For the third time this season, the Timberwolves blew a lead of 15 or more points and lost, this time to the Denver Nuggets.
The Wolves led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter but choked away what was a strong 2 1/2 quarters by allowing the Nuggets to drain a slew of three-pointers without an answer from the visitors.
For some reason, it took until the Nuggets made eight consecutive three-point shot attempts that Sam Mitchell instructed his guards to go over ball-screens, but by then the damage had been done. Jameer Nelson had a field day in the third quarter after rookie Emmanuel Mudiay left the game at halftime with a sprained ankle.
A strategy that might have worked against Mudiay — one of the worst players in the NBA thus far this season and a 25.4 percent three-point shooter coming into Friday night’s game — did not work against Nelson, a 36.9 percent career long-range marksman.
Once the lead had been whittled down and the Nuggets actually took a lead of their own in the final minutes of regulation, the Wolves lost Ricky Rubio to disqualification via foul-out and the offense suddenly became standing around and watching Andrew Wiggins or Kevin Martin shoot contested mid-range shots.
Wiggins twice missed free throws that would have given the Wolves a late lead, and overtime was basically the Nuggets feeding Danilo Gallinari, who was being guarded by the ancient Tayshaun Prince and occasionally Martin, and watching him score.
More from Dunking with Wolves
- The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
- Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
- In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
- Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
- Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?
All in all, the refusal to keep the Nuggets from launching threes, Rubio’s fouling out, and the inability to get Towns involved offensively (only five field goal attempts heading into overtime) allowed the Nuggets to come back and win late.
Oh, and we’d be remiss to not point out that Prince played 34 minutes and shot 0 of 5 from the field. Shabazz Muhammad played 16 minutes and was 3 of 6 from the floor. Yikes.
It’s a frustrating loss for a number of reasons, of course. The Timberwolves are a better team, had already won at Denver once this season, and led by 18 points in the second half. Here’s hoping there aren’t too many contests like this the rest of the season.
Tweet of the Night
Star of the Night
Ricky Rubio — 13 points (4-7 FG, 2-2 3P, 3-4 FT), 7 assists, 5 rebounds, one turnover
Wiggins missed free throws late and shot too many forced jumpers. Kevin Martin couldn’t defend and shot more forced jumpers in a game than a team should shoot in a week. Towns wasn’t involved offensively through no fault of his own.
That leaves Rubio, who played one of his better games of the season before fouling out late on a ticky-tack call. He drained both of his three-point attempts, distributed the ball well, and only turned it over one time.
Other Notable Timberwolves Lines
Andrew Wiggins — 22 points (8-17 FG, 6-8 FT), 3 rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block, 3 turnovers
Karl-Anthony Towns — 14 points (6-11 FG, 0-1 3P, 2-2 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 2 turnovers
Gorgui Dieng — 8 points (2-4 FG, 4-4 FT), 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, one assist, 2 turnovers
Kevin Martin – 22 points (8-20, 2-7, 4-4), 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Up Next
The Timberwolves will travel to Phoenix for a 2:30 p.m. Central Time matinee on Sunday against the Suns.
Next: Top 10 Draft Picks In Timberwolves History
It’s another winnable game, but an overtime loss at altitude will linger in tired legs as well as disappointed and weary minds. The Timberwolves need to put this loss behind them and not let things snowball during a very winnable stretch of upcoming games.