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Minnesota Timberwolves 110 – Boston Celtics 100

April 1, 2013 by
Was he hurt or was it personal reasons? Pups fans won't shed a tear. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Was he hurt or was it personal reasons? Pups fans won’t shed a tear either way. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Game Summary

The Boston Celtics visited Target Center Monday night, following a bad loss on Sunday against the Knicks in New York. Unfortunately for Wolves fans at the game, Kevin Garnett once again missed his return to Minnesota due to an injury.  The Celtics came into the game as the seven seed in the Eastern Conference.  The Wolves came into Monday’s game off of a Saturday night loss against Memphis, moving the team’s record to 26-46 on the season.

Par for the course when watching the Wolves, there were a few injuries to account for in the starting lineup on Monday night.  However, they weren’t driven by the Pups for once!  The Wolves opened up with Rubio, Ridnour, Kirilenko, Williams and Pekovic.  The Celtics played without much of their ‘normal’ starting lineup, beginning the game with Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, and Chris Wilcox.  Aside from Rondo and KG, the Celtics were also without Paul Pierce, who injured his leg on Sunday against the Knicks but was deemed out prior to the game for “personal reasons”.

The game had a nice flow early on with the Wolves and Celtics battling back and forth, particularly in the paint.  Pekovic and Kirilenko drew several early fouls on the Celtics’ big men.  At the same time, Rubio was aggressive looking for his shot and setting up others.  The Celtics countered with fast starts from Avery Bradley and Jeff Green.  Going into the first stoppage of play with under five minutes left in the 1st quarter, the Pups held a 17-13 lead.

At the end of the 1st quarter, the Wolves held a 27-25 lead.  Pekovic was dominant in the opening frame, finishing with 15 points on 5-6 shooting in the first twelve minutes.  More importantly, he had already drawn 2 fouls on Wilcox and 3 on Shavlik Randolph.  Overall, a very nice quarter from the Pups showing the ability to get to the free throw line and run Adelman’s offense.

The Wolves built a 42-36 lead going into a timeout with more than six minutes gone in the 2nd quarter.  Alexey Shved had two baskets in the paint and looked like he was a lot fresher; he only played ~17 minutes in the two games Friday and Saturday night.  Granted the Celtics were down their lead options and playing the second half of a back to back, but the Wolves were looking very good in the 1st half.

After the Celtics tied the game at 45, the Wolves went on a mini-run, taking a 57-52 lead into the locker room at the half.  Here are a couple of halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • The last week or so of games has to make you yearn for “what could have been” with an even remotely healthy lineup for the better portion of the season.
  • Very nice half of basketball from Pekovic (21 points) and Kirilenko (8 & 8).
  • If the Celtics can’t get healthy (quickly) they are going to be in a lot of trouble trying to avoid the 8 seed and the Miami Heat.

The Wolves tried to break the game open in the 3rd quarter, building a double digit lead halfway through the quarter.  After an AK47 steal and dunk to increase the lead to 12 points, Doc Rivers had seen enough and had to burn a timeout.  It was essentially more of the same from the same three players on the Pups – Pekovic, AK, and Rubio.  At the same time, the Wolves were doing a nice job shutting down the Celtics’ wings, holding Courtney Lee and Jeff Green to minimal contributions.

Boston made a small run towards the end of the 3rd quarter to cut the lead to six points going into the final frame at Target Center.  The Wolves were a little lucky it wasn’t closer as they missed a few buckets in the final few minutes, while Boston also missed a three pointer at the buzzer.  At the end of three, Minnesota led 84-78.

Someone call the league office and ask them to restart the NBA season with a healthy Wolves roster.  The Pups got off to a 12-4 run to start the 4th quarter to increase their lead back to double digits.  From there, it was only a matter of whether or not the Wolves would play fundamental basketball to hold on to the win and that is exactly what they were able to do.  Minnesota outscored Boston in all four quarters Monday night, including 26-22 in the 4th, to win 110-100.

Keys of the Game

  • Fast break points – The Wolves won the fast break battle 23-9.  Without their new big three, the Celtics tried to slow down the game to a screeching halt, but the Wolves wanted nothing to do with that tempo and moved the ball up the court.
  • Free throws – The Wolves were 25-27 (?!?!) from the charity stripe tonight, outpacing the Celtics 9-14 effort from the line.
  • Turnovers – Watching this game and seeing the final lines, you almost wonder how the Wolves didn’t win by an even larger margin.  Minnesota only turned the ball over 8 times Monday night, while Boston had 17.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Nikola Pekovic – Another huge performance from Pekovic, with 29 points on 9-15 shooting from the field and 11-11 from the FT line.  Pekovic set the tone early and dominated the Celtics big men in the paint, putting them both in foul trouble early.
  2. Andrei Kirilenko – Nice effort from AK47 Monday night, with 17 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.
  3. Dante Cunningham – Ham had another nice shooting night on the Target Center floor, going 7-12 from the field for 19 points.  He also threw in 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 117, Los Angeles Lakers 120

March 28, 2013 by

08^740919 05WOLF032813.jpgGame Summary:

Before spoiling the big ending between the Timberwolves and Lakers on Wednesday night, let me set up the context to what would ultimately be one of the most controversial endings to this NBA season. With 5 and a half to play in the final period of play, the Wolves trailed LA 106-94 playing in the Target Center. The Pups were hanging by a thread as Dante Cunningham was playing hero due to his red-hot mid-ranger game and Ricky Rubio doing everything to find him for 15-18 footers. With just around 3 minutes left to play, the Timberwolves switched things up and took part in the infamous hack-a-Dwight strategy. Fouling Dwight on every LA offensive possession, the strategy worked brilliantly as the big man hit only 2 of his 8 free throws over the course of the next minute while Minnesota cut their deficit to only 7 points with right around 2 minutes to play. Dwight, who is shooting 49% from the charity stripe on the season, has been unable to significantly improve his free throw shooting since joining the NBA as a 19-year-old, nearly 8 years ago.

Here’s where things got insane. With 3.4 seconds left and Kobe shooting the second of his two foul shots, Minnesota was out of timeouts and was in need of some serious luck in order to extend the game into overtime. As Kobe released the free throw, the ball bounced graciously off of the front of the rim as Rubio found himself able to easily the ball falling right in front of his face. Racing down the court with no timeouts, Ricky dashed the length of the court in order to get up a last second three-pointer in hopes of tying the game and taking it into overtime in front of the screaming Target Center audience. Just as Ricky approached the three-point line in the midst of a race to beat the clock, Kobe’s arm extended from behind Ricky’s head and came down upon the Spaniards’ left arm just as he was releasing the ball. On the right side, Dwight Howard made significant contact with Ricky’s other side before the shot was released, and Minnesota fans paused for a split second before seeing their hopes for three free throws and a shot at overtime go straight down the drain. No foul was called, despite one official having a clear view of the contact right next to Ricky and Kobe quickly headed through to the lockerroom as the game was official, 120-117 in favor of Los Angeles.

I could go on and on about how the referees blew the game and that Minnesota got jipped, but what good would that do? The fact is that the Wolves waited until the very end of the game to stage a run and ultimately came up a hair short to a player and organization that is clearly favored by the National Basketball Association. It would be ignorant to say that the NBA does not want Los Angeles to grab the eighth seed in the playoffs, because if the Lakers are able to grab the final spot there will be a lot more money in this year’s postseason than there would be if, say, Utah jumped ahead of LA.

Regardless of the finish, I was happy to see Minnesota finish this game with some pride while also saving their best play for last. This 24 game losing streak to LA, however, needs to end soon.

Keys of the Game:

  • Shot-blocking - The Lakers out-blocked the Timberwolves 9 to 3 as D-12 did an excellent job of setting the tempo in the interior for Los Angeles. With Greg Stiemsma an inefficient bench option and Pekovic lacking vertical leap, the Timberwolves are essentially without a shot-blocker in their current rotation with Chris Johnson warming the bench for the foreseeable future.
  • Three-point shooting - After draining 14 threes the night before in Detroit, the Timberwolves were only able to knock down 5 of their 17 attempts while the Lakers nailed 10 of their 22 looks from beyond the arc. Kobe, Nash, Steve Blake and Antawn Jamison all hit at least 2 threes for Los Angeles

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Kobe Bryant - What’s new? Kobe dominated the Timberwolves for the umpteenth time of his career in route to extending the Lakers current win streak over Minnesota to 24 games. While he definitely got away with a foul on Rubio which could have sent the game into overtime, it was Kobe who did just enough to keep LA from imploding after the hack-a-Dwight debacle cut the Wolves deficit late in the fourth quarter. Kobe finished the night with a line of 31 points (12-21 FG), 7 assists and 3 rebounds in 38 minutes.
  2. Dwight Howard - Yes, Dwight shot a horrendous 7-17 from the free throw line and was being laughed at by many Wolves fans in attendance, but he also completely dominated the paint in the fourth quarter and finished with 25 points (9-13 FG), 16 points, 5 steals and 5 blocks in 34 minutes.
  3. Dante Cunningham - Cunningham was Minnesota’s spark in the fourth quarter and his mid-range game was red-hot. Cunningham faced very soft close outs from LA defenders and responded by draining jumper after jumper in the faces of defenders. DC Hustle scored 18 points (9-15 FG) to pair with 4 rebounds in 19 minutes off of the bench.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 115, New Orleans Hornets 86

February 3, 2013 by
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jim Mone (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jim Mone (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Game Summary

Utter domination is not the sort of thing that the Minnesota Timberwolves have grown very used to this season. In fact, they have usually found themselves on the opposite end of such treatment. The Pups entered Saturday night’s contest against the New Orleans Hornets having lost 11 of their past 12 games, but with the help of some healthy bodies and a cold shooting night from New Orleans, the Wolves whooped the soon-to-be Pelicans by a score of 115-86.

Minnesota got in front early and held a comfortable margin throughout the entire game. The Hornets were without their scoring leader, Eric Gordon, as he sat due to soreness in both his surgically-repaired knee and also in his back. Since returning to action for New Orleans, the Hornets have gone 8-7 in games that Gordon has played in, a very encouraging mark that has New Orleans fans feeling very optimistic for the future, as they should. The young core of Gordon with first overall selection Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson, Greivis Vasquez, Al-Farouq Aminu and Austin Rivers should prove competitive for many years to come.

Tonight featured a marquee matchup of Spanish-speaking point guards, one Venezuelan and the other a Spaniard. Greivis Vasquez, a former late first-round selection by the Memphis Grizzlies, continues to tear it up this season averaging 13.8 ppg and 9.3 apg. Vasquez has proven himself to be a legitimate starting PG in the NBA, and appears to have found a good home for the Hornets. The 6-foot-6 Vasquez faced off against the 6-foot-4 Ricky Rubio, and Ricky ultimately got the better of the matchup on both ends of the floor.

Minnesota’s biggest lead came in the second quarter when they led by 30 points, and the momentum did not change for the rest of the contest. No single player played more than 27 minutes for the T-Wolves, and every eligible player saw minutes for Minnesota. Although I saw no problem with resting players and giving other guys chances in a game that was essentially decided in the first period, I am perplexed that Derrick Williams played only 14 minutes. Last night could have served as valuable minutes for D-Will to work on his 1-on-1 game and gain comfort in game situations, but despite playing well, he was the only starter not to receive at least 23 minutes of playing time. Yeah, Dante was playing out of his mind and deserved to stay on the floor. But couldn’t Derrick get some minutes at SF, or is that former hope now a pipe dream? Whatever the answer is, I do not understand it.

Minnesota’s frontcourt did a number on the Hornets opposing bigs, and Minnesota outscored New Orleans 58-32 in the paint. Nikola Pekovic added 14 points and 7 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko contributed 12 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. AK-47 was prevalent on backdoor cuts and was the beneficiary of some impressive Rubio passes, but largely because Andrei did such a good job of getting himself open. The Timberwolves newest fan-favorite, Chris Johnson, saw only 8 minutes at the end of the game but was still 3-3 from the field for 6 points. The Wolves other 10-day man, Mickael Gelabale, scored 11 points on 4-5 shooting while pulling down 5 rebounds in 21 minutes.

As a team, the Wolves shot 58.4% compared to only 40% by the Hornets. Once Minnesota got in control, New Orleans put up very little fight to get back into the game. The young Hornets finished up a 5-game road trip in Minnesota and fatigue appeared to be a factor in this one. All in all, a good win for the Wolves.

Keys of the Game

  • Transition Defense - Minnesota committed 18 total team turnovers, but gave up only 7 points off turnovers. In other words, their transition defense was very impressive, and New Orleans did a very poor job capitalizing on the Pups mistakes. The Hornets had very poor spacing in transition, which allowed Minnesota defenders to deflect passes and get steals.
  • Rebounding - The Pups were back to their old ways of dominating the paint and out-rebounded New Orleans 44-28. No single Pup got over 7 rebounds, but rebounding was instead a group effort for Minnesota.
  • Passing - The Wolves tallied 30 assists as a team while New Orleans was held to only 15. Rubio did a tremendous job of penetrating the Hornets’ half-court defense and was able to find teammates breaking to the hoop. Alexey Shved added 8 assists off the bench as well.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Dante Cunningham - Cunningham hit all 9 of his field goal attempts and had what might have been the most efficient game of his career. DC Hustle was absolute money from mid-range and even showed off his athleticism with a high-flying alley-oop from Rubio that got the Target Center on it’s feet. Cunningham was a ridiculous +27 on the floor in 26 minutes, and finished his perfect shooting night with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
  2. Ricky Rubio - Ricky made a tough matchup against Vasquez look easy as he made fans “ooh” and “ahh” due to some spectacular alley-oops and fancy dribbling. To be honest, Rubio looked every bit of his former self last night and was even attacking the hooping and looking to get his shot from the get-go. As good as Rubio was on the offensive end, he was every bit as good on defense, shutting down Vasquez and limiting New Orleans’ primary facilitator. Because of the blowout, Rubio was only asked to play 23 minutes, but in the limited time on the floor he was able to record 9 points (3-5 FG), 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and only 1 turnover.
  3. Alexey Shved - Enough cannot be said about how much Shved has meant to this ballclub in only his rookie season. The way Shved operates in the offense, he looks more like a veteran than a rookie. This is due to his tremendous floor awareness and instincts, as he is so good at finding open teammates off the pick-and-roll. The Russian revelation finished with 12 points (4-11 FG), 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 block in 25 minutes.

 

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Minnesota Timberwolves 101 – Denver Nuggets 97

January 4, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Minnesota Timberwolves

Photo Credit: Minnesota Timberwolves

The Twolves got right back on the court Thursday night in Denver, coming off an embarrassing loss to Utah less than 24 hours prior.  No surprises in the starting lineups tonight.  With Rubio remaining on the sidelines, the Pups opened up with Ridnour, Shved, Kirilenko, Love, and Pekovic.  The Nuggets countered with Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, and Kosta Koufus.

The Wolves were on the board first with a three pointer by Alexey Shved and I was hoping that was a sign of things to come.  The visitors got off to a decent start, opening up a 9-4 lead, but that quickly diminished.  There was a decent flow to the game, with the first timeout coming just over halfway through the quarter and the Wolves holding a 15-13 lead.

The rest of the quarter was comprised of two mini-runs.  The Nuggets went on a 10-0 run first, led by former Pup Corey Brewer.  Naturally, he hit two long jumpers, one from three point range.  The Wolves were able to answer, going on an 8-2 run to close the quarter, trailing 25-23 after one.

At the start of the second quarter, my NBA League Pass account went haywire and I drove myself crazy for much of the quarter trying to toggle between a laptop, tablet and phone comparing which device was the most up to date.  This truly could be a definition of “first world problems”.

The Pups received nice efforts from Shved and Derrick Williams in the second quarter, doubling up the Nuggets 14-7 through the first six plus minutes of the quarter, opening up a five point lead.  During that same time, the Nuggets failed to make a basket for more than five minutes of game time, going cold from the field.  Kevin Love came to life in the final few minutes of the half, with several rebounds and a few buckets, finishing the half with a double double (13 & 13).

At the half, the Wolves led 47-43, after outscoring the Nuggets by six in the second quarter.  Here are two quick halftime thoughts:

  • I beg of someone to be fully dedicated to optimizing the NBA’s League Pass package and the respective apps that are available across platforms.  Please!
  • My first train of thought going into halftime was of doubt.  Could the Nuggets be contained as well as they were in the first half and/or would the Wolves slow down given the Denver air and the prior night’s game?

Those concerns quickly came to fruition and the Nuggets jumped on the Wolves with an 8-2 run, forcing Adelman to burn an early timeout.  After the timeout, Gallinari drilled a three pointer and the Wolves continued to miss … jump shots.  I’m going to start charting the shot selection for the Wolves if this continues much further.  We need to get the ball down low to more players beyond Pekovic.  The rest of the quarter continued to “stink” as the Wolves settled for jump shots and gave up buckets to the Nuggets in the paint.  You know, exactly what they should have been trying to do.

As my inner complaints continued to form, we had a stoppage in play with around four minutes left in the quarter.  Why?  Man down … and it is Kevin Love and his hands again.  Love went to the locker room with the trainer and it was later reported that he sprained a finger in his shooting hand.  While he didn’t return to the game, hopefully this is nothing more than a quick break and Love doesn’t miss any more time.  However, this does nothing to help his shooting.  (Here’s where I’ll point out that it would be fantastic, and hysterical, if this actually turns out to be a turning point in Love’s shooting woes and he starts to move those percentages up over the next few weeks.)

After the injury timeout, the Nuggets went cold and the Wolves were able to cut the lead to four points (66-62).  What could have been the offensive or defensive play of the night, turned into an anticlimactic moment that can easily be shrugged off.  Corey Brewer had a breakaway and Dante Cunningham had him in his path.  Cunningham got a piece of the ball but also fouled Brewer.  However, Brewer’s dunk attempt was broken up and just had to force it in off the glass.  Naturally, he missed the FT that followed.

The Nuggets continued to struggle to close out the quarter, while Alexey Shved started to shine again.  To end the quarter, Shved drew a foul on his Russian comrade (too easy?) Timofey Mozgov, cutting the Nuggets lead to one point (70-69) going into the final frame.

The first six minutes of the fourth quarter were a very nice showing from both teams; good tempo, made baskets, etc.  The Pups got a little hot (helped by a lack of defense from Denver) and took a two point lead (89-87) into a timeout.  Shved, JJ, Luke, and DWill had a nice rhythm together on the court.  Luke and JJ continued that strong play through the remainder of the quarter.  After back to back three pointers from Barea, the Wolves led 97-91.

In the final minute, Iguodala had an opportunity for a three point play and to cut the lead to one possession, but missed a FT.  The Wolves were able to rebound the ball on Nuggets missed FG attempts and hit a few FT’s.  On a Denver possession with ten seconds to go, Ty Lawson wasted an incredible amount of time dribbling the ball and then decided to take it to the hole, despite being down by 5 points.  That more or less sealed the fate of the game, with the Pups pulling out the 101-97 victory!

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. JJ Barea – big shots tonight from JJ
  2. Kevin Love – 12 & 17 in 24 minutes
  3. Dante Cunningham – stat stuffer; 6 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists & game high +22 +/-

The Pups return home for a match-up against another division rival – the Blazers – on Saturday.

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Minnesota Timberwolves 84 – Houston Rockets 87

December 26, 2012 by
Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

So much for welcome returns. Greeted by a Target Center crowd of 20,340, Kevin Love returned to the starting lineup only to have arguably his worst performance of the season as the Minnesota Timberwolves blew a late fourth-quarter lead, falling to the Houston Rockets by a score of 87-84.

Game Summary

After missing Sunday’s matchup against the New York Knicks due to a scratched eye, K-Love struggled mightily on both ends of the floor and shot a miserable 3-14 FG including 0-7 from beyond the arc. Throw in 5 turnovers and poor pick-and-roll defense and you’ve got yourself a James Harden-led comeback, stunning a Target Center crowd and snapping the Timberwolves’ 5-game home win streak.

While I could ramble on and on about how poorly Love played tonight, I would simply like to highlight a few disturbing themes that were evident in his play. Although he shot very poorly from the field, I am not in any way angry about his shot selection because the shots he was missing are shots that we have grown accustomed to seeing K-Love bury time and time again. It very well may be the case that his wrist is causing discomfort in his shot, and in that case it is very understandable for his relatively poor shooting percentages this season. However, one thing that is independent of any external factors that may be currently influencing Love’s game is his effort and intensity on defense, which he has very inconsistently displayed this season. On multiple occasions following a missed shot, instead of sprinting back on defense, Love jogged and attempted to slow down the opposing ball handler, creating easy 3 on 2 transition opportunities for the Rockets (who happen to be one of the best in the NBA in transition). Too often we have witnessed Love choosing to whine and chirp at the officials, allowing the player he is matched up against to run seams down the court for easy lay ups. When has challenging an official after a no-call contributed to favorable officiating in the future?

I will point out that in the first quarter, Love did a very good job of directing the offense and finding teammates on backdoor cuts – something I wish he would do much more often. But after Love continued to misfire on shot attempts, his lack of confidence on offense became extremely evident to all those watching the game; by the fourth quarter he was blatantly passive, almost unwilling to shoot. I was very happy to see him attempt a step-back three late in the fourth quarter, despite once again missing. I never want to see the day where Love is not confident enough to take charge late in games, but the fact that he got burned weak side on two consecutive pick-and-rolls – securing the win for Houston – makes me wonder about Love’s overall intensity on the defensive end.

The Timberwolves inability to manage the game in the fourth quarter led to their late-game demise, and JJ Barea was a main culprit. Despite playing a very good game through the first three quarters, Barea fell into his detrimental zone of over-dribbling on offense and finding himself in traps in the opposing defense, resulting in turnovers. With the Timberwolves down 1 point with less than a minute remaining, Barea almost immediately coughed the ball up after taking the ball up the court, leading to a James Harden layup which secured the Rockets victory. Barea added 18 points (7-14 FG), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 4 turnovers in 28 minutes.

The man Barea was backing up, Luke Ridnour, had a night to forget. In 19 minutes of play, Ridnour shot just 3-10 from the field, with most of his misses coming from wide-open, spotted-up attempts. Luke is now shooting below NBA league average from three-point range at 32.9%.

Andrei Kirilenko made his 500th career start tonight, a very impressive milestone that very few NBA players have accomplished. AK-47 had a quiet but efficient night, finishing with 8 points (2-6 FG), 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 block and 2 turnovers in 29 minutes of action. His Russian teammate Alexey Shved was arguably the Timberwolves greatest asset on offense, as he was once again effective on the pick-and-roll. Shved continues to prove that he is one of the league’s top rookies, and finished the night with a line of 16 points (7-15 FG), 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 turnover in 30 minutes.

The Timberpups out-rebounded (50-47), out-stole (10-7) and out-blocked (4-2) the Rockets while committing 2 less turnovers and 7 less personal fouls. However, the Pups shot a miserable 38% from the field and were ice-cold tonight.

Ricky Rubio, as anticipated, was given an increased work load and played a season-high 21 minutes tonight. Despite being a game-low -9 on the floor, I thought that Rubio played well and looked slightly more explosive on his cuts than he had in his earlier performances this season. In the second half, Head Coach Rick Adelman had Rubio matched up on rising superstar James Harden, and Rubio did a very nice job on a tough cover. In limited action, Tricky Ricky finished with 8 points (2-5 FG), 2 assists, 1 steal and zero turnovers.

Nikola Pekovic left the game after the first half due to illness, and his first-half performance presumably spoke to how he was feeling. Faced against an excellent low-post defender in Omer Asik, Pek posted only 2 points on 1-7 shooting while pulling down 7 rebounds in 23 minutes.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. James Harden – Man, how far James Harden has come. Yeah, he may have been the 6-man of the year last season and was heavily recognized as one of the top young shooting guards in the league, but the level that Harden is reaching is true superstardom – and he even appears to be developing veteran maturity at the age of 23. Through the first three periods, Harden focused on directing traffic and setting up teammates for buckets, acting more as a facilitator than scorer, scoring only when presented with high-percentage opportunities to do so. And just as Chris Paul tends to save his scoring for the fourth quarter, Harden led a fourth-quarter charge and got to the rim so effectively that made it seem like he had been saving his energy for the final plays. No player was better when given an open spot-up opportunity, and Harden added to his sensational 2012-13 campaign with a line of 30 points (11-22 FG), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 3 turnovers in 38 minutes played.
  2. Omer Asik - After being a part of one of the best second units in the NBA spending the past two seasons in Chicago, Asik has come into his own in Houston and has become one of the top centers in the Western Conference. Asik completely shut down Pekovic, while recording 9 points (4-6 FG), 17 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block and only 1 turnover in 35 minutes. Houston’s high-priced free agent addition has been a core component to the Rockets’ success and provides production to a frontcourt that was in desperate need for consistency spanning the past few seasons.
  3. Dante Cunningham – DC Hustle was at it again tonight, providing steals, blocks, rebounding and effective cutting. To put it simply, Cunningham was all over the court and was the only Pup that I can say played a tremendous game. The dividends that the trade for Cunningham continues to pay must be keeping Timberwolves management sufficiently satisfied, given the much different state of affairs surrounding Wayne Ellington in Memphis. Dante earned every single minute that he played tonight, and finished with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks and no turnovers in 37 minutes.

The Pups are set to host the Phoenix Suns on Saturday beginning at 7PM CT. Oh yeah, and Mike Beasley is coming back to town!

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Minnesota Timberwolves 107 – Brooklyn Nets 96

November 5, 2012 by

Photo Credits: Skyler Reid

Coming off a 19-point loss in Toronto last night, the Minnesota Timberwolves played the latter of a back-to-back road trip in the sparkling new $1 billion Barclays Center in Brooklyn and came back from a 22-point second-half deficit to defeat the new-look Nets 107-96. The Timberpups offseason additions played crucial roles in fueling the comeback, and the Wolves went on to outscore the Nets 32-10 in the game-defining fourth quarter.

Minnesota’s offensive and defensive struggles were on full display in the first half as the Pups trailed Brooklyn 62-47 after the first half of play. The Wolves allowed the Nets to shoot an absurd 60% FG including 8-13 (62%) from beyond the arc in the first-half alone. Deron Williams led the charge for the revamped Nets with 8 first-half assists while 11 different Nets players scored. The Timberwolves did a much better job of limiting turnovers than they did the previous night in Toronto, but only knocked down 19 of 43 shot attempts (44%) including a miserable 1-8 from three-point range. Things got worse in the third quarter as these trends continued out of the break, but the Wolves found a spark nearing the culmination of the third quarter.

After suffering a mild concussion last night, JJ Barea was able to pass the necessary NBA-mandated concussion tests before the game and was very effective in the second half. Despite recording a modest line of 6 points and 6 assists in just over 29 minutes of action, Barea did a great job of game management in the fourth quarter and was very smart with his passes and shot selection.

Luke Ridnour once again got the start for the Wolves at PG, and had the toughest matchup of the night opposite perennial All-Star Deron Williams. Ridnour simply does not possess the physicality to stay in front of the shifty-strong Williams, and D-Will did a very good job of chipping away at Ridnour. Deron was able to consistently penetrate the lane and had multiple options sitting on the perimeter ready for open three-point attempts, of which the Nets converted at an extremely high rate through 3 quarters of play. However, Rick Adelman made an excellent second-half adjustment by putting the 6-foot-6 Alexey Shved on Williams on the defensive end, and Shved did just enough to slow down the superstar point guard.

Three cheers for the Russian combo of Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved tonight, as both were significant keys to the Wolves comeback victory. To begin, AK-47 played the most complete game of any player to step on the court tonight, as he was able to keep the team breathing even in the midst of their enormous third-quarter deficit. Kirilenko finished with another fabulous stat line of 16 points (7-11 FG), 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks and 1 steal in nearly 33 minutes on the court. Kirilenko continues to use the ball-fake to perfection, consistently keeping his defender off balance and gaining enough separation to effectively drive past his opponent to create scoring opportunities for himself as well as his fellow teammates. As long as AK-47 is healthy, he is worth his $10 million price tag.

Alexey Shved made two clutch three-pointers down the stretch for the Wolves and played a great game in the primetime. Shved ended with 10 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds while really coming into his own at the end of the game. He was not scared of firing off pull-up threes and it proved to be beneficial for the team. I wonder if AK-47 and Shved were motivated by the desire to defeat fellow Russian Mikhail Prokhorov – the very man who tried signing both of them this offseason. I’ll let you decide that one.

Nikola Pekovic established himself on the low block early and exploited Brook Lopez’s poor post defense throughout the game. The Nets tried bringing double teams at Pek, but he did a very good job at seeing the court and was able to escape Brooklyn’s attempts to slow him down. With virtually no perimeter option to look to as a second option, Pek was virtually Minnesota’s only offensive option throughout much of the first half, and his 17 points on 7-9 shooting was one of the only things keeping this game from getting out of hand in the first half.

Pek continued his post dominance in the second half and we were even able to witness how much better he has gotten at running the floor, which is a testament to all of the hard work and conditioning the big center endured over the offseason. Pekovic finished with 21 points on 9-14 shooting while grabbing 7 boards.

Despite facing a 22-point deficit in the third quarter, the Timberpups did not go gently into the dark. Andrei Kirilenko fueled a Wolves run near the end of the third quarter and the Pups were able to cut the Nets lead to 86-75 heading into the last quarter of play.

From that point on, the momentum completely shifted in the Pups favor and Minnesota was able to gain their second lead of the game – the first lead of which was early in the first quarter – with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter. The Pups set the tone defensively and held Brooklyn to only 96 points after allowing 62 first-half points on their way to their second win of the season and first win on the road.

Enough cannot be said about the importance of Dante Cunningham and Chase Budinger tonight and in the second half especially. Cunningham was fierce on the low block and played remarkable defense, shutting down both Kris Humphries and even the 7-foot Brook Lopez. The 6-foot-8 Villanova graduate was extremely active on the offensive and defensive glass and was able to be very aggressive while not committing unnecessary fouls. It has only been three games, but I am absolutely sold on the Cunningham for Wayne Ellington deal. Cunningham was +18 on the court and logged his first double-double as a Pup of 11 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes of play.

Budinger had by far his best performance as a Pup and was very good at moving without the ball and creating options for his teammates. Budinger is at his best when he is attacking the glass and filling openings on the perimeter for his driving teammates to look to, and he did just that tonight. His shot was falling and he looked very composed on the floor at the end of the game, which is something I could never say about Michael Beasley. I should not fail to mention that C-Bud played tremendous defense down the stretch and was apart of a total team effort on that particular end of the floor. The Arizona product ended the night with 16 points (7-10 FG) and 6 rebounds.

After failing to convert on a field goal in 22 minutes last night, Brandon Roy played better – but not by much – and was mainly a neutral force in this game. Even before his knee problems, Roy has always been a subject defender, and when matched up against 6-foot-7 Joe Johnson he definitely had his work cut out for him. Even so, Roy did a nice job as a distributor on the offensive end and logged 7 dimes to go with his 6 points (3-7 FG).

Tonight’s win is a true display of just how much this team changed over one offseason, and how the subtraction of a few players and addition of high-energy, fundamentally-focused team players can dynamically change a team. Coming back from 22 points in a tough, New York atmosphere to win by double-digits is something that I honestly could not have predicted from the Timberwolves. But perhaps I was wrong about this team possessing enough firepower and guts to do what previous Timberwolves teams could not do, which is winning without Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio. And for that we all owe a big thanks to Rick Adelman – and ya, even David Kahn… a little bit. The Wolves are now set to host Orlando on Wednesday, and here are my three stars of tonight’s game:

  1. Andrei Kirilenko
  2. Dante Cunningham
  3. Chase Budinger
Filed Under: Game Recaps Tagged With: , , ,

Kevin Love Breaks Hand, Out 6-8 Weeks

October 18, 2012 by

Well, here we are again, Minnesota sports fans. In a fluke accident that involved knuckle push-ups, Kevin Love suffered a broken right hand while working out with personal trainer Rob McClanaghan at his condo on Wednesday. After a trip to New York to visit Doctor Andy Weiland, it was confirmed that Love broke the third and fourth metacarpals in his hand and the initial diagnosis of a 6-8 week recovery period was confirmed. K-Love commented on the shocking blow to a team that is already without Ricky Rubio in a release sent out by the Timberwolves:

“Yesterday I had a post-practice commitment and decided to work out at my home with my personal trainer before heading to Target Center,” he said. “While doing various pushups, including knuckle pushups, which are a part of my regular workout routine, I hurt my hand. I immediately knew something was wrong and called head athletic trainer Gregg Farnam.

“Although I’m disappointed that this injury happened, I will work extremely hard to stay in shape and return to the court as quickly as possible. We have added a lot of depth to our roster this season, and I have complete confidence in my teammates and coaching staff that they will step up and we will be successful during this time. I’m looking forward to supporting our team and helping out any way I can until I get back on the court.”

The Wolves have been predicted by many to be in an extremely competitive race for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference, and playing without Rubio and Love for upwards of two months could be enough to put the team in a hole to deep to get themselves out of once they get their two top players back. One thing is for certain: several players will have to step up big in order to keep this team afloat by the time mid-December comes, and a realistic – yet seemingly improbable – goal for the team will be to be sitting around .500 basketball by the time they get their two stars back.

David Kahn and Rick Adelman’s offseason moves will be in the spotlight for the first few months of the season, as newly acquired players Andrei Kirilenko, Brandon Roy, Dante Cunningham, Chase Budinger, Lou Amundson, and Greg Stiemsma will likely be called upon to provide much greater roles than initially expected. The biggest X-factors will include Nikola Pekovic and Derrick Williams, as both players will need to produce on the low-block at a much higher rate without K-Love as the focal point of the offense.

Love was certainly the best three-point option for the Wolves last year, and the team will now look largely to Roy and Budinger to provide perimeter shooting in place of Love’s prolific shooting. If Derrick Williams ever needed some serious adversity to elevate his game to the next level, well here it is. D-Will now has the opportunity to get the minutes he wants and a role that is vastly increased, and without Love Williams could assume a role very similar to the one he had at Arizona. If the former number 2 pick can prove that he can handle big minutes and provide inside-out scoring, it would be a tremendous help to a team in dire need for some leadership.

Andrei Kirilenko was initially seen as the starting SF with Love in the lineup, but he will likely move to PF with Williams operating at the 3. Both AK-47 and D-Will are tweener forwards, so they may very likely have interchangeable roles in the offense. Pekovic will now be the focal point of the offense in the post, and I am truly excited to see how the lean and extra mean Pek responds to an increase in touches.

Filed Under: Team News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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