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Minnesota Timberwolves 77, Dallas Mavericks 100

Mar 10, 2013 by

nba_mayo_love_580Game Summary:

The Timberwolves were back in action Sunday night at the Target Center after a tough loss in Denver Saturday night.  The turnaround time left a little to be desired for the club, but there isn’t much more needed to say or speak of Saturday’s embarrassment and the best thing to do is get out on the court again.

Andrei Kirilenko and Nikola Pekovic remained sidelined and it doesn’t sound very promising that they will be ready for Tuesday either.  Given their absence, the starting lineup for our Pups continued to be Rubio, Ridnour, Gelabale, Williams, and Stiemsma.  The Mavs starting five included OJ Mayo, Mike James, Jae Crowder, Dirk Nowitzki, and Chris Kaman.  Shawn Marion missed the game due to an injury, giving Crowder the starting nod.

Earlier in the day, I talked myself into this game by making it an unofficial scouting report for David Kahn on OJ Mayo.  Please pass this on to Kahn and attach Mayo’s resume.  I really want Mayo in a Wolves uniform next season.  In fact, I’ve wanted him in a Wolves uniform since he left USC.

Neither team set the nets on fire in the 1st quarter.  The Mavs shot 42% from the field, only be “bested” by the Wolves and their 36% FG%.  Derrick Williams the full twelve minutes and was very aggressive in and around the paint.  He finished the quarter with a game high 9 points and 5 rebounds in the quarter.  Dallas got a lift from its bench, when Rick Carlisle went to them with about 4 minutes left in the quarter.  Vince Carter and Elton Brand helped give the Mavs a 21-20 lead at the end of the 1st.

The 2nd quarter started but no one told the Timberwolves.  Dallas took advantage with a 12-0 run to start the quarter, leading to an Adelman timeout.  I envision the huddle went something like this:

Adelman: “Look, I don’t want to be here either, but please wake up!”

Huddle: (empty stares)

Dallas matched their 1st quarter output in less than six minutes in the 2nd, outscoring the Pups 22-7 halfway through the quarter.  The Mavs shooting rose to over 50% for the game as they continued to make shots and feel little resistance from the Wolves defense.  At the half, the Mavs held a 56-44 advantage.  Gelabale hit a runner for the Wolves as time expired in the half, cutting the lead to 12 points.  Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • JJ Barea’s bad side was in full effect again tonight – 2-7 from the field, -16 in +/-.
  • Amazingly, that wasn’t the teams lowest +/-, as Alexey Shved “led” the team with a -19 in the half.  Shved has hit the rookie wall … hard.
  • While not leading his team in anything but minutes played in the first half, OJ Mayo chipped in 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.  Have I mentioned that Mayo needs to be on the Wolves radar this summer yet?

Coach Adelman tried mixing things up a bit to start the 3rd quarter, going with a different lineup of Rubio, Barea, Ridnour, Williams, and Stiemsma.  Unfortunately for the Wolves and the fans at the game, it didn’t help change the results.  The Mavs opened up a 19 point lead in the 3rd quarter and settled in with a 78-61 lead going into the final frame.

The only bad news for the Mavericks that came in the second half was that OJ Mayo rolled his ankle in the 3rd quarter under the rim.  It is a little eerie, and probably fitting, that Mayo would roll his ankle at Target Center.  He would fit right in with the current locker room of injured Pups.  However, Mayo returned to the floor in the 4th quarter, showing his toughness and durability; areas that the Wolves desperately need.  He finished the game with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, showed the ability to play both guard positions, facilitate the offense in both the half court set and on the fast break, and defend.

Back to the game itself; the 4th quarter was more of the same from both teams.  Simply put, the Wolves are a lackluster team right now and look to be going through the motions.  Tonight’s game was tough given the trip to Denver last night, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of talent that this team can put out on the floor right now.  The team is not good, period.  To recap – Minnesota Timberwolves 77, Dallas Mavericks 100 and it didn’t feel that close in the 2nd half.

Keys of the Game:

  • Three point shooting – The Wolves are not good at 3PT shooting, yet they continue to launch from downtown entirely too much.  Tonight’s woeful performance, 2-18.
  • Rebounding – The Mavs dominated the boards tonight at the Target Center, with a 59-40 advantage.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Vince Carter – The Mavs really took off when Carter entered the game.  He finished with a game high 22 points and 9 rebounds.
  2. OJ Mayo – His 8-8-7 and all-around play mentioned above helped lead the Mavs to the easy victory Sunday night.  Have I mentioned that the Wolves next GM should be at his door at 12:01am when free agency starts this summer?  (See what I did there?)
  3. Elton Brand – It was throwback night at the Target Center apparently.  Brand finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, practically dominating the paint against the Wolves big men.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 88, Denver Nuggets 111

Mar 10, 2013 by

NBA: Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver NuggetsGame Recap:

I will keep this rather punctual, as there are only so many words you can say following a 23-point loss and a 21-38 record. Minnesota marched into their demise playing a Denver team that has one of the deepest rosters in the association. The Nuggets entered the game with a home win-loss total of 27-3, and outlasted the Timberwolves in the fourth-quarter as the Puppies fell 111-88.

The Timberwolves went with a starting lineup consisting of Rubio-Ridnour-Gelabale-Williams-Stiemsma against Lawson-Igoudala-Galinari-Faried-Koufos for Denver. Minnesota gave up legitimate size and athleticism to the playoff-bound Nuggets, and were far too undermanned against a tremendous team.

From the opening quarter, the Wolves obvious problems in transition defense were very evident, and they experienced a lot of trouble on their switches in transition D as Denver did a good job of pushing the ball down the court following a Timberwolves field goal. The George Karl-led group does a wonderful job of spacing the floor in the half-court offense, and move the ball laterally very effectively. One cannot comment enough on the deepness of this Denver team’s roster, and it is unfair to rag on the Wolves too much for their loss when considering how few healthy bodies they have. With so many injuries to core players, it is tough to be very demanding with this squad.

The Pups had their work cut out for them opposite of Ty Lawson. The former North Carolina star was having his way, gaining easy penetration and doing a nice job of finding open teammates on the perimeter. The fringe-All-Star was once drafted by the Timberwolves, but was later shipped off for a future first-round pick instead. It is interesting to imagine what might have happened had we held on to Lawson and avoided Jonny Flynn…

The Timberwolves actually kept it close in the second half and went into halftime trailing 50-49. Half time notes and musings:

  • Why does Greg Stiemsma shoot jump shots? Why doesn’t the coaching staff stop this? Even though he knocked down a couple, he is spending much less time right next to the hoop where he should be. He has taken on a much smaller role in defending the rim as of late.
  • Three of Denver’s core rotation players were once Timberwolves. When does accountability fall on Timberwolves front office and coaching staff for failing to develop or recognize ability? It is infuriating to casually watch so many ex-Timberwolves thriving in their new settings.
  • Derrick Williams is not looking to shoot open three-pointers. He is playing as if he aspires to be a common role player. One thing that caught my attention during the game was seeing the absolutely ripped Andre Igoudala next to Williams, who still has some baby fat to shed. It led to me thinking about how in order for Derrick to really be good with the skill set he has, he will need to be at a higher level of personal fitness and will need to log many hours in the weight room this summer.
  •  Andrei Kirilenko continues to be missing with injury, and it is no shock considering his elaborate history with a myriad of injuries. There is no point in AK-47 playing with nagging injuries as the team, to be brutally honest, is essentially playing for a high draft pick at this point in the season. Without their core players healthy, this team is going absolutely nowhere.

The Nuggets took advantage of their various mismatches in the third period and they continued to heat up from beyond the arc. JaVale McGee was straight ballin’ in the third quarter and entertained the viewers with a few very exciting alley-oops. JaVale, who is currently slated behind former Pup Kosta Koufos on the depth chart, greatly exemplifies just how much more talented and deep Denver is than Minnesota. You could even make the argument that Denver’s second unit of which contains Miller-Brewer-Chandler-JaVale contains more talent than the Wolves current starting five.

JJ Barea played well tonight and should get some attention for his good effort. Ricky Rubio, however, had a very tough time tonight. Rubio had a tough time making plays as his fellow shooters were very timid and were very hesitant on countless good setups from our Spanish point guard. Denver had a relatively easy time holding off the Pups, and they stretched their lead 83-70 heading into the final period.

The last shred of hope for the Pups came when they were able to cut the score 85-76 with 9:30 remaining in the game. However, not soon after the Nuggets quickly opened the game up in transition and from beyond the arc. Ty Lawson was feeling especially hot from long range, and scored a game-high 32 points. Once the game got out of hand, Denver came out smiling and won by a score of 111-88.

Keys of the Game:

Fast-break points —– Denver controlled the game in transition, and caught Timberwolves players napping on several occasions leading to fast-break slam dunks. Nuggets head coach Karl says that his current roster is the fastest roster he has ever had, and it was blatant all night long.

Steals —– Minnesota had 5 steals, while Denver grabbed an astonishing 13 steals. This allowed them to dominate in transition and put on a show for the sold out home arena.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Ty Lawson —– In 34 minutes, Lawson notched a ridiculous 32 points on 12-17 shooting. This included a perfect 4-4 from long distance, and he torched Luke Ridnour on many occassions.
  2. Corey Brewer —– Who else besides another Timberwolf? The Brew-Crew was great last night scoring 15 points on 7-13 shooting in 25 minutes off of the bench. Brewer has found a home and a team that trusts him in Denver, and it is very nice to see.
  3. Andre Igoudala —– Igouldala has looked much more comfortable in the Denver offense since his rocky start to the season, and is amazing in that he does a little bit of everything night-in and night-out. Iggy finished with the line of 10 points-5 rebounds-4 steals-3 assists-3 blocks in 32 minutes.

 

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Minnesota Timberwolves 87, Washington Wizards 82

Mar 7, 2013 by
Jim Mone/Associated Press

Jim Mone/Associated Press

Game Summary:

On Wednesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves faced off at home against the Washington Wizards in a battle of two lottery-bound teams. The Wizards and Timberwolves entered the game with 19 and 20 wins, respectively, despite beginning the season with aspirations for a postseason berth. Washington was without rising rookie Bradley Beal, who injured his ankle after a nasty fall in Washington’s recent win over the 76ers. Beal narrowly escaped with only a sprained ankle, and will likely be out for up to another week.

Unsurprisingly, Minnesota was also without two of their starters in Andrei Kirilenko and Nikola Pekovic as both have been ravaged by a myriad of small injuries since the All-Star break. Mickael Gelabale and Greg Stiemsma started in their places in what was sure to be a snoozefest for the devoted fans who continue to occupy the graveyard atmosphere that the Target Center has once again become.

The matchup of Ricky Rubio and John Wall was sure to be a captivating one at that, with the first overall pick of the 2009 draft versus the fifth overall pick from the same draft. With both players standing at 6-foot-4, the game featured a matchup of two of the tallest point guards in the NBA despite having very skill sets. Wall, not known for his shooting, started off the game by knocking down several mid-range jumpers that are considered one of his weaknesses. Rubio started the game sagging off Wall by a step or two in order to take away his elite ability to get to the rim, and the former Kentucky standout responded by showing off an uncharacteristic soft touch from 16-18 feet. With the Wizards leading 29-24 after the first quarter, Wall had hit all 4 of his field goal attempts. Rubio held his own as he recorded 6 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the opening period.

The Wolves did a much better job on the defensive end in the second quarter as the tandem of Dante Cunningham and Chris Johnson provided strong interior defense. Johnson, who has received sporadic minutes since Rick Adelman returned from missed time, was pure energy and hustle during his minutes in the first half. The long and skinny Johnson pushed the tempo beating the defense down the court and converted all three of his field goal attempts. Although Johnson is mainly receiving minutes due to the absence of Pekovic from the lineup, he continues to produce in the minutes he receives and is consistently the first Pup down the court on offense and the first player back on defense.

Leading 48-43 after the first half behind 51% shooting. The two teams sparred in the third quarter as neither club was able to get hot shooting the ball or creating opportunities in the half-court offense. The Wolves headed into the final quarter of play with a 65-63 lead.

One of the highlights of the fourth quarter came from Luke Ridnour in an uncharacteristic display of frustration with the officiating as he chucked the ball down the court following a no-call on a drive. Washington shot ahead to a 73-65 lead and it began to appear as if the Wolves were headed towards another fourth-quarter collapse. However, our Catalan leader put together another near quadruple-double and JJ Barea knocked down some key looks and the Wolves ended their losing streak, winning 87-82.

Notable Performances:

Martell Webster, after being cut by Minnesota before the season, entered the game with the second-best three-point shooting percentage in the NBA. Ironically, the Wolves are currently the worst three-point shooting team in the league. Starting for the Wizards at Small Forward, Webster logged 41 minutes of playing time despite only knocking down 2 of his 8 long-range attempts.

Derrick Williams put up a respectable line of 16 points and 8 rebounds, but shot just 4-12 from the field and struggled mightily after a strong first quarter.

Trevor Ariza continued his strong play of late as he recorded 16 points (4-10 FG, 3-7 3PT), 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 38 minutes. Ariza was acquired by the Wizards along with Emeka Okafor last summer in hopes of boosting Washington into playoff contention.

Keys of the Game:

  • Turnovers - Washington shot themselves in the foot time and time again and they committed 24 turnovers to only 14 by Minnesota.
  • Personal Fouls - As if the game was not made sloppy enough by all of Washington’s turnovers, they committed an absurd 29 personal fouls and essentially handed Minnesota the game in the final period of play.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Ricky Rubio - This selection is a no-brainer. For the second time since the All-Star break, Ricky legitimately flirted with the mystic quadruple-double as he finished the night with 15 points (4-15 FG), 11 assists, 7 rebounds and 6 steals in 38 minutes. Although he had another tough game shooting the ball, Tricky Ricky provided for the Wolves in so many different ways on both ends of the floor and willed the team to victory.
  2. John Wall - Wall showed a lot of improvement in his game especially in his ability to knock down the mid-range jumper. As tremendous of a player as Wall is, there still remains many areas in which he will need to master if he is to become the superstar that he was predicted to be when he was selected with the first pick. Wall finished the night with 19 points (7-15 FG), 7 assists, 3 steals and 6 turnovers in 39 minutes.
  3. JJ Barea - JJ came up big in the fourth quarter and was one of the only Wolves who could make a shot in the second half. He held his own on defense despite having enormous size disadvantages in his matchups and was able to provide 12 points in 23 minutes off of the bench.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 81, Miami Heat 97

Mar 5, 2013 by
AP Photo/Jim Mone

AP Photo/Jim Mone

Game Summary

Well, that was fun.  The Miami Heat visited the Twin Cities and left with another victory, their 15th win in a row this season.  The Timberwolves brought a lot of effort but their shorthanded staff really hurt Monday night and honestly, no one should really be surprised.  Here is how the game transpired.

The Pups were still without Pekovic and Kirilenko – to go along with the ‘regulars’ who have missed significant time this season.  The starting five for the Wolves was the same from Saturday night in Portland and included Rubio, Ridnour, Gelabale, Williams, and Stiemsma.  No surprises from the Heat, who opened up with Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh.

The game got off to slow start offensively.  Going into the first timeout of the game, the Heat held an 11-8 lead.  The Wolves turned the ball over twice early, and Rubio missed two free throws.  In essence, not much changed since the road trip.  Meanwhile, it was the Wade and James show on Miami’s end.  They accounted for all 11 points and several highlight moves around the rim.

At the end of the 1st quarter, the Heat held a 22-16 lead.  Chris Bosh also came to life in the latter stages of the quarter, chipping in 5 points and 3 rebounds.  No one on the Wolves had more than 4 points and it was a rather dull opening twelve minutes.

After Miami widened its margin to double digits, the Wolves answered with their own 9-2 run to cut the lead to 4 points.  Derrick Williams hit a few mid-range jumpers while Rubio was active on the defensive end which led to fast break points.  The remainder of the 2nd quarter was played at a nice pace with the home team being able to keep it close.  Unfortunately for the Wolves (and the pad underneath the rim), Rubio missed a tip-in as time expired in the half.  (Rubio subsequently right-crossed the pad and stormed into the locker room.)

At the half, the Heat held a 50-43 advantage.  Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • JJ Barea was 1-7 from the field in the 1st half and completely maddening to watch
  • I wish Rubio’s effort and visible frustration with losing was more contagious with the Pups
  • Mike Miller gets 0 PT in Miami (although I figure he will see some time in the 2nd half)

The Heat opened up the 3rd quarter with a 12-5 run and opened up their biggest lead of the game to that point (14 points).  However, once again the Wolves were able to respond with a 6-0 run of their own.  This included Ricky Rubio pickpocketing Mario Chalmers around half court and scoring on a layup on the other end of the floor.

Ricky Rubio, Derrick Williams and small contributions from Shved and Cunningham, helped keep the Wolves in the game through three quarters.  While the Pups were trailing 69-63, they were right there going into the final twelve minutes, despite the albatross that is, JJ Barea; who was 1-9 from the field through three quarters.

Minnesota continued to scrap with the Heat, which included JJ Barea getting under Ray Allen’s skin by … being JJ Barea.  Allen wasn’t amused at all and some choice words were exchanged.  During a commercial break, the refs decided that Barea’s foul was a Flagrant 2, which made absolutely no sense.  To make matters worse, the refs also gave Adelman one technical and on the next trip down the floor, called Alexey Shved for a leg kick-out after a made three pointer, which nullified the basket and essentially killed the Wolves momentum.

When an actual basketball game resumed, the Heat took command of the game and pulled away from the Wolves.  This included the aforementioned Mike Miller sighting.  With nothing more to say about the game itself, Jim Pete went into a thirty second rant about how infuriating Miller’s time with the Wolves was.  Thank you Jim, thank you!

After Barea was tossed, the Heat closed the game on a 21-11 run and took their 15th straight victory with a 97-81 win at the Target Center.

Keys of the Game

  • Strength – Sounds ridiculous huh?  Well, when you have LeBron James and Dwyane Wade against an undermanned and undersized Wolves team, I’ll just go with “strength” over “talent”.  James and Wade were able to do virtually whatever they wanted, particularly in getting to the paint.
  • Shooting Percentages – This is getting old right?  Heat = 51% FG%, 84% FT%; Wolves = 38% FG%, 67% FT%.
  • Bad JJ Barea – I’m not talking about his trucker/potty mouth either.  1-11 from the field, and no regard for running Adelman’s offense.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Dwyane Wade – Wade abused Ridnour and the rest of the Pups that tried to guard him.  32 points on 15-23 shooting, to go with 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
  2. LeBron James – For the first time seeing LeBron play (this work week), I have to say he is pretty good.  James finished with 20 & 10.  Despite the 7 turnovers, James dominated around the paint and set the tone early with Wade.
  3. Ricky Rubio – The Unicorn finished with 14 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 6 steals.  Quite the performance from Ricky on another nationally televised game.

Derrick Williams (and not Mike Miller) gets an honorable mention as DWill had another double-double (25 & 10) for the Wolves and remains the only bright spot on the club beyond Rubio.

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Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Portland Blazers 109

Mar 4, 2013 by
Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Game Summary

Closing out the western swing, the Timberwolves visited the Rose Garden Saturday night to take on the Trail Blazers.  Minnesota entered the game on a four game losing streak while the Blazers still have hopes of grabbing the bottom seed in the western conference playoffs.

Unfortunately, more changes were needed in the Wolves starting lineup Saturday night as both Kirilenko and Pekovic were scratched from the game.  The Pups starting lineup consisted of – Rubio, Ridnour, Gelabale, Williams, and Stiemsma.  The Blazers opened up with Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and JJ Hickson.

Going into the first timeout / stoppage of play, the Blazers had built a 7 point lead, 17-10.  Greg Stiemsma was already on the bench with two quick fouls.  With Pekovic’s injury it was a given that Chris Johnson would get minutes Saturday night, but Stiemsma’s inability to stay on the court and avoid foul trouble has become a bit nauseating for Wolves fan (or at least one of them…).

The Wolves defense struggled to do anything to stop the Blazers in the 1st quarter, as the home team held a 31-19 lead after the first twelve minutes.  Story of the quarter is vastly similar to the past few weeks (months?) for the Pups: 9-24 on FG’s for 38% and 0-4 from 3PT range, while the Blazers were 12-23 from the field for 52% and 3-5 from 3PT range.

The 2nd quarter was pretty slow going, or at least it felt that way.  The Pups outscored the Blazers 25-20 in the quarter but trailed by six points, 51-45.  While the Wolves were able to cut into the lead, no one stood out on the team beyond Derrick Williams (broken record alert).  The Blazers cooled off in the 2nd quarter and that felt like the crux of why the Wolves were back in the game more than anything else.

Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • I’m just going to assume that Ricky Rubio is going to be working on his jumper all offseason and will be a solid offensive threat next year.  (Fantasy league stud in 13/14)
  • An underrated move from several weeks ago was the Blazers acquisition of Eric Maynor.
  • Chris Johnson needs more PT.  Please!

The game more or less fell apart for the undermanned Wolves in the second half.  The Blazers built a 17 point lead in the 3rd quarter at several points.  Without Pekovic, the Wolves had no answer for JJ Hickson, who hit the double-double threshold early and kept going.

I’m not sure if Alexey Shved has hit another wall or not, but Adelman is not giving him heavy minutes and it really can’t, or at least shouldn’t be, due to what Ridnour and Barea are doing on the court for the team.  At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Blazers held an 83-71 lead.

The Wolves made several very small runs but never truly threatened to take over the game in the 4th quarter.  Luke Ridnour caught fire early in the quarter, but it felt more like a nice run by an individual player vs. the start of a big move that would help catapult the team to take over the game.  Sure enough, Terry Stotts would call the appropriate timeouts and get his team back in gear.

The Blazers outscored the Wolves 58-50 in the second half and pulled out the 109-94 victory.  The win completed the season sweep for the Blazers over the Wolves, which wound up being the fifth time in six seasons that Portland has been able to claim this feat.  Given all of the missing cogs in the Wolves machine, this really should not have been a surprise for anyone watching the game on NBA TV.

While Rubio flirted with another triple-double (12, 9, and 9), he continues to turn the ball over too much and opposing teams are laying off of him on the offensive end, daring him to shoot jumpers.  Unfortunately for us Wolves fans, that plan is working, as Rubio continues to struggle to with his shot.

Rather than harping on that particular part of the game, I found myself asking what would be the better scenario for the Wolves moving forward more often than not while watching the second half.  Is it moving forward with Kevin Love, Derrick Williams, both, or the supplemental players that the team can put together by moving one or the other in the future?  I need to think about this a lot more before putting down my thoughts on paper.

Keys of the Game

  • Talent / Health – I am absolutely copping out on this one, as this claim could be made for most of the season.  The Pups were missing way too much talent on the floor in Saturday’s game at the Rose Garden.
  • Shooting – The Wolves shot under 40% again for the game and only made 1-12 3PT’s.  While the team continues to show an ability to get to the FT line, they missed 11 FT’s, going 25-36 from the charity stripe.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. JJ Hickson – Hickson finished with 18 and 16 on the evening and torched Stiemsma and CJ throughout the evening.
  2. Damian Lillard – Newsflash, Lillard is good, putting up 24, 6, and 4 for the future ROY, and a game high +22 in the +/- category.
  3. Derrick Williams – Williams missed his season high by one point but still put up a 23 and 8 for the Wolves and was probably the lone bright spot for the team.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Los Angeles Lakers 116

Mar 1, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Photo Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Game Summary:

In the second of their three-game road trip, the Timberwolves squared off against the steadily-improving Los Angeles Lakers on a court that they had previously lost the past twelve games on. Without starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko, matters were made worse as the Wolves lost yet another important member of their squad due to injury. Behind a terrific night from reigning Western Conference Player of the Week Kobe Bryant, the Lakers blew out the Wolves 116-94 as they continue to claw their way back from a terrible start to the season.

To be fair, Minnesota kept it close… for one quarter. One of the key matchups of the game was that of Dwight Howard vs. Nikola Pekovic, two of the biggest and strongest players in the league. Early on, Pek did a good job of establishing inside position while Ricky Rubio did a brilliant job of finding him for easy looks on multiple occasions. However, the after playing only 9 minutes, Pekovic was forced to head to the locker room late in the first quarter with what turned out to be an abdominal strain. His prognosis came out in the second period as we learned that Pek would miss the remainder of the game and would be out indefinitely. The big fella finished with 8 points (4-6 FG) and 3 rebounds.

With injuries completely obliterating Minnesota’s depth, the Wolves looked to young Derrick Williams to do his best against, ugh, Kobe Bryant. While D-Will did not do a terrible job guarding Kobe, he had very little help from his teammates as the Timberwolves were very slow rotating and closing gaps on defense.

The Lakers came out of the gate with some hot shooting which foreshadowed what was to happen for the rest of the contest. To Minnesota’s credit, they were severely under-manned and the Lakers had several blatant mismatches to exploit. Minnesota hung around in the first period as they did a good job of spacing the floor while Ricky dazzled the LA fans with some incredible passing.

The Timberwolves trailed Los Angeles 28-22 heading into the second quarter. With no Pekovic in the lane, the Lakers were able to effectively stretch the floor on offense leading to many open three-point opportunities, which they knocked down at a high rate. Offensively, the Timberwolves had a very difficult time creating offense with Rubio getting a breather. Alexey Shved had a difficult time against the physical LA perimeter defense, and he did not do the Wolves a favor by continually settling for long two-point  shots. Defensively, the Wolves were awful on their rotations as noone pushed out to contest shots on the perimeter. Getting the start for AK-47, Dante Cunningham was ice-cold and could not hit his 18-footer that he loves so much.

At the half, Los Angeles led the Pups 57-47. My observations of the first two periods are as follows:

  • Luke Ridnour had the hot hand for Minnesota, knocking down two corner threes and hitting just about everything he took.
  • Dwight’s duties were made incredibly easy without Pekovic in the lane, and the self-proclaimed “Chocolate Shoulders” did a phenomenal job of protecting the rim against the team that finishes at the rim worse than any other NBA team.
  • The Wolves could be seen with three point guards on the court at times, and if that doesn’t make you wince, you need help.
  • Can’t say enough about Rubio, he was the only thing keeping this game from exploding into nightmare in the first half.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody watching, the Lakers controlled the game in the second half with the game getting ugly in the final quarter. Despite three strong overall performances by Ridnour, JJ Barea, and Rubio, the size differential between the two teams completely inhibited the Pups’ ability to compete on both ends of the floor. I could continue to elaborate on the second half, but I will save you the misery.

Notable Performances:

  • Jodie Meeks made 4 of his 9 three-point attempts after missing his first 3 tries from deep, and reminded LA fans why they went out and got him last offseason.
  • Steve Blake had a highly productive 25 minutes finishing the night with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench.
  •  Luke Ridnour did just about everything he could have done for Minnesota and his great performance will most likely be overlooked by the end result of the game. Ridnour scored 19 points (7-10 FG, 2-4 3PT) and added 3 steals in an efficient offensive performance.
  • Derrick Williams played 39 minutes and was a game-worst -26 on the floor. I do not want to rag on him too much because he was asked to play out of position guarding Kobe. Williams contributed 15 points (6-14 FG), 8 rebounds and 3 turnovers in a long night for the second-year player.

Keys of the Game:

  • Three-point shooting - I cannot emphasize enough the importance that perimeter shooting played in this one. The Lakers used the simple formula of feeding the ball into the post drawing Minnesota defenders into the interior, while Howard and other Lakers bigs found their open teammates waiting contently on the outside for wide-open three-pointers. LA converted a ridiculous 16 of their 32 attempts from deep as Minnesota shot a reasonable 7-21 themselves.
  • Rebounding - LA 49, MN 35. No Pek + no AK + no Love = no rebounding. It’s a pretty simple formula.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Kobe Bryant - Oh boy, was the Black Mamba hot tonight. Kobe finished with 33 points (13-22 FG, 4-8 3PT), 5 assists and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes tonight. He showed off his range with a couple of very deep three-pointers and posterized Pekovic before the big man ultimately left with injury.
  2. Dwight Howard - Loved what I saw from the Dwightmare, who completely set the tone for LA defensively. The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent is beginning to come into his own as a Laker and in 33 minutes finished with 11 points (5-6 FG), 13 rebounds and 4 blocks.
  3. Ricky Rubio - Rubio came very close to recording his first career triple-double but fell 2 rebounds short, as he finished the night with 13 points (5-11 FG), 13 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 turnovers in 33 minutes. I am sure many Laker fans left the Staples Center satisfied of what they saw from the young Spaniard.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 83, Phoenix Suns 84

Feb 27, 2013 by

DerrickGame Summary

The Timberwolves kicked off a three game road trip on Tuesday night in Phoenix.  Both teams came into the game well under .500 and fans are already thinking about what is the next step to bring each franchise back to the playoffs.  I think it is safe to say that the Pups are significantly closer to those aspirations, but Tuesday night’s performance didn’t help the minds (or hearts) of either fan base.  Here is how the night transpired.

There were no changes to the Wolves starting lineup – Rubio, Ridnour, Kirilenko, Williams, and Pekovic.  The Suns opened up with Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, PJ Tucker, Luis Scola, and Marcin Gortat.

In the early stages of the game, the Wolves and Suns both struggled to make baskets and the Wolves managed to turn the ball over a few too many times.  Going into the first timeout/break in the game the Suns held a 10-6 lead through 6+ minutes.  Dr. James Naismith likely rolled over in his grave given the performance for the entire 12 minutes of the 1st quarter.  At the end of the 1st, the Suns held a 16-15 lead.

The Suns put together a 10-0 run but it could have, and should have been, much worse.  Through 18 minutes of the game, the Wolves had 21 points.  Seriously.  They were shooting sub-30%, turning the ball over, and being outrebounded 25-17 going into the TV timeout with under 6 minutes to go in the half.

Rather than belabor this any further, the Suns held a 47-33 lead at halftime.  Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • Mentioned this on Twitter, but if the Wolves continue to lose more often than not, does that make Adelman more or less likely to return next season?
  • Derrick Williams was the only bright spot, with 13 & 6 in the 1st half
  • Finally – 33 points?  Seriously?

Coming out to start the 3rd quarter, Alexey Shved was in the starting lineup replacing Andrei Kirilenko.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t Adelman trying to tweak the lineup to cause a spark, it was due to another injury.  AK47 suffered a calf strain and was deemed out for the rest of the game.  We’ll see the severity of the injury in the coming days and if Andrei will miss any more time.

The 3rd quarter itself was more of the same from the Wolves and Suns.  The Pups won the quarter 18-11 (ugh) and were only down 58-51 going into the final frame.  Derrick Williams remained the only Pup worth talking about, but he was also shooting 3-10 from the FT line through three quarters.  That said, he already posted a double-double, with 18 & 10 through three.

After starting out very slow in the 4th quarter, the Wolves went on a 7-0 run to cut the Suns lead to 6 points.  Pekovic started to come to life in the 4th quarter as well, quietly moving into double-double range.  The Wolves were met with a healthy dose of Wesley Johnson, who hit several three pointers, as well as a few baskets in/around the paint.

In the final two minutes, the Wolves were able to take a 76-75 lead.  After Rubio hit one of two FT’s, the Suns were able to tie the game up with a running layup by Gortat.  Rubio then proceeded to air-ball a mid-range jumper to put the game into overtime, which is exactly what the NBA and its fans didn’t need from these two teams.

The overtime period was more of the same from both teams; bad shooting, a lack of scoring, and turnovers.  Ricky Rubio looked completely gassed and Adelman pulled him for the final few minutes.  With time running down, Alexey Shved drove to the rim and missed a layup that would have given the Wolves the lead (and likely win).  The Suns escape with an 84-83 win after outscoring (or surviving) the Wolves 7-6 in OT.

Keys of the Game

  • Shooting – While the Suns were equally as bad, the Wolves shot 31-90 FG’s, including 5-19 from 3PT range and were 16-25 from the FT line.  Dear lord.
  • Bench play – Aside from JJ Barea – and you should probably account for all of his negatives here too – the Suns bench was widely superior Tuesday night, with Wes Johnson, Markieff Morris, and Jermaine O’Neal all with double digit points.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Jermaine O’Neal – Seriously, I mean who else does this go to?  A double-double from a 60 year old NBA player deserves to be recognized.  My only other option was “(Leave blank)”.
  2. Derrick Williams – 21 & 12 and another relatively solid outing for DWill.
  3. Wesley Johnson – Arguably the worst 1st round pick in the Timberwolves history, Johnson managed to have a career night with 14 points and 9 rebounds off the Suns bench.  Of course he did.
Filed Under: Game Recaps Tagged With: , ,
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