Timberwolves Wrap: Losing ugly to the Utah Jazz

The Timberwolves played a fantastic opening two-thirds of the game before being blown out to the tune of a 103-90 final.

The Wolves led after one quarter and trailed by just one point at halftime, but the young, inconsistent bench unit was their downfall midway through the third quarter.

After Karl-Anthony Towns, Gorgui Dieng, and Zach LaVine all had monster first half performances, the second unit, led by LaVine, went scoreless for more than seven minutes spanning the third and fourth quarters.

It was a jarring sequence, especially after watching LaVine extend his two-point field goal streak to 19 made shots in the first half. That went down in flames at the same time the Jazz were in the midst of a 14-0 run that more or less put the game away.

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The ugly stretch was primarily a combination of Ricky Rubio and Towns being on the bench and the offense becoming stagnant. And yes, this is directly related to the absence of Rubio and Towns, but the horrific struggles of Nemanja Bjelica and Nikola Pekovic on the offensive end of the floor were equally as big of a deal.

There were three consecutive possessions late in the third quarter that saw Bjelica blocked on a three-point attempt (the second time in the game that had happened), followed by a pair of turnovers. He simply looked shell-shocked, which is a worrisome look for anyone, much less a player who went through a similar stretch earlier in the season and is still adjusting to the NBA game.

At any rate, this was another example of half of the Wolves roster playing well but the other half being viruatlly non-existent. Rubio, Towns, Dieng, and LaVine’s first half were great, but other than that it was ugly.

You’ll see this in the lines of the night below, but a spoiler: Andrew Wiggins was rebound-less tonight in 35 played. He had one board in each of the last two games.

That means that your ultra-athletic, 6′-8″ forward has a grand total of two rebounds in the last 110 over three games.

And that more or less tells the story, doesn’t it?

Tweets of the Night

Star of the Night

Karl-Anthony Towns – 32 points (13-17 FG, 1-2 3P, 5-5 FT), 12 rebounds, one assist, one block, one steal, 5 turnovers

Towns had a career-high 32 points on an efficient 13 of 17 from the field. He displayed the mid-range game early and the long-range game and offensive rebounding late. While the five turnovers were disappointing, he did everything else well on this night.

Other Notable Timberwolves Lines

Zach LaVine – 19 points (9-12 FG, 1-2 FT), 3 assists, one rebound, 3 turnovers

Andrew Wiggins – 5 points (2-11 FG, 1-2 FT), 2 steals, zero assists, zero rebounds, 35 minutes

Ricky Rubio – 3 points (0-6 FG, 0-2 3P, 3-4 FT), 8 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, one turnover

Gorgui Dieng – 20 points (7-12 FG, 6-9 FT), 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Who’s Got Next?

The Timberwolves will fly northwest from Salt Lake City for a Sunday evening date with the relatively surprising Portland Trail Blazers.

Next: Timberwolves' Key Contributors at Midway Point

And then its down the coast to Los Angeles for a game each against the residents of the Staples Center. Here’s hoping for a couple of road wins — the Blazers and Lakers should offer that possibility, one would think.