Wolves fall to Suns, losing streak continues

Well, we almost won a basketball game. But almost is never quite enough, is it?

Tonight, our Minnesota Timberwolves played a hard fought game against the Phoenix Suns in front of a national television audience on ESPN, but the effort wasn’t enough to stop the now 13-game losing streak. 13 games in a row…wow…all I can say is “wow.”

We had the lead after each of the first three quarters, but then Gerald Green decided he was going to score 13 points in three minutes to start the fourth, and from there we just lost all of our momentum. We continued to battle, but the three-headed monster comprised of Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, and Isaiah Thomas made it awfully tough down the stretch. The trio combined for 59 points, and with Green getting 21 of his own, the Suns just had a little too much fire power for our five-win Timberwolves (Punny, right?)

So we lost 113-111, but it wasn’t all that bad. It was actually pretty fun. The Wolves  played with energy for an entire ball game–something we haven’t seen often this season–and that alone was enough to keep me tuned in and happy. I mean, when you’re team is struggling like we are right now, of course you’re going to get excited when guys who play a game for millions of dollars show up and work hard, right? Right? Right???

What’s more, Anthony Bennett came to play tonight. I’m sort of scratching my head over the whole ordeal, and I’m wondering where the heck did “that” even come from? The guy had 14 points and ten rebounds in just over 22 minutes of game action, and he showed a tenacity that we haven’t seen from him since the beginning of the season. Where has this been, Anthony? Why did it go away? Why can’t you play like this every game? Please don’t go…

Shabazz Muhammad, after being held scoreless in the first half, exploded in the third, scoring the first eight points of the quarter. He’d go on to finish with 12 points in the frame and on the game. But as great as his third quarter outburst was, one has to wonder what was going on with him during the rest of the ball game. He’s tweaked his ankle seemingly 400 times this season, so maybe that’s what caused the slow start, but regardless of the why, it’s clear that his energy isn’t quite what it was when he was coming off the bench. Still gotta love the ‘Bazz though.

Mo Williams played a fine game tonight before hurting his ankle in the final minutes. I’m guessing he’ll miss a few games while he nurses himself back to health, meaning we’ll probably get a heavier dosage of Zach LaVine before Rubio comes back in the next week or so. No matter what the future holds for Williams, though, you can’t take anything away from him tonight. He scored 23 points and dished out 11 assists in an effort that reminded us all that he was once an NBA All-Star (LeBron James may have helped his cause just a little bit).

Saving the best for last: Andrew Wiggins was pretty much the man tonight. I say “pretty much” because he did have six turnovers and he missed the buzzer beating shot that would have tied or won the game (was that a three pointer?). Still, he was pretty friggin’ great: 25 points, 10-16 shooting, four boards, and three steals. Not bad at all. This performance marks his fifth straight 20-plus point effort on the season. Ever since his big game against LeBron’s Cavaliers, Andrew has seemingly been a different player; a better player. I like this guy.

The Wolves head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks on Friday night.

Until then: Keep it Bazzy, Minnesota.