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Minnesota Timberwolves 108 – San Antonio Spurs 95

April 19, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports

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 97 – New Orleans Hornets 95

March 17, 2013 by
Who wants the green Twolves t-shirt? The author of this recap. Photo credit: NBAE

Who wants the green Twolves t-shirt? The author of this recap. Photo credit: NBAE

Game Summary

The luck o’ the Irish came through for the Timberwolves on Sunday, as Andrei Kirilenko and Nikola Pekovic were back in the lineup for the team and the team pulled out the victory in the late seconds!  Here is how things transpired on St. Patrick’s Day.

The Wolves starting lineup looked like this: Rubio, Ridnour, Kirilenko, Williams, and Pekovic.  The Hornets opened up with Greivis Vasquez, Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Anthony Davis, and Robin Lopez.

Going into the first timeout of the game, the Hornets held a 13-9 lead.  The Wolves looked a little disoriented, trying to get Pekovic and Kirilenko back in the flow.  While Pekovic was succeeding in the paint, Andrei looked a little off in the early minutes.  Luckily, the Hornets had already turned the ball over four times.  In other words, the game was being played like you might expect from two teams that are a combined 41 games under .500.

Toward the end of the 1st quarter, the Wolves managed to go on a little run to take a 28-27 lead into the 2nd quarter.  Derrick Williams came alive in the final few minutes of the 1st, including a three pointer as the clock was running down in the quarter.  The Hornets frontcourt of Lopez and Davis also had a nice quarter, shooting 7-9 from the field for 50% of the teams points.

A few minutes into the 2nd quarter, the Hornets went on a 9-0 run to take a 43-39 lead.  Adelman had seen enough and burned a timeout.  The rest of the 2nd quarter was only slightly better for the Wolves, as they never regained the lead from the Hornets.  The teams combined for 19 turnovers in the half but they went up and down the court enough to make for a visually appealing half of basketball.

At the half, the Hornets held a 52-50 lead.  Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • Even with Rubio much healthier, Greivis Vasquez continued to eat up the Wolves; 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the first 24 minutes of action
  • While Pekovic looked pretty solid, Kirilenko looked flat and out of sync
  • I would like to see a Chris Johnson & Pekovic frontline in the near future

Early in the 3rd quarter, Pekovic picked up his 4th foul and was quickly replaced by Stiemsma on the floor.  The teams went back and forth in the early minutes of the quarter until Luke Ridnour threw a behind the back pass to DWill for the flush, giving the Wolves their first lead in some time, 63-62.  The highlight led to a Monty Williams timeout with slightly more than six minutes left in the quarter.

Similar to prior quarters, The Wolves finished the 3rd quarter strong and took a 76-73 lead into the final frame.  Derrick Williams led the way in the quarter, finishing the quarter with 20 points.  However, the referees failed to call a foul on the Hornets as time expired in the quarter which would have (read: should have) sent Williams to the line with a chance to expand the lead.

Apologies in advance for the brevity of the 4th quarter recap.  The game was actually enjoyable to watch and with about 90 seconds to play I noticed that I hadn’t typed in a single note from the quarter.  The Hornets and Wolves kept it tight throughout the final twelve minutes.  Greivis Vasquez had a huge quarter, scoring 12 of his 24 points in the 4th to keep the Hornets in the game.  However, after going down 95-91, the Wolves scored the last 6 points of the game to steal the win on their home floor thanks to two defensive stops from Kirilenko.  Pekovic and AK hit three free throws in the final seconds to put the Wolves on top and secured the victory!

Recap - Minnesota Timberwolves 97 - New Orleans Hornets 95

Keys of the Game

  • Blocks – When you are significantly outrebounded by your opponent, you have to find another way to win the game and the Pups did so in the blocks department; 10 blocks for the team, 2 apiece for four different players.
  • Free throws – First and foremost, the Wolves made them.  Second, they got to the line 11 more times than the Hornets and made 8 more, including the three in final seconds to put them on top.
  • Shutting down Eric Gordon – I’m not exactly sure how this happened, but the Wolves did a great job on Gordon tonight, holding him to just 7 points on 3-6 shooting.  Rubio was on him for a portion of the game, but this was a tremendous team effort to erase Gordon’s offensive game.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Derrick Williams – Career high 28 points for DWill to go with 7 rebounds.  More importantly, he attacked the rim and played aggressively against Anthony Davis and others.
  2. Greivis Vasquez – While he didn’t have a good shooting night (10-25), Vasquez helped keep his team in the game with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Note the 6 TO’s though.
  3. Ricky Rubio – Rubio had a nice game shooting the ball, as he was 7-11 from the field for 16 points.  He also had 6 assists and respectable defense against a solid Hornets backcourt.
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Preview – Minnesota Timberwolves vs New Orleans Hornets 3-17-13

March 17, 2013 by

hornets wolves previewSetting the stage:

For the fourth and final time this season, the Timberwolves will meet the New Orleans Hornets.  Minnesota has taken two of the three prior meetings, including a rout last month at the Target Center, where our Pups pulled away early and never looked back, winning 115-86.  That win snapped a six game losing streak for the Wolves at the time, but they haven’t had much to smile about since.

While maintaining that big lead against the Hornets is one thing, the Wolves are coming off of a loss on Friday night to the Rockets in which they blew a 20 point lead in the second half.  While the team continues to play with only nine capable bodies, those types of losses shouldn’t happen.  As of this morning’s writing, there is no news on whether or not Pekovic or Kirilenko would be available for tonight’s game.  The team didn’t practice on Saturday and Adelman has cancelled this afternoon’s shoot-around.

The Hornets come into Sunday’s game on a two game losing streak as well.  Their last loss also came on Friday night against the Wizards.  If the team is looking for any type of good news, it can be found in the fact that Eric Gordon is back on the court again for the team.  Gordon has played 30+ minutes in each of the team’s last two games.

Our Pups are only 1.5 games ahead of the Hornets in the loss column this season, so this game could have ping pong ball implications.  If the Hornets win tonight, it brings the team closer to the potential coin flip for lottery positioning.  The entire premise of this paragraph is making me nauseous so I am going to stop now and not say/type where the rest of this goes.

Player to watch:

Eric Gordon – Gordon has missed a tremendous amount of time again for the Hornets.  However, when he plays, he is typically putting up respectable numbers.  Gordon matches up nicely against Ridnour and Shved, so it could be another big performance from the SG.

Match-up to watch:

Ricky Rubio vs. Greivis Vasquez.  This match-up has been highlighted before in earlier previews this season and there isn’t a reason to not do so again.  Vasquez has been phenomenal against the Wolves this season, averaging 13.3 ppg, 12 apg, and 5 rpg in the three, prior match-ups.  As you are likely well aware, Rubio has been a monster over the past month or so.  His earlier games against the Hornets were not very successful, but we should expect to see a much stronger performance from Ricky this evening.

Predictions:

Sunday home game for the Pups and let’s hope for a little luck o’ the Irish!

Final score prediction: Timberwolves 100, Hornets 91

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Ricky Rubio
  2. Derrick Williams
  3. Eric Gordon

Let’s go Wolves!

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Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Portland Blazers 109

March 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 83, Phoenix Suns 84

February 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.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Philadelphia 76ers 87

February 21, 2013 by
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jim Mone

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jim Mone

Game Summary

The Minnesota Timberwolves opened up the second half of the 2012-13 NBA season on a positive note with a 94-87 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Target Center on Wednesday behind a huge performance from Nikola Pekovic. Andrei Kirilenko returned for the Pups after missing the previous five games for the injury-riddled T-Wolves, and Minnesota wore out Philly’s bigs with their length and versatility.

Minnesota shot over 59% in the first quarter and led the 76ers 35-25 behind strong play from Derrick Williams as well as Pekovic. Williams looked very comfortable in the offense and attempted and drilled a few mid-range jumpers that we have grown accustomed to seeing him pass up. What impressed me most from D-Will early on was that he was rarely idle with the ball in his hands and that he appeared to flow with the rest of the Wolves in the offense.

The Pups maintained their hot shooting in the second half, stretching their lead to 53-34 with 2:50 to play in the second quarter. The Wolves second unit thrived against a Philadelphia team that is weak in frontcourt depth after the the loss of talented forward Thaddeus Young to a strained hamstring.

76ers head coach Doug Collins responded to the Timberwolves physicality in the paint by replacing starters Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen with Kwame Brown and Damien Wilkins to start the second half. Philly’s lone All-Star, Jrue Holiday, picked up his fourth personal foul half way through the third quarter and the short-handed 76ers were forced to fight for buckets without their greatest offensive threat on the court.

Philly clawed their way back in the third quarter and trailed the Pups 76-67 heading into the final quarter of play. Minnesota focused their offense on feeding Pekovic on the low block, and Pek responded by wearing out the opposing frontcourt on his way to a 27-point, 18-rebound night. The 76ers could not compete with the Wolves’ length in a game that new 76er Andrew Bynum could have played a big part in had his knees not faltered this season. The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent has yet to play a game for Philadelphia after being acquired in last summer’s blockbuster trade that sent Dwight Howard to Los Angeles and Andre Igoudala to Denver. Bynum, who is expected to demand a max-contract offer this summer, may very likely never play a single game for Philly as the organization pays a high premium for the gamble they took on the All-Star center.

The Pups went ice cold in the final period of play and allowed the 76ers to come within 4 points with a minute left to play. Minnesota left the game wide-open with very poor shooting down the stretch, but fortunately Philly matched their shooting incompetence. Despite shooting an atrocious 1-12 from the field in the fourth quarter, Minnesota held on to take this one by a score of 94-87.

Timberpups Notable Performances

  • Ricky Rubio played 29 minutes and was a +10 on the floor although committing 6 turnovers and 5 personal fouls. While it was not the greatest performance from the Spaniard, he was able to make a large impact on the defensive end and provided 3 steals and 6 rebounds. On offense, Ricky was a great facilitator in the second half and created many easy scoring opportunities for his teammates despite their shooting woes. He scored 9 of his 11 points from the free throw line and also tallied 6 assists.
  • Evan Turner had a tough time finishing at the rim but had an overall decent performance finishing with 17 points (6-16 FG), 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 4 turnovers in 36 minutes. The former number-2 overall selection from Ohio State has had mixed results as a pro, but Philly continues to display their confidence in him by looking to him as one of the focal points of their offense. While I am not yet sold on Turner, I continue to be intrigued with his prototypical combination of size, length, athleticism and vision. He needs to improve his efficiency on the offensive end, and if he does he very well could play a role similar to the one Andre Igoudala played so many seasons for Philadelphia.

Keys of the Game

  • Rebounding - MN 51, PHI 39. Pekovic pulled down a game-high 18 boards for the Wolves and established deep inside positioning on both ends of the floor as he grabbed 7 of the Pups’ 10 offensive rebounds. Spencer Hawes led the 76ers with 8 rebounds.
  • Free Throws - Despite hitting 3 less field goals than Philly, the Wolves did work at the charity stripe as they converted 33 of their 44 free throw attempts while the 76ers were only able to convert 21 of 32. Philadelphia struggled with foul trouble in the fourth quarter and committed a ridiculous 30 team fouls compared to 23 by Minnesota.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Nikola Pekovic - Impressive night for Pek as he was the clear MVP of the game last night. Exploding for 27 points and 18 rebounds in a game-high 41 minutes played, Pek made mincemeat of the interior defense brought on by the 76ers frontcourt. I would have thoroughly enjoyed watching Pek battle against the monstrous Bynum who continues to sit with arthritic knees, but it is merely a pipe dream as the Wolves finished their season series against the 76ers last night.
  2. Derrick Williams - After his 24-point, 16-rebound effort against Utah in Minnesota’s last game before the All-Star break, Derrick had another strong performance against the 76ers with 17 points (7-12 FG), 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 turnovers in 36 minutes. D-Will is beginning to look comfortable in the offense and is finally starting to take more of the open looks he receives which is very good news for his development as a pro. The less Derrick is thinking on the court, the more he is going to allow his instincts to take over. Going forward, he will need to continue to trust himself and to let the game come to him. It is pretty amazing to think that he is still only 21 years of age.
  3. Jrue Holiday - The 22-year-old All-Star fouled out after 35 minutes but finished with the line of 16 points (7-17 FG), 5 assists, 5 steals, 3 rebounds and 4 turnovers. Holiday was presented with tremendous perimeter defense from Rubio and had a difficult time penetrating the Wolves half-court defense in order to create plays.
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