Timberwolves vs. Pacers: Andrew Wiggins impresses in preseason loss

The Timberwolves were in Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday evening to kick-off the preseason.

A side note: I was pleasantly surprised to find this particular tilt broadcast (in high definition, no less) through NBA League Pass on my DirecTV subscription, after League Pass has previously not carried local broadcasts of preseason games. Or, at least not to my knowledge.

After discovering that the game was already recording due to the settings on my DVR, I settled in and watched the brick-fest that was the first half.

The Wolves’ shooting sat below thirty-percent for nearly the entire first half, and seemingly didn’t sink a shot from outside the paint until an Andrew Wiggins three-pointer in the final minute of the second quarter. (This might legitimately be true…I can’t think of a single make on a jump shot other than Wiggins’.)

The offense was downright terrible for most of the first half. Ricky Rubio shot just 1 of 6 from the floor to begin the game. Kevin Martin was held out of the lineup with his adductor strain. Corey Brewer can’t shoot. Thaddeus Young did his damage from inside the paint, and Andrew Wiggins scored his first four points from the free throw line.

Chase Budinger, Shabazz Muhammad, and Zach LaVine came off the bench and continued the clank-fest. The only real positive on the offensive end was the overall motion involved, and although there was a lot of action headed to the rim, a few too many contested jumpers were attempted.

On the defensive end, however, the Wolves were very active, both in the passing lanes and in the post on double-teams and with help defense. The main observation: Andrew Wiggins is loooong. He blocked a couple of shots when guarding his own man one-on-one on the way to the hoop in addition to providing help from the weak side.

Dieng was also active with help defense and on the glass. The Wolves will get a lot of steals and rack up a ton of blocked shots this year. Here’s hoping that the rebounding and general, straight-up perimeter defense are up to par. Those items will be the key, despite being much less sexy than steals and blocks.

Things fell apart in the third quarter, as the Wolves continued to clank jumpers and the Pacers converted eight of their first nine shots of the second half.

Rubio didn’t play at all in the second half with Barea starting the half in his place, and Ronny Turiaf started the half in place of Dieng, although Gorgui reentered the game midway through the frame. There was no sense that the Wolves knew what they were doing on the offensive end, and other than flashes from Wiggins and Brewer, it was best for one to avert their eyes when the team wearing blue had the ball.

Towards the latter part of the third quarter, Wiggins drained a turnaround jumper from mid-range on the left baseline that looked like some sort of tantalizing mix between Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. Yes, I’m carried away. But it was wonderful.

Wiggins continued the show on the defensive end, as he used his wingspan to swat away shots left and right and generally bother the Pacers’ offense.

The fourth quarter saw a lot of LaVine, Muhammad, Robbie Hummel, and Glenn Robinson III all fumbling around with the Wolves not clearing 70 points on the night until just before the 7:00 mark of the fourth quarter. Wiggins reentered the game around the same time and was the best player on the court for the rest of the game. The Wolves ultimately lost by a score of 103-90.

Final Notes:

– Mo Williams, Nikola Pekovic, Martin, and Anthony Bennett all did not play in the game. Flip Saunders has discussed his desire to rotate players through to spread rest around the veterans, and that appears to have already started in regards to Williams and Pekovic, who were listed as out with “rest”. Bennett came down with a “right hip flexor strain” that led to Hummel playing 23 minutes in the game.

– The offense was putrid, the defense was okay, especially early, and Wiggins is going to be an NBA-level defender from the beginning. Also, LaVine is extremely raw, and the bench will need Budinger to shoot like he did in his pre-Wolves career.

– Wiggins scored 18 points on just 4 of 11 shooting in a game-high 32 minutes, including 8 of 10 from the free throw line and 2 of 2 from three-point range. Dieng put up 16 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes of play. Also of note: LaVine turned the ball over five times along with five points and four assists in 25 minutes.

– It’s going to be a fun year, provided the offense can go from clanky to solid. The fast breaks are, as expected, going to be outstanding to watch, but that’s only part of it.

– The Wolves’ next preseason game is on Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. The game tips-off at 7:00 p.m.