Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves lose ugly to Jazz, 93-84

Rather predictably, the Timberwolves’ double-overtime road win less than 24 hours earlier led to an ugly 93-84 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

This probably surprised exactly no one, but the game started in such a grotesque fashion that I’m quite sure nobody would have predicted the level of ineptitude that was on display.

Yes, the first quarter was…unsightly, to put it kindly. Neither team scored until a Karl-Anthony Towns put-back with 8:16 remaining in the first quarter. The Jazz didn’t score for the first five minutes of the game, with their first points coming on a Derrick Favors jumper with 7:00 showing on the clock.

It was hideous offense, to be sure. The initial frame ended with the Jazz leading by the emberassing score of 18-10.

The second quarter wasn’t actually all that much better, although the Wolves surged towards the end of the half and won the quarter by a 24-17 margin. Minnesota’s bench played decent once again, keeping the Wolves close while Ricky Rubio, who carried the team offensively all night, and Towns sat on the bench.

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The Wolves trailed by a 35-34 score at halftime, confusing fans who bumped their remote away from the NCAA games on another network. There was a lot of blood in the box score, with Andrew Wiggins (0-6 FG) and Gordon Hayward (0-4 FG) taking center stage in the horribleness, with Shabazz Muhammad‘s 2-10 shooting performance off the bench also noteworthy in just a handful of minutes.

Rubio had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and Towns had eight points and eight rebounds to keep the Wolves afloat.

Early in the second half it felt like the Wolves had a chance to create some separation and pull away from the Jazz, but once the bench reentered the game (in the hockey-style, line change format that Sam Mitchell enjoys so much) those dreams were dashed.

The Jazz built an 11-point lead before the eight-minute mark in the fourth quarter, and by the time the starts returned the damage had been done. Utah kept it’s foot on the gas, and the Wolves’ fatigue began to show as the minutes ticked by.

And once again, an early fourth quarter, bench-induced swoon wrote the Timberwolves death warrant. Stop me if you’ve hard that one before…

Tweet of the Night

Star of the Night

Ricky Rubio -“ 23 points (9-12 FG, 2-2 3P, 3-4 FT), 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, one block, 4 turnovers

No single player on the Jazz was impressive enough to win this award, even in the victory. And really, the best player on the court throughout this one was one Ricky Rubio.

Rubio was everywhere. If you skipped over the above highlight, go back and watch it. And if you watched it once, you should watch it again. It was vintage Rubio, and his play was the only reason the Wolves were competitive until late in the final frame.

Notable Timberwolves Lines

Karl-Anthony Towns – 14 points (6-12 FG, 0-2 3P, 2-2 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, one assist, one turnover

Andrew Wiggins – 13 points (4-12 FG, 0-1 3P, 5-7 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, one turnover

Zach LaVine – 9 points (3-11 FG, 1-2 3P, 2-2 FT), 2 assists

Who’s Next?

The Wolves have now completed their back-to-back sets for the season, so let’s have a round of applause for off days.

Next up at the Target Center is the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, followed by the playoff-bound Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night before Minnesota heads back out on the road.

Next: Ricky Rubio's Improved Shooting Stroke

The Timberwolves will have a good shot at winning three out of four with the lowly Suns headed to Minneapolis. And no more back-to-backs will help out quite a bit down the stretch, to be sure.