Timberwolves Beat Suns In Back-to-Back Games

by
Former Writers
January 23, 2019

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On Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves ventured to the desert to take on the Phoenix Suns. The Timberwolves outlasted the Suns two days prior with a last second shot by Derrick Rose that put the Timberwolves up 2 with 0.6 seconds remaining. Tuesday, they were looking for that other win, but maybe not in as a dramatic fashion.

Both teams had to deal with an injury bug issue. Phoenix were missing #1 overall pick from this past years draft in DeAndre Ayton. Timberwolves on the other hand were missing Tyus Jones (ankle injury), Robert Covington (bone bruise), and Jeff Teague.

Game Recap

In the first quarter, the game was a back and forth battle. Neither team could get the upper hand. Because of that, Karl Anthony-Towns stepped up and took over. In the first half alone, he put up 20 points and 11 rebounds. Towns finished the game with 25 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 assists on the night. Timberwolves took a narrow lead at the end of the first quarter with a score of 32-27.

Timberwolves started the second quarter similar to the first. Both teams went back and forth until about the middle of the second. That’s when the Timberwolves grabbed a hold of the lead and never really gave it up. Timberwolves started to look polished, and the Suns looked like a team just trying to figure out how to play with each other. Minnesota took a double-digit lead into the half with a 64-49 score.

Second Half

Minnesota took control from here on out by constantly adding onto the lead point by point. Andrew Wiggins, who had a borderline nonexistent first half, flipped the script in the second half. Wiggins finished the night with 17 points and 9 rebounds. It was another solid outing for Wiggins who is trying to show his real worth under new head coach Ryan Saunders.

Timberwolves rookie Josh Okogie had a career night by finishing with 21 points (career high). Also, he locked up Devin Booker for the first half until the end of the third. Towards the end of the third quarter, back up forward/center Gorgui Dieng threw an elbow that Booker did not like, which led to some words on the court, ejections for both parties, and a potential meet up in the tunnels.

With Booker and Ayton gone, the Suns needed someone to step up despite being down over twenty points. Josh Jackson was the highlight of the night for the Suns, who finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Besides Jackson, the Suns had no one to combat the Timberwolves. Because of that the Timberwolves put out the end of the bench. The entire team played this game for the Timberwolves, and everyone scored at least once except for Dieng. The bench kept the scoring attack up and helped make the game into a complete no contest with a score of 118-91. Putting Minnesota at 23-24 on the year and moving them up to the 11th seed — only 2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers at the 8th seed.

Takeaways

With this win, Ryan Saunders is now 4-3 as head coach. Not a spectacular record but considering the injury bug that has been biting the Timberwolves all season, it’s not that bad. Towns has flourished even more under Saunders, and the players look like they are enjoying their time with the young coach.

Minnesota’s offensive efficiency has gone up since Saunders took over, and their overall defensive scheme changed which has benefited them. Now the Timberwolves are allowed to switch on defense through the pick-and-roll game, which is ruining the open 3’s Minnesota always gave up under Tom Thibodeau.

A spark off the bench for the Timberwolves was Jerryd Bayless, the third player Minnesota got for Jimmy Butler. He has gotten limited time due to the point guard jam that the Timberwolves have with Teague, Rose, and Jones. With Jones and Teague gone, Bayless stepped up by putting in 14 points and 7 assists, and making 4 three pointers, in 28 minutes.

Moving Forward

With this nice win under their belt, the Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to continue this trend. They take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. That is a big game for them since the Lakers are one of the few teams that could keep them out of the playoffs. It’ll be a Lebron James-less Lakers squad most likely, so the favor is in the Timberwolves corner.