Prior to Sunday’s matinee against the Memphis Grizzlies, the past few games have been somewhat rough, and we’re settling into a somewhat trend at this point. With the Timberwolves record standing at at 4-5, let’s take a look at how six games (again, prior to the Grizzlies contest) tell the story of a what could end up being a not-too-bad season.
First of all, Ricky Rubio (hamstring) has missed the last three games, all losses. In his place, Zach Lavine, for whatever silly reason Sam Mitchell has come up with, has been placed as the starting point guard.
I like Zach Lavine, I really do, even if I seem to constantly bash him. He’s simply not meant to play point guard and even playing as a combo-guard can be a stretch for him. I will say, however, he has shown flashes of being able to take over as well as being a nice offensive spark off the bench.
Rubio, on the other hand, hasn’t been shooting the ball well as of late, a more-characteristic 33 percent in the month of November. It’s somewhat worrying, as it would be ideal for Rubio to able to contribute 13-15 points a night, but he’s still facilitating like the old-school point-guard he prefers to be. He’s still great defensively, and offensively, he should pick it up soon.
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The three games that have really stood out to me are the contests against the Bulls, Hawks, and Warriors. All three games were stacked heavily against the Timberwolves, but they managed to pull out wins in two of them.
An incredible defensive display allowed the team to outscore the Bulls 9-0 in overtime in Chicago, which I still can’t believe I’m actually writing. Keep in mind, a big factor in the win was the decision of Butler and Rose to settle for jump-shots, but let’s revel in the fact that the Timberwolves managed to play solid defense.
The first half of the Hawks game was a thing of beauty with the Timberwolves building a lead of over 30 points heading into the third quarter. It was great — everything was going in for the Wolves, and the Hawks were dealing with some shooting woes.
However, a characteristic Wolves display allowed the Hawks to completely erase that deficit, even leading for a short bit late in the fourth quarter. Given that sort of defensive collapse, I would have said the Wolves deserved to lose, but big blocks by Towns and clutch shots by Wiggins ultimately saved the Wolves. (Side note: very disappointed that Jeff Teague did not get suspended for the slap/punch on Bjelica, but the rookie and reigning Euroleague MVP took it with class, and so did the rest of the team.
Thursday’s contest against Golden State was a game I was looking forward to, particularly because at this point it’s a test for every team to see if they’ve managed to solve the puzzle to an effective Stephen Curry defense. Curry lit up the Wolves for 46 points, reminding Wolves fans once again of the time David Khan passed on him twice during the draft.
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To put matters into perspective, there was a possession during which aging veteran Andre Miller did virtually everything perfect while playing defense on Curry. I’m talking about this being something you put on tape for how to play defense: pressure your man into taking a guarded 27-foot three-pointer, and, even better, get a hand to the ball on its way up. Perfect. Couldn’t have done anything better, Miller, good job.
But no, Curry still made the three. It just goes to show how radically out-of-this-world Curry is playing right now, and you really can’t blame anybody for the loss. For the most part, Golden State controlled the game entirely, but a late Wolves run allowed them to cut the deficit to six (in part due to the Wolves’ bench outscoring the Warriors’ by a long shot — what universe do we live in right now?).
That was, until Curry hit some more shots (big surprise), and the Warriors got their mojo back. All in all, the Wolves managed to lower the Warriors point differential, a feat few teams have managed to do this season.
The losses through these last couple of games have been expected, sans maybe the Charlotte game, which was probably a 50/50 proposition with Rubio out. Towns is looking to be more and more comfortable, and has posted four double-doubles in the last five games, missing out on one rebound that would have made it five-for-five.
I wrote before that I was worried that Wiggins was about to hit something resembling a sophomore slump, but his games against the Bulls and Hawks showed otherwise. Part of his okay performances in the first couple of games has probably been due to some sore knee and back problems that he was experiencing at the time, limiting his aggressiveness. But at this time, it’s looking more and more like the Wiggins who was given the label of Maple Jordan.
Overall, it’s been a good start to the season. We obviously didn’t think that the Wolves would go 81-1 after the first three games of the season, but it’s shaping up to be better than I could have expected.
Next: What Sam Mitchell's Tenure In Toronto Reveals
The Timberwolves have showed flashes of brilliance but the inconsistency that’s natural with a young core has reared it’s ugly head from time to time. But for now, that’s good enough.