Timberwolves Wrap: Another tough loss to the Knicks

The Timberwolves trailed by double-digits to the New York Knicks for the second time and three days, and for the second time in three days, they came back to tie the contest before losing in the final moments.

After trailing by 17 points in the fourth quarter, tying the game, and losing on a Carmelo Anthony jumper with less than three seconds left on Wednesday night at Target Center, the Timberwolves found themselves in a similar spot on Friday in New York.

This time, the Wolves trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter, and seemingly couldn’t trim the lead to single digits.

Until, the bench showed up.

What’s that, you say? The Wolves bench, which has been among the worst in the league all season long, got Minnesota back into the game?

Yep. Nemanja Bjelica, Shabazz Muhammad, and Cole Aldrich came to the rescue of a personal foul-laden Gorgui Dieng, a scuffling Karl-Anthony Towns, and a still-struggling Andrew Wiggins.

The Wolves tied the game at 100 on a Zach LaVine-to-Muhammad alley-oop dunk, and actually took the lead at 102-101 on a LaVine dunk in the open floor off a dazzling pass from Kris Dunn, who played arguably his best game as a pro to date.

But from that point on, the Wolves defense found itself struggling down the stretch — an all-too-familiar issue early in this season.

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The defense was the biggest problem once again, although early in the game the epidemic of missed layups plagued the Wolves, and specifically Towns, once again. KAT missed his first six shots of the game, and most were from point-blank range.

Wiggins continued to struggle on both ends of the floor, and Dieng didn’t play well in his 18-minute night, only attempting two shots and grabbing just five rebounds.

It was just another one of those games where the defensive intensity was there some of the time, but not enough of the time to slow down a team with offensive weapons like Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis.

And on top of that, the offense hasn’t been consistent enough throughout games to simply outscore opponents — not something that Tom Thibodeau wants to do, of course, but it’s better than losing continually and sitting at 5-14 through 19 games.

Tweet of the Night

Star of the Night

Carmelo Anthony: 29 points (9-20 FG, 5-10 3P, 6-6 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, one turnover

After barely shooting the ball for the first three-and-a-half quarters of Wednesday night’s game in Minneapolis, Anthony asserted himself — mainly from beyond the arc — on Friday at Madison Square Garden.

The Wolves were slow to contest three-point shots, which was a specific shortcoming of last year’s team that Thibodeau has called out since the day he took the job. And that issue rared it’s ugly head once again on Friday night.

(It should also be noted that Porzingis shot just 2-of-12 from the floor and finished with only 11 points and five rebounds with four turnovers in 40 minutes. The Wolves were simply more physical with him, and the Knicks did not make an effort to keep the big man involved in the offense.)

Notable Timberwolves Lines

• Zach LaVine: 23 points (9-18 FG, 2-7 3P, 3-3 FT), 3 assists, 2 rebounds, one steal
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 20 points (5-18 FG, 3-5 3P, 7-8 FT), 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, one assist
• Andrew Wiggins: 19 points (6-14 FG, 0-2 3P, 7-8 FT), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, one steal
• Nemanja Bjelcia: 17 points (7-13 FG, 3-7 3P) 7 rebounds, 3 assists
• Shabazz Muhammad: 14 points (6-10 FG, 2-5 3P), 2 rebounds, one assist
• Cole Aldrich: 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-2 FT), 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 2 steals

As you can tell, the Wolves struggled with their shooting efficiency mightily — especially from Wiggins and Towns. It’s a recurring theme of the Wolves’ two young, up-and-coming stars pressing and putting the team’s recent issues on their shoulders.

Ironically, the bench significantly outperformed the duo on this night, but Towns and Wiggins’ shortcomings were too much.

Who’s Up Next?

The Timberwolves hopped on a short flight after the game on Friday to head to Charlotte. They’ll be taking on the 11-8 Hornets, who did not play last night and were last in action during an easy, 10-point home win over the lowly Dallas Mavericks.

Next: Timberwolves Notes: On The Season-Opening Misery

This will be a tough one to pull out, folks. Tip-off is at 6:00 Central Time on Saturday. Enjoy.