NBA
Minnesota Timberwolves Burn Out In Fourth Quarter Against Warriors
The Minnesota Timberwolves were in the Bay Area on Friday night for a nationally televised game against the Golden State Warriors. They’re two teams with two very different forms of team chemistry. Golden State is pass happy, constantly happy, supportive, team system. While Minnesota…well Minnesota is iso heavy, unconfident, worrisome, and has an individualistic system.
Clashing coaching styles too. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is a happy, personable coach, with an infectious smile that both his players and media love. Then there is Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau on the other hand with his angry bark, constant displeasure with everything, and overall lack of trust in his players. It was a competition between new school coaching vs. old school coaching.
Story Lines
The game before this one on ESPN between the Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder, was an embarrassment. So good for viewers and the league that the second game, the Timberwolves vs Warriors, was a treat. It was for the first three quarters that is. Then everything for Minnesota went up in flames.
The Timberwolves had Jimmy Butler back in the lineup again after missing last game due to “general soreness”. Most people think he just didn’t want to play. They were still missing starting point guard Jeff Teague though. Tyus Jones took over starting role instead of Derrick Rose despite that memorable 50 point outing he had on Halloween against the Utah Jazz.
Seemed to coincidental that Butler’s soreness was just for the Jazz game. He preaches about being a workhorse and not taking nights off, but then sits out due to general soreness. Butler then just so happens to be ready to suit up against the best team in the league on a nationally televised game on ESPN. He could get exposure for other teams. This could be looked as a try-out video for other teams to show how he could match up against the team everyone is out for. He could show that he could be that player that could take other borderline contending teams over the hump.
Battle Of The Night
The game started off a bit rocky for the Timberwolves since the offense looked off. The Warriors looked like a team that has won 3 titles in 4 years. They got off to a quick 12 point lead by the middle of the first quarter. However, the Timberwolves started to claw and bite their way back into the game.
Andrew Wiggins started the Timberwolves offense, scoring well in all areas. Three point shot was working, fadeaway mid range shot he loves was sinking, and was able to get to the rim at will. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, their sixth man and back up guard, Rose, went out with ankle soreness after a couple minutes of playing in the first. That soreness would keep him out of the game, which was crucial for the Timberwolves.
Second quarter started off great for the Timberwolves. They were getting the Warriors to do stupid turnovers and let them get to cocky. The best way to beat the Warriors is to let them start to beat themselves and that’s exactly what was happening. The Timberwolves were capitalizing on turnovers and also had the 3 point game down to keep them up with the Warriors. Karl-Anthony Towns was showing the aggressiveness that he has had for the past few games, which was another great sign for the Timberwolves at that point.
Second Half
The second half was a continuation for the Timberwolves as a whole from the second quarter. Defense was even tighter, except on Kevin Durant, but when he gets going you just hope he cools off on his own. Butler and Wiggins were again leading the way offensively and everything seemed to be working for the Timberwolves. They even built up a solid eight point lead in one point that was silencing Oracle Arena, which is an accomplishment in it’s own. For a moment, Timberwolves’ fans could relax and think, “We just got past our two rough quarters and we have a lead. We can do this.” Wrong.
The fourth quarter started and the Warriors looked like they just said okay we’re done playing around. Within 3 minutes into the fourth, the Timberwolves lead had turned into a deficit. A couple of bad possessions and missed shots allowed the Warriors to launch 3’s from everywhere and hitting each one right after another. As a result, the Timberwolves were down double digits.
They could never dig themselves out of it. Hero and iso ball that plagues the Timberwolves started to come into play. Primarily from Butler. Towns only scored 2 points the entire second half despite having 11 in the first half. The Timberwolves only were able to muster 12 points in the quarter while the Warriors scored 33 in the fourth.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Takeaways From Last Night’s Game
This could have been a very big win for the Timberwolves. With them starting their first big road trip of the year, it would’ve been nice to start it with a win. Also, they could’ve continued to keep the positive vibes off of their meaningful wins against the Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers. In the game against Utah, the team played like they were having fun. They played for each other instead of themselves.
The first game Butler is back and the ball movement stops. The off-ball movement slows down. There is too much crowding around the rim. The defense looked okay, but the offense looked sad. At the end, you could see Butler start playing for himself more. He took plenty of bad shots and giving up plays. He went 0-8 from three and most were far and contested. Butler is no Klay Thompson or Steph Curry.
The team as a whole though also looked deflated by the fourth. Lazy play caught up to them and was the ultimate demise for them. Having a toxic locker room is not helping the case though. The Timberwolves face the Portland Trail Blazers next to continue their road trip.
Stats of the Game
Wiggins put up a team high in points with 22 to go with 4 rebounds. Butler contributed with 21 points with 5 assists. One thing the Timberwolves can takeaway was that they only committed five turnovers against one of the best defensive teams in the league. It doesn’t help though when you can’t make a shot in those saved extra possessions.
Butler News
Now with this game out of the way, who knows how often the Timberwolves will see Butler suited up. It looks like he is the one now in control when he plays and when he doesn’t.
Hopefully that pushes things along. It’s not good for the other players, the fans, or the franchise. It’s hard to talk about unity for a team, when you have your star player not showing that unity, and throwing other people under the bus and flipping blame. Butler started the drama, but the ones who are affected the most are the ones that aren’t directly involved.
Photo Credit
Highlight Store via Flickr
