Timberwolves Wrap: Rough fourth quarter dooms Wolves again
By Ben Beecken
The Timberwolves started hot in Detroit, but the Pistons dominated the rest of the game and won easily, 115-90.
The Wolves led the Detroit Pistons by a score of 22-15 after the opening frame, but a 30-15 advantage in the second quarter by the home team put Minnesota in an eight-point halftime hole that they never fully recovered from.
And while the lead remained at eight points to open the fourth, the Pistons managed to hang 37 points on the visitors in the final frame to salt the game away.
Andre Drummond dominated proceedings for the Pistons, dropping 23 points and grabbing 18 rebounds on the night. He shot a remarkable 11 of 14 from the field but only made 1 of 7 free throw attempts in classic Drummond fashion. Ultimately, free throw shooting didn’t matter in this one.
The Wolves received an efficient 22 points and nine rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns to go along with three assists and only two turnovers, while Andrew Wiggins shot 8 of 19 from the field for a team-high 23 points.
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Zach LaVine disappointed, shooting just 1 of 8 from the field while committing five fouls in 24 minutes. Shabazz Muhammad was the bench scorer in this one, shooting 5 of 7 from the field and tallying 15 points in just 22 minutes of playing time.
It was not a shocking outcome given the fact that the Wolves played in Minneapolis on Wednesday night and played a game at 5:00 Central Time the following day in a different time zone. The Pistons are now 18-15 and are no slouch, but it would have been nice to see Sam Mitchell‘s bunch put up a little bit more of a fight down the stretch.
That said, this was a schedule loss more than anything. On to the next one.
Tweet of the Night
In which “AT” stands for Anthony Tolliver, and the short-lived joy of Ricky Rubio‘s rookie season.
wish AT would miss, but him sinking 3s reminds of Ricky’s rookie year aka the happiest Wolves time since 2004
— Punch-Drunk Wolves (@PDWolves) January 1, 2016
Star of the Night
Andre Drummond — 23 points (11-14 FG, 1-7 FT), 18 rebounds, one assist, 4 turnovers, 30 minutes
We had to pick a non-Wolves player here. Towns and Wiggins each had nice games and Ricky Rubio gave loose thought to a triple-double, but Drummond dominated the Kevin Garnett-less Timberwolves frontline.
Gorgui Dieng started but only played 22 minutes and Towns only managed nine rebounds to Drummond’s 18. The Wolves bench boasted two pseudo big men in Nemanja Bjelica and Damjan Rudez, pulling down a combined three rebounds in a combined 34 minutes. The visitors were out-rebounded by a final tally of 52-36, but it was only that close because of the Wolves’ point guards — Rubio and Tyus Jones combined for 11 boards on the night.
Other Notable Timberwolves Lines
Karl-Anthony Towns – 22 points (10-17 FG, 0-1 3P, 2-2 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, one block, 2 turnovers
Andrew Wiggins – 23 points (8-19 FG, 1-3 3P, 4-4 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 steals, one assist, 2 turnovers
Ricky Rubio – 9 points (3-11 FG, 0-1 3P, 3-3 FT), 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 5 turnovers
Who’s Next
The Timberwolves will play host to the 13-21 Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday evening at Target Center in another winnable game. The Bucks snapped a three-game losing skid with a tough road win at Indiana on New Year’s Eve.
The Wolves will follow up Saturday’s date with the Bucks by heading to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers on Sunday evening and then heading back to Minnesota once again to take on the Denver Nuggets for the third time already this season on Wednesday.
That kicks off a tough homestand — Cleveland, Dallas, and Oklahoma City are on the horizon.