Wolves Wrap: Slow start dooms Wolves against Pelicans
The injury-riddled Minnesota Timberwolves were able to get a couple of key reserves back in Robbie Hummel and Anthony Bennett in Sunday afternoon’s game in New Orleans against the Pelicans. However, it was not enough for the Wolves as the Pelicans were able to get a 110-88 win over the Wolves.
To make matters worse, Gorgui Dieng left the game in the first half with a face contusion after getting an inadvertent elbow from Adreian Payne.
Anthony Davis led the way for the Pelicans tonight, scoring 28 points (10-21 FG) and grabbing nine rebounds. When Dieng went down with his injury, it put an awful lot on the shoulders of Payne, Bennett, and Justin Hamilton to try to stop Davis tonight. Omer Asik, the frontcourt counterpart of Davis, contributed 15 points on an efficient 7/9 shooting.
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Sir Charles In Charge
The Wolves started this game looking terribly uninterested. In the first quarter alone, the team committed seven turnovers and scored a total of 11 points. Additionally, the team shot 29% from the field in that quarter and ultimately trailed New Orleans 25-11 after the first period.
Surprise, surprise: Andrew Wiggins led the way for the Wolves in the scoring department, finishing with 20 points (6-15 FG, 8-9 FT) and also grabbing six rebounds. Zach LaVine contributed 17 points (6-16 FG, 1-5 3FG, 4-5 FT) and Adreian Payne scored 14 (7-14 FG) and grabbed a team-leading 11 rebounds. If you’re keeping track, that’s three rookies that led the Wolves in scoring tonight.
While the Wolves didn’t seem to give up in their road loss on Friday night in Houston, it looked a lot like they gave up down the stretch in this game. It may be due to fatigue, but nonetheless it’s a discouraging sign for the Wolves moving forward.
Tweet of the Game
Wolves finish -70 in 2 games @ New Orleans, with combined score of 179-249
— timberpups.com (@timberpupsblog) March 29, 2015
Clip of the Game
(h/t @TheCauldron)
Star of the Game
Andrew Wiggins: 20 points (6-15 FG, 8-9 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 assists
It’s not that this was a particularly superb game from Wiggins, but he was able to respond nicely after his amazing performance on Friday night against the Rockets. Wiggins is gradually becoming more aggressive as the season wears on, and that’s something that everyone likes to see. Flip Saunders continued to isolate Wiggins on multiple occasions to let him create his own shot.
Again, Wiggins played a significant amount of minutes tonight as he finished playing 39 minutes. Despite the fact that the Wolves fell by a 22-point deficit, Wiggins was able to tally a +/- of only -3, showing how much he impacted the Wolves in a positive way when he was on the floor.
Stat of the Game
Two stats in particular stood out to me from this game.
As I mentioned before, the Wolves committed seven turnovers alone in the first quarter. They finished the game with 21 turnovers to only 14 for the Pelicans.
Additionally, just like the loss to the Rockets on Friday night, the Wolves were crushed in the three-point shooting battle. The Pelicans were 6-13 from beyond the arc tonight while the Wolves struggled, finishing 2-12.
Other Notable Lines
- Zach LaVine: 17 points (6-16 FG, 1-5 3FG, 4-5 FT), 4 rebounds
- Adreian Payne: 14 points (7-14 FG), 11 rebounds
Who’s Got Next?
Tomorrow night, the Wolves will be back at Target Center hosting the Jazz. The Wolves were able to get an overtime win in Utah by a score of 106-104.
Check back tomorrow for our preview of tomorrow night’s contest. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.