite him playing only 27 minutes.
  3. Randy Foye - The other former Pup shot 5-7 from beyond the arc as he finished with 16 points in 38 minutes. Foye has been Utah’s best three-point shooter this season and was a +12 against the Wolves on Friday night.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 95, Los Angeles Clippers 111

April 12, 2013 by

Blake GriffinGame Summary:

Coming off of a blowout defeat in Oakland on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves traveled to the Staples center the following evening to take on the  Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers, 30-9 at home this season, were playing to clinch their first Pacific Division title in franchise history and one more win at home would give them their largest home win total in franchise history.

Entering the game on a massive shooting slump, Ricky Rubio, who had previously made only 3 of his previous 33 field goal attempts, shot just 2-8 from the field and ended with another tough line of 6 points and 7 assists in 23 minutes.

Rubio had a tough assignment as he was opposite of the consensus top point guard in the NBA, Chris Paul. Paul was masterful against the Timberwolves, absolutely dissecting the defense off the dribble drive while manipulating pick-and-rolls to veteran perfection. Los Angeles carried a 12-point lead into halftime while the Wolves appeared as if they had very little left in the tank in the second game of a back-to-back.

The Pups came back from the break hungry, as they staged a 13-4 run bringing the game within three points in the third period. The Wolves did a better job of limiting turnovers as shown by 9 total team turnovers in the contest. However, the Clippers got things back in check and exploded near the end of the quarter to lead 88-72 going into the final quarter

The Wolves have a very difficult time getting back into game when they struggle so mightily shooting from beyond the arc. It is not a very simple formula: when you excel making shots that are worth more than 2-pointers, it is easier to cut deficits. Somebody tell that to David Kahn!

The Pups ultimately fell in Los Angeles by a score of 111-95. They play next in Utah on Friday night.

Keys of the Game:

  • Shot-blocking - What’s new in the world? The Wolves had a tough time in the interior as the Clippers logged 11 blocks as a team compared to only 4 by the Timberwolves. Ironically, one of the shortest guys on the floor (Chris Paul) logged half as many blocks as Minnesota did as a team, while DeAndre Jordan added 5 himself. Neither of the Pups primary shot-blockers – Greg Stiemsma and Chris Johnson – were able to record a single block.
  • Three-point shooting - I have become a broken record to this point in the season… Los Angeles converted on 11 of their 21 three-point attempts while the Wolves hit only 6 of their 23 tries from deep. The lack of perimeter shooting has greatly limited the Wolves ability to stay in games like the one Wednesday night.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Chris Paul - The best point guard in the NBA logged 19 points (7-11 FG, 2-2 3Pt), 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks to go along with a mere one turnover. Certainly an incredible stat line when going against one of the better perimeter defenders in the league in Rubio. CP3 helped to fundamentally change the dynamic for the young Clippers team when they decided to give up Eric Gordon and assets for him, and it has turned out better than anyone could have predicted for the franchise.
  2. Blake Griffin - The other Clippers star played a stellar 30 minutes and finished with 19 points (9-13 FG), 8 rebounds and 7 assists while turning the ball over a game-high times. Now a perennial All-Star, Griffin has flourished against the Timberwolves when Kevin Love has been absent and his athleticism was profoundly unmatched against the Timberwolves.
  3. Nikola Pekovic - One of the sole bright spots of the game came from the play of Pek, who finished with 20 points (7-13 FG) and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Filed Under: Game Recaps

Minnesota Timberwolves 89, Golden State Warriors 105

April 10, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports

Game Summary:

Playing in Oakland on Monday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Golden State Warriors who were playing to clinch a playoff spot with a win on their home floor. A win for the Warriors would symbolize the organization reaching only their second playoff berth over the past 19 years.

The matchup featured a showdown between the top three-point shooting team in the league against the worst in that same category. Minnesota, now without team leader and top scorer Kevin Love for the remainder of the season as he gets some scar tissue cleaned up in his knee, had a very difficult time competing in the interior against the Golden State frontcourt of David Lee and a healthy Andrew Bogut.

The Warriors size advantage was impossible to ignore from the tip, as Warriors head coach Marc Jackson put 6-foot-7 Klay Thompson on Ricky Rubio, making penetration tough for the Spaniard off the bat.

The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, Nikola Pekovic entered the game averaging a dominant 22.7 points and 10.9 rebounds over his past seven games. The Warriors game planned well and Bogut did a very good job of denying Pek the ball on the low block. With Minnesota doing a poor job of finding ways to get the ball to their center in the paint, the Wolves were forced to focus the offense on scoring from the perimeter – something that they usually struggle mightily with.

It was Klay Thompson who provided the majority of Golden State’s points early on, as he was red-hot from beyond the arc. Shooting an impressive 40% from three in only his second NBA season, Thompson hit his first four shot attempts and he led the Warriors with 10 points with the Warriors leading 20-17 with 2:55 remaining in the first period of play. Minnesota looked for backside cuts for much of their offense and went into the second period tied 26-26.

Thompson continued to light it up from all over the floor in the second quarter as he stayed perfect hitting his first 8 field goal attempts with 5 of them being three-pointers nearly halfway through the second. Despite the superb performance Thompson was giving for Golden State, Minnesota held a 40-39 lead with nearly seven minutes remaining in the first half. Stephen Curry had a difficult time getting in a rhythm and was mostly passive throughout the first half and even had to be careful on the defensive end as he picked up his third personal foul with around 3 minutes left in the second quarter.

Having a hard time gaining separation from Thompson, Ricky vied for open jumpers dribbling off screens but his shot looked very flat and he shot 0-5 in the first half. With Rubio unable to create offense for himself and the Warriors baiting him to take longer jump shots, the Pups fell right into Golden State’s gameplan as the Wolves worst shooter continued to brick shots off of the rim while Nikola laid hungry on the low block.

A late run in the first half highlighted by a transition dunk by Harrison Barnes gave the Warriors a 55-54 lead entering halftime. The first half was essentially the Klay Thompson show, who put on an absolute clinic shooting the ball as he went 9-11 from the field on his way to 25 first half points. The Washington State product certainly played a critical role in keeping the Warriors afloat providing nearly half of the team’s points in the opening half of play.

In the second half, Golden State continued their initial game plan of denying Pekovic on the low block while baiting Ricky to shoot jump shots. After averaging such prolific numbers over the past seven games, Pek was unable to get into any sort of rhythm in the paint while facing very impressive interior defense.

With the game only separated by six points, Luke Ridnour and Thompson got into a small shoving match which ultimately resulted in a technical foul against Luke causing a shift in momentum in the opponents favor. From that point on the Wolves started their collapse as the Warriors fed off of each others energy in transition leading to a 19-4 run for Golden State. With Rubio ice cold and unable to score on anything besides free throws, the Warriors gained significant control of the game with just less than four minutes to play in the third period as they led the Pups 78-64.

Not only was Pek held in check scoring-wise, but he was also unable to contribute on the offensive glass as the Warriors did a fantastic job of getting multiple bodies on the 290-pound monster. This inhibited the Timberwolves from creating second chance opportunities and the Warriors held a large advantage in the rebounding battle. Stephen Curry began to heat up in the third period scoring 13 points in the quarter. Chase Budinger was able to provide a spark offensively off of the bench as he scored 10 points in first 12 minutes on the court. However, Golden State controlled the perimeter and interior battles and led 86-70 heading into final period of play.

The fourth quarter was much of the same as the Wolves continued to struggle shutting down any of the Warriors several weapons, and the countdown to the final buzzer was on for much of the fourth quarter. With the clock ticking down, Warriors fans received the 105-89 victory with chants and cheers as they witnessed their team secure a playoff spot for only the second time in 19 seasons. As hard it was to watch Golden State cap off their impressive season with a playoff berth while the Timberwolves are in the midst of finishing their tumultuous 2012-13 campaign, it was a good sight watching a small market club cheered on by a sellout Oakland crowd overcome significant adversity to ultimately grab a playoff spot in the upcoming NBA postseason. While Timbewolves’ fans know that it coulda been, shoula been us, we must continue to look to the future and have confidence that our bit of luck has yet to come.

 

Keys of the Game:

Rebouding - The Warriors out-rebounded the Timberwolves 60-44 while holding a 12-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Lee, Barnes and Bogut each recorded at least 10 rebounds while Greg Stiemsma led the Wolves with 9.

Interior Defense - The Warriors held Minnesota’s starting frontcourt duo of Williams and Pekovic to a collective 10 points on 4-16 FG and 7 rebounds. Bogut recorded 3 blocks and together he and Lee posted 17 points and 26 rebounds.

 

Three Stars of the Game: 

  1. Klay Thompson - Thompson was unconscious in the first half knocking down his first 5 three-point attempts and his first 8 field goals in total. The long shooting guard was two points off of his career high for scoring as he finished with 30 points (10-19 FG, 6-10 3Pt) to pair with 5 steals in 36 minutes on the floor.
  2. David Lee - Golden State’s workhorse in the paint continued his tremendous 2012-13 campaign and recorded another double-double of 15 points (6-12 FG), 12 rebounds and 5 assists in 33 minutes. Lee has been arguably the Warriors most important player this season and he will finally get an opportunity to compete in the playoffs after eight NBA seasons.
  3. Stephen Curry - After a subpar first half, Curry got hot in the third quarter and ultimately finished with 24 points (9-21 FG, 2-9 3Pt), 10 assists and 4 rebounds in 39 minutes. Curry has done a great job of staying on the court this season after several arthroscopic ankle surgeries over the past few seasons. It is no question that Golden State is a fundamentally different team with Curry in the lineup than when he is on the bench with injury.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 107, Detroit Pistons 101

April 7, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Game Summary:

The Timberwolves hosted the Detroit Pistons at the Target Center on Saturday night with Rick Adelman receiving another opportunity to win his 1000th career victory in his 22nd season as an NBA coach. The Pups came within a few points of achieving the feat the previous night against Toronto, but ultimately fell by a score of 95-93 leaving Adelman at 999 career victories.

Detroit boasted their tough frontcourt of rising star Greg Monroe paired with rookie phenom Andre Drummond, it was no easy task for Minnesota starters Nikola Pekovic and Derrick Williams on the interior. The centers matchup of Pekovic and Drummond was sure not to disappoint, as it was a matchup of Minnesota’s polished bruiser against Detroit’s young Amar’e Stoudemire clone.

For the last time this season, it was a Spaniard vs. Spaniard PG matchup as buddies Ricky Rubio and Jose Calderon faced off for the final time of the regular season. While both are familiar from their participation on the Spanish National team, each player possesses their own unique style. The long time Raptor Calderon focuses his scoring from long mid-range jumpers stretching beyond the arc, and due to his lack of elite quickness uses precision in his movements to make plays. On the other end, Tricky Ricky as many call him threads passes through tight windows while using his eyes to lead defenses one way while he does what they least expect him to. Despite the different styles, both Rubio and Calderon have enjoyed very good campaigns in 2012-13.

Detroit got running in transition early, as they were very active at getting hands in the passing lanes and forcing turnovers. They did a nice job of pushing the ball hard down the floor following steals, but they had a difficult job of finishing at the rim with the advantage in transition.

Derrick Williams got off to a strong start as he netted 6 of the Wolves’ first 14 points as Minnesota led 14-6 with 7:36 remaining in the first quarter. Ricky had  a tough time getting penetration in the first period as Detroit showed strong resilience as a unit on the defensive end. However, the Wolves advantage in transition allowed them a 33-25 lead at the culmination of the first quarter.

Detroit got nice bench contributions from Jonas Jerebko and Rodney Stuckey in the second quarter and the Pistons and Wolves went back and forth in the second period. Coming off the bench, JJ Barea came right back and provided a great spark for the Wolves, creating off the dribble and doing a great job of mixing up pull up jumpers and shot fakes for easy buckets off of the drive. Continuing to flow the offense through their 290-pound mammoth, Minnesota headed to the locker room with a 61-55 first half lead.

The second half continued to be a dog fight as Detroit outshot the Timberwolves, but continually committed careless turnovers on the offensive end which led to some easy transition buckets for Minnesota. The Pups dug deep for their head coach and held on to a three point lead heading into the final period of play.

With six different Pistons finishing with at least 3 turnovers last night, it is easy to understand why Minnesota ultimately won the game 107-101. However, a win is a win and Rick Adelman was quick to rush over to his wife Mary Kay who awaited him in the corner of the court. Despite all the health issues that Mary Kay and Rick have fought together, they were both on the court on Saturday night to witness Rick become the eighth coach in NBA history to reach the 1,000 mark. All of the Timberwolves players joined in celebration following the home victory and fans relished in something meaningful during an anticlimactic and disappointing season. Go Rick, you deserve all the credit you get.

Notable Performances:

Alexey Shved played only 4 minutes and scored 0 points after failing to attempt a field goal. It has been a disastrous second half of the season for the 24-year-old Shved, who after lighting it up in the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star weekend has fell to near the bottom of Adelman’s rotation. It will be a crucial summer for Alexey as he needs to regain the confidence and swagger that he displayed throughout much of the first half of the season.

Ricky Rubio shot just 1-13 from the field, but was nonetheless a +17 on the floor while notching 6 assists, 5 steals, and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes. Games like these remind everybody watching what Ricky’s offseason priority must be: taking as many jump shots in the gym as possible.

Rodney Stuckey has come on strong in his past four games, averaging 20 points over that very span. After receiving a 5-year, $50 million deal Stuckey has fallen very short of his expectations and has become an afterthought of the common Pistons fan. Regardless of the past, the 6-foot-5 combo-guard played a solid 28 minutes and finished the night with 20 points (8-15 FG), 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 turnovers.

Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe combined for 25 points and 16 rebounds, but were unable to contain Pekovic as he recorded yet another double-double. The 22-year-old Monroe and 19-year-old Drummond together may be the most exiting future frontcourt in the NBA, and each could prove perfect compliments to the others game as the Pistons move forward in their rebuilding efforts.

Keys of the Game:

  • Free throws - Coming into the game fifth in the NBA in free throw attempts per game, the Timberwolves attempted 17 more free throws than Detroit while hitting at a similar percentage as their counterparts. However, the total trips to the line proved to be a key advantage as the Pups netted 29 of their 38 attempts compared to 15 of 21 for the Pistons.
  • Turnovers - In and out of injuries for much of the second half of the season, Andrei Kirilenko appears to be 100% as far as his health goes and it was evident tonight on the defensive end where the Russian recorded 7 of Minnesota’s 16 steals. Rubio was also able to add 5 steals of his own while Detroit only managed 10 as a team on their way to 24 Pistons turnovers to only 14 by the Pups.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Rick Adelman - I had to, right? Congratulations to Minnesota’s head coach who became just the eighth coach all-time to hit four digits in the wins column, and while his future surrounding his potential retirement clouds his future as the Wolves’ head coach, the Pups are very lucky to have a historic coach at the helm in the meantime.
  2. Nikola Pekovic - Boy has Pek been on a tear as of late. The Timberwolves man in the middle has flourished as the Timberwolves primary scorer with Kevin Love potentially done for the season with his broken hand, and Pek has taken full advantage of the spotlight as he auditions for a huge contract this summer. Finishing the night with 20 points (7-15 FG) and 13 rebounds while possessing a game-high +20 in 36 minutes on the floor, there is no question that Pek has been producing as a top-tier center in the NBA over the past month. The biggest question is if the oft-injured center who is in just his third NBA season will be worth spending a probable $10+ million per year contract on as he nears restricted free agency this upcoming summer. With the notoriously cheap Glen Taylor running the team, there are no guarantees that we will see our Montenegrin big man in a Timberwolves uniform next season.
  3. Brandon Knight - This was a tough decision between Rodney Stuckey and Knight as each player provided a huge impact in their own respect. I ultimately gave the nod to Knight as he was able to make a huge impact from beyond the arc as well as driving to the basket. The second year combo-guard out of Kentucky has had a somewhat difficult transition from college to the NBA, but his versatility gives him the ability to impact the game in a variety of ways. He ironically is a very similar player to his overpaid backup in Stuckey, but remains five years younger and much more consistent despite having had much less professional experience. In 41 minutes, Knight scored a game-high 25 points (9-15 FG, 3-4 3Pt) to pair with 6 assists and 2 steals.
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