Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves lose another close one

The Timberwolves had a solid chance to beat the Rockets on the road but were far too sloppy with the basketball, ultimately falling by a final score of 107-104.

The Wolves turned the ball over a horrific 20 times on the evening, including an uncharacteristic eight miscues by point guard Ricky Rubio.

Houston turned the ball over 16 times themselves and contributed nearly equally to a rather unsightly game. It still managed to be exciting down the stretch, with the Wolves having a chance to tie on the final possession of the contest.

The visitors actually led by a score of 24-23 after the first quarter, but the same bench unit that played so well just 24 hours prior against Oklahoma City struggled mightily in the second quarter of Wednesday’s tilt. The Wolves were outscored 34-26 in the frame, leading to a seven point halftime deficit.

More from Dunking with Wolves

• The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
• Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
• In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
• Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
• Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?

The Timberwolves’ bench played much better in the third quarter, however, and the Wolves stayed in the game until late. The stretch included some much-needed, solid play from Nemanja Bjelica, who grabbed some key rebounds and drained a couple of three-pointers in 15 minutes of playing time.

James Harden had a rough shooting night for the Rockets, making just 8 of 22 shots, including 2 of 10 three-pointers. The Wolves’ defense was generally solid, bucking a recent trend of shoddy play at that end of the floor.

Within three points with just over seven seconds remaining, the Wolves simply threw the ball to Kevin Martin at the top of the key, who forced up a contested, pull-up three-pointer. While Martin had shot 6 of 9 from the field to that point with three made long-balls, it wasn’t exactly a stellar play call.

Bjelica, who had drained a pair of threes on the night, wasn’t on the floor. Rubio never touched the ball on the final possession. And Karl-Anthony Towns would have been a solid option, too.

But alas, Martin missed another clutch shot and Rubio careened out of bounds with the rebound before he was granted timeout. And that was all she wrote.

Tweet of the Night

Star of the Night

Andrew Wiggins – 28 points (9-16 FG, 2-3 3P, 8-9 FT), 2 rebounds, one assist, one steal, one turnover

Wiggins had about the best game we can expect from him at the current stage in his career. He still isn’t a “do-stuff” player — virtually zero rebounds, assists, etc. — but it’s less of a big deal when he’s scoring efficiently, as he did on Wednesday night.

If Wiggins shot better than 50 percent with a pair of threes and improved accuracy at the free throw line on a nightly basis, he’d be a borderline star even without filling up the other categories on the stat sheet.

Other Notable Timberwolves Lines

Karl-Anthony Towns – 12 points (4-10 FG, 1-1 3P, 3-4 FT), 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers

Kevin Martin – 22 points (6-10 FG, 3-7 3P, 7-8 FT), 2 rebounds, one assist, 2 turnovers

Ricky Rubio – 9 points (3-4 FG, 3-5 FT), 12 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, one block, 8 turnovers

Who’s Next

The Timberwolves have now lost eight straight games, and they have to head to Oklahoma City on Friday night to take on the same Thunder team that beat them earlier in the week.

Next: No Frills Wolves Podcast: What's Wrong With the Wolves?

The silver lining is how much better the Wolves have played in the past couple of contests than they did for the first chunk of the losing streak, but…it’s still a losing streak.

Stay tuned for some additional Wolves news and analysis throughout the day on Thursday and Friday here at Dunking With Wolves.