Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves hold on to beat depleted Grizzlies

Despite making things closer than they should have been, the Timberwolves held on to beat a depleted Grizzlies squad in Memphis on Wednesday night.

The Grizzlies only had seven players play last time out, so seeing nine take the floor against the Wolves was certainly a step in the right direction. But not only that, it turns out that D-League players play extremely hard when they get a chance at the NBA level, and the misfit crew guided by Dave Joerger was nearly good enough to pull out a surprise win.

Following the nauseating pattern from Monday in Phoenix, the Timberwolves built a hefty early lead (20 points this time around) before watching it knifed to single digits by halftime and brought to within just a couple possessions multiple times in the second half.

But the bench was just good enough against an embarrassingly thin Grizzlies lineup to pull away in the final minute with some clutch offense and just-good-enough defense and rebounding to seal the win.

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The Wolves dominated early behind four first quarter three-pointers from Zach LaVine, leading by a score of 42-25 at the end of the opening frame. The bench mostly held serve early in the second quarter, but a lineup consisting largely of Wolves starters relinquished much of the lead before stemming the tide somewhat in the final minutes of the half, leading 64-55 at the break.

The third quarter was decidedly better for the visitors early on, as the Wolves continued to drain threes at a better rate than their opponent (yes, you read that right) and got the free throw line with consistency.

This time, however, it was the bench’s turn to squander the huge lead. It was 82-62 with 7:25 showing on the clock in the third quarter when the likes of Tayshaun Prince and Shabazz Muhammad began to return to the game.

The deficit hovered in the low teens for quite some time before a final push from the Grizzlies nearly overwhelmed the Wolves. The game was as close as 106-102 before Gorgui Dieng hit a long two-point jumper with 1:24 remaining to push the lead back to six. The game was effectively over at that point as the Grizzlies were simply unable to sustain anything resembling an offensive attack.

Tweets of the Night

Star of the Night

Zach LaVine -“ 28 points (11-19 FG, 6-10 3P), 3 rebounds, one assist, zero turnovers

This was actually a fairly tough call, as Gorgui Dieng’s 15 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three blocks was quite possibly every bit as impactful, but the sheer beauty of LaVine draining jumper after jumper was too much to overcome.

He drained his first four three-pointers on the night and remained confident throughout his team-high 40 minutes of playing time. On the negative side, he did not attack the rim much and never got to the free throw line. The Grizzlies did a good job of shutting down the Wolves’ transition game for the most part, but LaVine and Wiggins shot the ball well enough from the perimeter that the visitors were effective scoring in the half court.

Notable Timberwolves Lines

Gorgui Dieng – 15 points (6-8 FG, 3-4 FT), 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, one turnover

Ricky Rubio – 15 points (3-6 FG, 2-3 3P, 7-8 FT), 11 assists, 3 rebounds, one steal, 2 turnovers

Karl-Anthony Towns – 18 points (5-8 FG, 8-9 FT), 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, one block, 4 turnovers

Who’s Next?

The Wolves will fly down to Houston to take on the eternally inconsistent Rockets, who currently sit at 34-34 and are tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the #7 seed in the Western Conference — only 1.5 games up on the Utah Jazz.

Next: Timberwolves Notes: On Ricky Rubio and Tyus Jones

Minnesota will be looking to improve on what is a 2-1 road trip to this point with a solid showing against old friend J.B. Bickerstaff, the former Wolves assistant (and University of Minnesota alum) and current Rockets interim head coach. He took over after even older friend Kevin McHale was fired after a more-than-sluggish start to the season from the once-mighty Rockets.