This picture of Ricky Rubio and J.J. Barea is not from Tuesday night’s game in Detroit. But I’m going to use it anyway. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Huh. The Timberwolves’ third quarter barrage of (made!) three-point baskets really kept me from writing about what I had planned on highlighting. This game was some strange combination of the definition of an outlier and, in a very minimal way, the law of averages evening out somewhat. I mean, the Wolves are a historically bad three-point shooting team, but they shot 14 of 26 (53.8%!!) on the night. Crazy stuff.

Back to what I had wanted to highlight, based mostly on a competitive first half: Nikola Pekovic and Luke Ridnour. That’s all you need to know about the early parts of Tuesday night’s Wolves-Pistons tilt in the Motor City. Despite the Pekovic-Greg Monroe matchup being what can only be accurately described as an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, Pek still managed to put up numbers better than his season averages, and in just 30 minutes of court time. And Ridnour….he absolutely should be lauded for his durability and consistency this season, but his performance against the Pistons was one of his best all-around performances of the season.

Pekovic bowled through the first quarter-plus of the game, putting 12 points and 6 rebounds on the board in rather easy fashion. He had a little trouble stopping Monroe on the other end of the floor, but who doesn’t? Other than a questionable offensive foul call and a missed free throw, Pekovic played nearly flawlessly in the opening quarter and in his limited second quarter minutes. By halftime, he had already accumulated 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds and a blocked shot.

Per usual, Ridnour’s performance flew a bit under the radar, but it was as solid as ever. At the break, he had already thrown a 9 point, 3 assist, 2 steal stat line up on the board. He was very efficient from the field, eventually shooting 6 of 7 for the game, including 2 of 3 from long distance. He was also very physical with Brandon Knight, holding him to an 0 for 4 shooting performance in the first quarter (Knight finished the game just 3 of 10 for 7 points with just 3 assists and 4 turnovers). Luke’s assists included a beautiful, patient alley-oop pass to a streaking Dante Cunningham and a perfect pass to a rolling Pekovic in the closing seconds of the first half, putting the Wolves up 44-38.

The third quarter broke the mold for this Timberwolves’ team, as they poured in a ridiculously easy 38 points, led by a run on three-pointers like they were going out of style. Here’s hoping for a couple more of these games as the season winds down. The law of averages should continue to take effect, right? Even if it is too little, too late…I’ll take some competent perimeter shooting, thank you very much.

Things got out of hand -about midway through the third quarter, as the Wolves were en route to outscoring the Pistons 38-16 in the frame. The fourth quarter was a continuation of the barrage of long-range shots from both teams, and the end-of-the-bench players for both squads played out the string to the tune of a 105-82 Wolves’ victory.

Some quick thoughts….

- Three-pointers were the theme, in case you hadn’t picked up on that. The Wolves set a season-high with 14 made long range shots. They were 14 of 26 (53.8%) while the Pistons shot 7 of 20 (35%).

- Interesting note from Wolves’ reporter Mark Remme: This was the first time in team history that the Timberwolves have won back-to-back road games by 20+ points.

- Alexey Shved played decent overall tonight, showcasing his passing skills. His shot is still flat, and is likely due to the long schedule and a case of dead legs. He had a couple of very nice feeds into the paint off of pump-fakes on the perimeter that led to easy buckets.

-  Rubio played very well, scoring 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including 2 of 2 from three-point range and surprisingly, zero free throw attempts. He also had 9 rebounds, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers in 27 minutes. His shot is looking very good off the dribble, but remains awkward off the catch.

- If you get an extra few minutes, please check out my piece on Rubio’s defensive prowess over at Fansided’s main page.

- The Wolves will host the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow night at the Target Center at 7 p.m.

Even before the season ended, the Timberwolves were looking forward.  Looking forward to all things draft related and the possibility of the Most Important Draft Day Decision in franchise history.

• A little dramatic?  Absolutely.
• True?  Same answer.
• Strong alliteration?  My English teacher Dad would be proud.

The 2010 NBA draft Lottery and the draft itself are crucial for the direction and perception of the franchise that has asked us, the fans, to be patient –“we are going through tough times”.  Aka “rebuilding”. This draft is important not only because we can add stellar players like Kentucky point guard John Wall or Ohio State ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Evan Turner,  it will also give us a clearer few of General Manager David Kahn’s vision for this team as he solidifies that core of players that will become relevant in a few seasons.

However, this team is young, and we would get even younger.  Would we then have to revamp the rebuilding plan?  It would seem so.  Flynn becomes a back-up and Rubio becomes a Knick, a Clipper or a Heat – even though that sounds weird, it is grammatically correct. And because the expectations need to be pushed back one more year, Al Jefferson most certainly would be traded and we would be looking for the new big man. This season has been difficult to watch and, at times, care.  It does make it easier to do so when you believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel and this would make the tunnel longer and darker.

Possible starting line-up in this scenario:  Wall, Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes, Kevin Love and Dark Milicic.  Off the bench you have:  Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Damien Wilkins.

Other Side of the Magical Coin Let’s say the Wolves get the No. 1 pick and draft Wall, don’t trade Jefferson and for some un-known reason Rubio decides to play in Minnesota this season. Just imagine press conference.  Kahn leans to the microphone and declares his plan a success; we have our superstar and a team that can grow with him – not unlike Cleveland with LeBron James or Oklahoma City with Kevin Durant. Then Kahn introduces Wall with his shiny-new Wolves jersey, people clap, cameras click and bulbs flash wildly, and we would all be very happy.

Suddenly, Kahn announces he has another special announcement.  Rubio will be coming to play with Wall.  The buzz-factor just kicked-up six notches, season ticket sales jump 5000% and Timberwolves would be the lead story on every sport show and sports blog in the country for at least two to three hours – media rolls over pretty quick, but we will take anything we can get. Holy Crap Target Center would be packed!  Even with a team that would struggle to win 30 games, Minnesota would have the two most talked about draftees over the last two years on the same team.  Jersey sales go up!

• Romantic?  It is a Minnesota basketball fans “wet dream”.
• Possible?  I give it a .43% chance.

What do I really think the Wolves should do if they land the No. 1 pick? Trade down. Get a player and a lower lottery or mid-round pick, draft Cole Aldrich or Greg Monroe, draft Xavier Henry with No. 16 from the Ty Lawson deal, then pick Luke Babbitt with 23^rd pick from Philly.

Possible starting line-up in this scenario:  Flynn, Henry, Brewer, Darko Milicic and Jefferson.  Then off the bench you have Love, Aldrich/Monroe, the Ryan’s: Gomes and Hollins, Babbitt, Wayne Ellington, Ramon Sessions, and the player added in the trade.  Plus you probably still have money to spend this free agent season or next.  Let’s say it together – “Upgrade”!

While all this pretending is nice, the real decision will take into account factors that we don’t know about.  And no matter what they decide to do; there will be those of us that will hate it and those of us who will love it.  Either way, we can only hope they don’t pick four point guards and then only get one.  Seriously.

Other Minnesota Basketball News

• Minnesota Lynx are a talented squad and start season with a win.
• McHale takes on the LeBron issue.
• Cole Aldrich in Minnesota?  If the Wolves  follow the instruction above, definite possibility.