Timberwolves Wrap: Rubio’s career-high leads Wolves over Lakers

The Timberwolves defeated the Los Angeles Lakers with ease on Thursday night behind a career-high 33 points from Ricky Rubio.

The Timberwolves have followed up their season-worst six-game losing streak with a modest two-game bump in the left-hand column. After defeating the Pacers in Indiana on Tuesday, Minnesota returned home after a lengthy road trip and avenged last Friday night’s debacle in L.A. by beating the Lakers.

The game featured one of the more complete performances that Timberwolves fans have seen from Ricky Rubio, as he notched a career-high 33 points on 20 shots while chipping in 10 assists and five rebounds.

There was zero defense played in the first quarter as the Wolves jumped out to an early 13-point lead before allowing the Lakers to score at will and ultimately tie the game at 37 by the end of the first frame.

The second quarter featured only slightly more defense, and combined with some ineptitude from the bench units of both teams, the game was ‘only’ a 67-60 advantage for the Wolves at halftime after the defense tightened towards the end of the second quarter.

Rubio had 20 points and five assists by halftime, and outside of Karl-Anthony Towns, the Wolves simply didn’t have anyone playing with much consistency on either side of the court.

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The third quarter largely belonged to Andrew Wiggins, however, as he asserted himself and actually scored with some level of efficiency as Minnesota began to pull away. The Rubio-Kris Dunn back court dominated proceedings as well, and the Wolves led by a score of 96-82 heading to the final frame.

The Lakers had a strong start to the period and after the Wolves’ starters reentered the game and staved them off, L.A. made one more push in the final minutes of the game. After pulling to within single digits, Rubio made a bucket and a pair of free throws to keep the lead hovering around 10 points, and the game was all but over.

Minnesota sliced and diced the Lakers with Rubio initiating a deadly pick-and-roll and the ball zipping around the perimeter when Towns kicked it back out. The defense was ugly, per usual, but the offense was nigh unstoppable on this night.

Star of the Game

Ricky Rubio: 33 points (12-20 FG, 4-5 3P, 5-6 FT), 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 turnovers

Rubio was a maestro. He hit on his first four three-point attempts and after scoring 20 points in the first half and just four in the third quarter, scored nine points in a fourth quarter flurry that kept the visitors at bay.

The Lakers game plan coming into the game was obviously to force Rubio to shoot the ball, and he made them pay. D’Angelo Russell tried to be physical with Rubio in the second half and be a tough guy, but a couple of fouls were called and the Wolves largely played through the shift in strategy.

(For his part, Russell shot just 4-of-14 from the floor and had five turnovers to six assists on the night.)

Notable Timberwolves Lines

• Karl-Anthony Towns: 32 points (11-22 FG, 2-3 3P, 8-10 FT), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, one block, 3 turnovers
• Andrew Wiggins: 27 points (9-20 FG, 1-3 3P, 8-10 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal
• Gorgui Dieng: 11 points (4-9 FG, 1-1 3P, 2-3 FT), 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, one turnover
• Kris Dunn: 2 points (1-4 FG, 0-2 3P), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, one turnover

Towns was awesome yet again, although Dieng gobbled up a ton of KAT’s potential rebounds. Wiggins was bad in the first half but great in the second, and Gorgui was solid throughout.

Despite only scoring two points on four shots, Dunn had yet another impressive performance. He was a pest on the perimeter and did enough on the glass and in the flow of the offense to have an obviously positive impact on the game.

Next: Revisiting Wrong Preseason Timberwolves Predictions

Who’s Up Next?

The Timberwolves will remain home to take on the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Central Time.