Wolves Wrap: Chris Paul dominates as Wolves fall late

The Wolves were behind the eight-ball from the start of the contest as it was announced shortly before game time that Nikola Pekovic would not play due to continued soreness in his ankle and Kevin Martin wouldn’t even be at the arena because of the flu.

And sure enough, the home team fell behind by as many as 18 points very early in the game before the second unit fought all the way back to give the Wolves the lead before halftime. It was completely unexpected — the Clippers’ starters dominated what was largely the Wolves’ starters to the tune of 36-23 in the opening frame and the Wolves’ reserves took the Clippers’ bench to the woodshed by a 37-22 lead in the second quarter.

The second half was very well contested with each team building multiple leads of a couple of possessions. The Timberwolves, however made exactly one field goal in the entire fourth quarter. That’s right, they made one shot. Getting to the free throw line with regularity kept the Wolves in it until the final 20 seconds of the game, but it’s unrealistic to expect any team to win while making a single basket in an entire quarter.

The Wolves chose to have Andrew Wiggins guard Chris Paul for most of the game, and the Clippers’ response was to bombard the Wolves with high screen-and-roll action, ending up with Gorgui Dieng and Adreian Payne often being the big that had to show and contain Paul while Wiggins recovered.

Ricky Rubio shadowed Paul for a stretch in the second half with mostly better results, but the NBA’s best point guard was simply unstoppable. He finished with 26 points on 12 of 20 from the field, 14 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. Rubio managed his fourth career triple-double, scoring 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting and tallying 12 rebounds, 11 assists, and one steal with only two turnovers.

The Wiggins-guarding-Paul strategy is nice in theory (he’s a good defender, he’s long, etc.), but that meant that Rubio was guarding J.J. Redick. Rubio likes to gamble and play “free safety”, however, and that left Redick too much space to catch-and-shoot. Putting Wiggins’ long arms on Redick would have made sense while Rubio would have been more of an on-ball pest getting around screens to check Paul.

Also notable: things got testy late in the game with Kevin Garnett and son-of-former-KG-coach Austin Rivers getting double technicals when the third-year guard decided to run into Garnett on purpose and talk trash to him, for some reason. Doc Rivers had already been assessed one technical, and J.J. Redick got two in quick succession in the final minutes and was ejected while Flip Saunders received his own technical for the second game in a row.

The officiating was again shoddy, and while the Wolves attempted 35 free throws to Los Angeles’ 19, the referees allowed DeAndre Jordan to pull the Kevin Love hook move all game long without repricussion.

At any rate, it was an outstanding game and the Wolves played well. The Clippers are simply a better team, and a full-strength Minnesota squad would have had a real shot at winning.

Star(s) of the Game

Chris Paul – 26 points (12-20 FG, 2-4 3P), 14 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, one turnover

Ricky Rubio – 18 points (5-11 FG, 1-4 3P, 7-9 FT), 12 rebounds, 11 assists, one steal, 2 turnovers

The Chris Paul vs. Ricky Rubio match-up ended up being significantly overblown since Rubio rarely guarded the Clippers’ point guard, but they both put on their own show.

Honorable mention goes to Gary Neal. He scored 19 points on 6 of 17 shooting, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and one steal. Neal is also who the potential game-tying shot went to out of a timeout with under 20 seconds to play, but his off-balance attempt was just long.

Tweet of the Night

Stat of the Night

It seems like after every single game we could talk about the Wolves’ out-free-throwing their opponents and being vastly out-classed from behind the three-point line. Tonight is no exception.

The Wolves made 29-35 (82.9%) free throws while the Clippers were 10-19 (52.6%). And sure enough, Minnesota was 4-15 (26.7%) on threes while Los Angeles was 12-33 (36.4%). Note to Flip: that stat favors the Clipper — per always.

Notable Lines

• Ricky Rubio: 18 points (5-11 FG, 1-4 3P, 7-9 FT), 12 rebounds, 11 assists, one steal, 2 turnovers
• Andrew Wiggins: 18 points (5-16 FG, 8-10 FT), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, one block
• Gary Neal: 19 points (6-17 FG, 2-7 3P, 5-6 FT), 9 rebounds, 4 assists, one steal
• Zach LaVine: 14 points (5-9 FG, 1-3 3P, 3-4 FT), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers

Who’s Got Next?

The Wolves have a very winnable game on Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets. It’s the third home game in a four-game homestand and the Nuggets are still stuck in a downward spiral.

It’s impossible to know whether or not Nikola Pekovic will be able to play on Wednesday, but Kevin Martin should be back. It’s a chance for the Wolves to get a rare easy win.