The Timberwolves followed up a contested loss in Toronto on Thursday night with a hideous, 27-point home drubbing at the hands of the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Timberwolves over the past week.
After an impressive comeback and overtime win in Charlotte last Saturday night, the Wolves played the mighty San Antonio Spurs tough for much of Tuesday’s game. On Thursday, they led by double-digits in the first half on the road in Toronto before succumbing in the fourth quarter and losing to the Raptors.
While both of those losses were tough to swallow, they were understandable given the quality of the competition and the Wolves’ continued competitiveness. But on Friday night, things fell apart in rapid fashion.
The Timberwolves never really looked comfortable against Detroit, trailing by five after the first quarter and six at halftime. After yet another rough start to yet another second half, the Wolves stemmed the tide and hung within a couple of possessions until late in the third quarter.
But the waning moments of the frame combined with the start of the fourth stanza was enough to bury the Wolves. The Pistons three-point shooting, combined with their dominance on the offensive glass and the Wolves’ struggles from beyond the arc was enough to put the home team away rather suddenly.
Andre Drummond had no problem contending with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Gorgui Dieng, and Cole Aldrich on the glass, finishing the night with 22 points and 22 rebounds for his third 20-20 game so far this season. Eight of his boards were of the offensive variety.
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Towns was fairly aggressive on the glass and did manage 12 rebounds in 32 minutes, but Dieng only grabbed seven boards and, in a shocker, Aldrich only grabbed a single rebound in 20 minutes of play.
The other nail in the Wolves’ collective coffin was three-point shooting. Detroit shot a crazy 14-for-29 (48.3 percent) from beyond the arc, while Minnesota stumbled to an ugly 3-for-16 showing — just 18.8 percent.
The long and the short of it is that the Timberwolves look lost. The effort waxes and wanes, and the second half struggles have continued for the most part. It’s anyone’s guess what will turn the season around, but they have to figure something out in short order if this thing is going to be salvaged in any measurable fashion.
Tweets of the Night
In case you were wondering, it's Defcon1 in Minnesota.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) December 10, 2016
RR: "We can accept making mistakes and don’t make shots. Playing with no heart, with no desire, it’s just awful. Right now, it’s just bad."
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) December 10, 2016
Star of the Night
Andre Drummond: 22 points (10-13 FG, 2-4 FT), 22 rebounds, one block, one turnover
Drummond had his way in the paint. Much of the damage was done on the offensive glass, where Drummond grabbed eight rebounds. He also caught plenty of lobs in the restricted area and was able to score nearly at will against a relatively svelte Wolves front line.
Notable Timberwolves Lines
- Karl-Anthony Towns: 16 points (6-12 FG, 0-2 3P, 2-4 FT), 12 rebounds, one assist, one block, 5 turnovers
- Andrew Wiggins: 16 points (6-16 FG, 1-3 3P, 3-4 FT), 2 rebounds, one turnover
- Ricky Rubio: 10 points (4-5 FG, 0-0 3P, 2-2 FT), 6 assists, 3 rebounds, zero turnovers
- Kris Dunn: 8 points (4-10 FG, 0-4 3P), 5 rebounds, one steal, zero assists, zero turnovers, 20 minutes
The Wolves had some weird individual lines on Friday night.
Towns committed five turnovers compared to just one for Wiggins and zero for Rubio. But Towns also had just one assist and zero steals, while Rubio once again out-rebounded Wiggins, 3 to 2.
Dunn mostly played well again, although he missed all four of his three-point attempts and failed to record an assist (or a turnover) in 20 minutes of play.
Next: What's Wrong With Andrew Wiggins?
Who’s Up Next?
Things could get ugly as the Timberwolves host the 20-3 Golden State Warriors. The back-to-back Western Conference champs do play on Saturday in Memphis, but something tells me that playing 24 hours prior and taking a short flight to Minneapolis wouldn’t keep the mighty Warriors from toying with the same Wolves team that was blown out by a mediocre Pistons team on Friday night.